The year 1852 brought an event of the utmost importance for the development of the Prussian Navy--the acquisition of Wilhelmshaven as a North Sea base. At that time Prussia did not possess an inch of coast-line on the North Sea, and could obtain access to it only through the Belt and the Sound, then under the control of the superior naval power of Denmark. Among the innumerable projects with which the National Assembly had been deluged, was the scheme of three citizens of Rendsburg for the construction of a water-way pretty much along the line subsequently followed by the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal. This plan was, however, based on the false assumption that Schleswig-Holstein would at once become, and ever afterwards remain, German territory. It had also been proposed to the Frankfort Government by an Oldenburg official that the Jade Bay should be chosen as the North Sea base for the fleet, and this suggestion seems to have fixed the attention of Prince Adalbert on the inlet which is now the chief naval headquarters of the German Empire. The Grand Duke of Oldenburg was approached, and he consented to cede to Prussia the piece of marshly land which has since been covered by the harbours, docks, shipyards, workshops, barracks, and fortifications of Wilhelmshaven. Prussia paid a sum of 500,000 thalers for this invaluable possession, and at the same time took upon herself the protection of the coast and sea-trade of the duchy. Herculean efforts and inexhaustible patience were required to adapt Prussia's acquisition on the Jade to its destined purposes. Years had to be spent in a careful survey of the bed of the harbour, in order to ascertain how far the channel was affected by the movements of sand and mud under the influence of the tide. Further years were consumed by the task of sinking piles in the treacherous peaty soil to obtain a solid foundation for dock and harbour walls. Frequently a storm or a spring tide destroyed in a few hours the fruits of months of strenuous labour. As Hanover refused to allow the construction of a railway across her territory, which lay between Prussia and Oldenburg, it was necessary to convey all the building materials to the spot by the long and tedious sea-route. At first not even drinking-water was to be had on the desolate site, and prolonged and costly exertions were needful before it could be procured in sufficient quantities. Sixteen years elapsed before the new harbour was formally declared open by the Prussian King, afterwards the Emperor William I., in the presence of British ships, the officers of which probably regarded the works with indulgent curiosity and little guessed the significance which Wilhelmshaven would one day possess for their own country. When the second war with Denmark broke out in 1864, Prussia's fleet was still absurdly inadequate to deal with the naval force opposed to it. The ship establishment at the close of 1863 was composed as under: _Steamships with Fighting Value._