Early on the following day the fleet proceeded to sea, steaming past the German Emperor, who watched the evolution from the deck of the _Osborne_, moored in Sandown Bay. Thus did the new ruler of Germany, on whom Queen Victoria had just conferred the honorary rank of Admiral of the Fleet in the British service, gain a unique knowledge of the size and efficiency of the British Navy normally maintained on a peace footing in home waters. The contrast in organization and in administration between the British Navy and the German Army can hardly have failed to impress the young Emperor, who had devoted himself with unremitting persistency to the study of the military machine of his own country. Looking back with the knowledge which we now possess of the rapidity with which a navy can be raised from a peace footing to a war footing as exemplified by the modern German Navy, we can imagine the impression which the British mobilization made upon his Majesty. And then, when the time came for the ships to pass out of the anchorage into the channel, the delays and confusion which occurred must have suggested to the young ruler, familiar with the standard of efficiency attained by the German Army, that something was lacking. A contemporary account of this evolution records that: "It was at half-past three in the morning that the fleet began to unmoor preparatory to proceeding to sea, but it was not until nearly eleven that Sir George Tryon--the Admiral in supreme command--was able to give the signal for his squadron to weigh anchor. Nearly all the delay was caused by trouble and mishaps connected with the anchoring gear of various ships. There is no part of the equipment of a man-of-war which requires more management and experience in handling than the ground tackle. Every vessel has peculiarities of her own in this respect, therefore it is due, probably, to the crews being in most cases quite strange to their ships, and to the officers not yet having got the hang of things, that so many shortcomings were made apparent. Soon after ten o'clock Admiral Baird, in command of the other section of the fleet, got impatient of further delay, for it was manifest that if he did not start speedily another review might have to be postponed. So he signalled the ships of his squadron to proceed to sea as soon as ready, and shortly afterwards they began filing out eastward in a long single line. But some ships could not obey the order; and amongst these were the _Anson_, _Collingwood_, and _Inflexible_, still engaged in getting up their anchors."