These four, generally known as the _Warriors_, proved to be the finest cruisers as sea-boats ever built for the British Navy. They have always proved most remarkably steady gun platforms. Shooting from them is invariably good--they have always been near the top of the list in gunnery returns. For a single ship in a single commission good shooting is attributable to causes other than the ship; but with four ships and different crews at different times the effect of the design is obvious. Apparently the extra weight on their upper decks is responsible; for their dimensions are identical with those of the unsatisfactory _Black Princes_. In all these ships, as in the _Devonshires_ which preceded them, raking masts and stumpy funnels were introduced. The latter proved most inconvenient for navigating purposes, and in 1911 all the _Warriors_ had their funnels considerably heightened. In these four latter the “dove-cot” platform fire-controls first appeared; they were fitted also to the three latest ships of the _King Edward_ class. The main defect of all six is the trivial anti-torpedo armament. The 3-pounders are perfectly useless against destroyers. Incidentally it may be noticed that the class signalled the scientific placing of such guns for control purposes. In the _Warriors_ some guns were mounted on turret tops also, this being with a view to their survival after an action. It was contended that an actual hit was extremely improbable on any anti-t.b. guns, but that shells bursting underneath might easily disable them. Hence the search for an armoured base. This idea seems to have originated in the German Navy, though the Germans never adopted the turret-top position. The Estimates (1904–05) provided for two battleships and three armoured cruisers. The latter of these, the _Minotaur_ class, were “improved _Warriors_”; but, as a matter of fact, except for a larger armament, they proved somewhat inferior to their immediate predecessors:-- Details are: Displacement--14,600 tons (as against 13,550). Length (between perpendiculars)--490ft., (over all) 525ft. Beam--74½ft. (but a foot more in _Shannon_). Draught--(maximum) 28ft. (but a foot less in _Shannon_). Armament--Four 9.2, 50 cal., ten 7.5, fourteen 12-pounders, five 18in. tubes (submerged). Horse-power--27,000 = 23 knots. Coal--(normal) 1,000 tons (950 only in _Shannon_); (maximum) 2,000, also 400 tons oil. [Illustration: SIR PHILIP WATTS.]