At first England and France had built and appropriated small ironclads to this secondary service; in France the _Belliqueuse_, in England the _Pallas_, were designed to this end. But in ’66 the first ship of the cruiser type was built for the British navy: the _Inconstant_, of Sir Edward Reed’s design, an iron-built, fine-lined vessel with a speed of 16 knots and a large coal capacity. She was followed by the corvettes _Active_ and _Volage_, and then, in ’73, by the _Shah_ and _Raleigh_. Experience with the early cruisers showed the advantages of large displacement. “The greater number of the American corvettes had now been launched. A trial of one of them showed that the high hopes which had been entertained of their performance were fallacious. It now appeared no longer necessary that the English corvettes should possess such extraordinary power and speed, qualities which necessarily required very large displacements. The Admiralty, however, still believing in the wisdom of the policy which they had previously adopted, decided to follow a totally different course from that which all other navies had been compelled by financial considerations to follow. So far from diminishing the size of their ships, increased displacement was given to the new designs.”[174] Full sail power was still required, for the high-power steam engine used by the cruiser for fighting purposes was most uneconomical. The _Raleigh_, for instance, burned her six hundred tons of coal in less than 36 hours, at full speed. But after the _Raleigh_ came a slight reaction. With a view to economy a smaller type of vessel was designed, the smallest possible vessel which could be contrived which would possess a covered-in gun deck in combination with other features considered essential in a frigate class; the result was the _Boadicea_ or the _Bacchante_ class. In the late ’seventies size again increased, and the _Iris_ and _Mercury_, unsheathed vessels of steel, with coal-protection for their water-line and extended watertight subdivision of the hull, were laid down. From the unarmoured, unprotected cruiser was in time evolved, by the competition of units, the armoured cruiser. Russia led the way. Her _General-Admiral_, the first belted cruiser, was built to compete with the _Raleigh_ and _Boadicea_. Then England designed the _Shannon_, partially belted and with protective deck and coal protection, to outmatch her. Eventually the cleavage came, and the cruisers were themselves divided into two or more classes, in accordance with their duties, size and fitness for the line of battle. * * * * *