Draught (mean)--26ft. 3ins. Guns--Four 45-ton B.L.R., five 6-inch, 89-cwt. do. Horse-power--7,500. Speed--15.50 knots. At and about the same time considerable interest was being taken in rams. This resulted in the laying down of the _Conqueror_, a species of improved _Rupert_, and a type of ship destined to be enlarged upon in the future. Particulars of the _Conqueror_ were:-- Displacement--6,200 tons. Length--270ft. Beam--58ft. Draught--24ft. Armament--Two 45-ton B.L.R., four 6-inch 89-cwt. do., six 14-inch torpedo tubes (above water). Horse-power--(maximum) 6,000. Speed--15.5 knots. Coal--650 tons. The _Conqueror_ was launched in September, 1881. Some three years later a sister, the _Hero_, was laid down, and launched towards the end of 1885. She differed from the _Conqueror_ only in that all four of her 6-inch guns were mounted on the superstructure, whereas the _Conqueror_ carried two of them on the main deck inside the superstructure. [Illustration: TEMERAIRE IMPERIEUSE BRITISH SYSTEM IDEAL FRENCH SYSTEM IDEAL BARNABY BARBETTE SHIPS.] Although developed from the _Rupert_, the _Conqueror_ differed a good deal in appearance, on account of the whole of the after part of the ship being one huge superstructure. In her, the superstructure, as a very definite feature instead of a mere accessory, may be said to have made its first appearance, to remain as a factor of growing importance for many years. Contemporaneously with these ships two entirely different types made their appearance. One of these was the “torpedo ram” _Polyphemus_, an absolutely unique vessel, the outcome (though not so designed) of the influence of the torpedo. The ship was never duplicated, and never performed much service, but it would be rash to assert that the future may not see something like her re-appear. She was first projected as a “ram” pure and simple, so long ago as 1873, and designed by Barnaby to suit the specifications of certain naval officers as embodying their ideals of the warship of the future. This is the generally accepted theory, though Sir N. Barnaby[5] has made public a somewhat different view of the matter, and according to him, Admiral Sir George Sartorius, the naval officer principally concerned, lost his interest in the _Polyphemus_ when it was decided to give her an armament of torpedo tubes and some quick-firers against torpedo attack. So far as can be gauged, the torpedo tubes were likewise a naval innovation with which Sir N. Barnaby was also not much in sympathy. At any rate, he has put on record the view[5] that:-- “The introduction of torpedoes made the ship far more costly than she need have been, and it is possible that the type would have been continued and improved had the simplicity of the ram been adhered to.”