[Illustration: A COMING TYPE OF BATTLESHIP. An interpretation of the funnel-less ship with internal combustion engines as suggested by Mr. J. McKechnie, M.I.N.A.] WARSHIPS AND THEIR STORY _Uniform with this Volume_ [Illustration] STEAMSHIPS AND THEIR STORY _By E. Keble Chatterton_ [Illustration] _CASSELL & CO., LTD., LONDON, E.C._ WARSHIPS AND THEIR STORY By R. A. FLETCHER Author of “Steam-Ships and Their Story” WITH COLOURED FRONTISPIECE BY CHARLES DIXON, R.I. AND 80 FULL-PAGE PLATES CASSELL AND COMPANY, LTD. London, New York, Toronto and Melbourne 1911 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED PREFACE To the people of a seafaring nation the story of the growth of the warship, from the primitive craft of our savage ancestors to the marvellous fighting machines of the present day, should prove of endless fascination. In this book I have sought to indicate somewhat of the lines upon which the development of the world’s warships has taken place. The amount of information available concerning warships is virtually inexhaustible, whether the ships are regarded structurally and comparisons are made of the forms of the hulls, the strains they may withstand, the speed of which they may permit, and their modes of propulsion; or whether, sociologically, as evidences of the stages of the progress of civilisation of the different peoples; or simply as aids to an appreciation of naval combat, of deeds afloat of individual and national heroism, of the rise and decline of maritime powers, and finally as implements in that tremendous struggle, which has made England what she is, for maritime supremacy. I have not written this book from any one of these aspects, but to describe in popular, not technical, language the more important types of warships favoured at different times in different parts of the world, to show, where possible, where type has succeeded type, and the main lines of divergence and development.