The number of killed on the _Hornet_ by the enemy was one man, and but two were wounded. However, two men were hurt by the accidental explosion of a cartridge of whom one died. The _Peacock_ lost eight killed and thirty wounded--that is to say as a result of the Yankee’s fire the British lost thirteen times as many as the Yankees lost from theirs. The most significant fact of this battle was this, that but one of the British shot struck the _Hornet’s_ hull, and that one glanced off the bow, merely indenting the plank, while the _Peacock_ was, as told, shot under the water in fourteen minutes. The English historians lay stress on the fact that the _Hornet_ had thirty-twos to the _Peacock’s_ twenty-fours, just as they laid stress on the twenty-fours of the _United States_ and the _Constitution_ as against the eighteens carried by the British frigates they whipped. But the candid student of history will observe that the _Hornet’s_ hull was scratched only by a single shot. The _United States_ received but three shot in her hull during the fight with the _Macedonian_. The hull of the _Constitution_ was scarcely touched in the fight with the _Guerrière_, and so runs the whole record. Suppose the _Peacock_ had had sixty-four pounders instead of twenty-fours. Of what avail would they have been when her gunners could not hit the broadside of a ship “within half pistol-shot” range? The conventional comparison of the ships shows that the _Hornet_ measured 480 tons, carried ten guns, throwing 270 pounds of metal in a broadside, and had a crew of 135, of whom three were killed and wounded. The _Peacock_ measured 477 tons, carried ten guns, throwing 210 pounds of metal at a broadside, and was worked by 122 men, of whom thirty-eight were killed and wounded. Captain Peake was exceedingly proud of his ship. James says that “the _Peacock_ had long been the admiration of her numerous visitors for the tasteful arrangement of her deck, and had obtained in consequence the name of ‘the yacht.’ The breechings of the carronades were covered with white canvas ... and nothing could exceed in brilliancy the polish upon the traversing bars and elevating screws.” In polish the _Hornet_ was not to be compared with her.