At the beginning of the nineteenth century the price of building these ships was £13 12_s._ 6_d._ a ton. By 1803 it had gone up to £19. Five years later there were ten of these ships lost; in fact the first decade of the new century was unfortunate generally. There were losses owing to disasters at sea, and the French war paralysed the Indian trade. But the Blackwall yard was kept busy, and in 1813 it built ten frigates for the British Government of from 1078 to 1571 tons, owing to the lessons which had been learnt from the American frigates. Having built so many East Indiamen, this mercantile yard was eminently fitted for constructing such craft. And now that the firm consisted of Sir Robert Wigram, George Green, Money Wigram and Henry Loftus Wigram, we can see the time approaching when the famous Blackwall frigates were to make their appearance, though we shall not come to them immediately. In 1814 was launched for the East India Company the 1263-ton _Lady Melville_, and the firm of Wigrams & Greens was now making a great deal of money. Three years later came the fine 1325-ton _Waterloo_. The only other port in the kingdom that in any way rivalled London was Liverpool. In 1751 there were only 220 ships belonging to Liverpool, but the opening of the American trade five years later gave it a great impetus. Then came those years of war which checked this, but on the resumption of peace in 1815 the Mercantile Marine received a wonderful impetus which has culminated in the magnificent Atlantic liners of to-day. There was the great industrial awakening in Yorkshire and Lancashire, a big trade was to be built up with America, and the haven of the Mersey was geographically suitable for the exports and imports. Britain was supreme at sea, foreign shipping had almost disappeared, the demand for tonnage was increasing rapidly, and the Mercantile Marine was very much encouraged. In fact, from 1815 to 1860 the service passed through the most popular days of its long career.