Constructionally, wooden battleships had about attained the limit of size. Already they revealed unmistakable signs of longitudinal weakness, and it had been a problem, which the builders up to that time had been unable to solve, how to stiffen the hulls so that they would withstand the hogging and sagging strains. It was not until Sir Robert Seppings introduced his system of ship construction that the difficulty was overcome, but the increase in the deadweight of the ship was great. Still, had it not been for his system it would have been impossible to construct some of the later vessels which left the ways before steam was introduced and iron was adopted for ship construction. Very few vessels were built larger than those which fought in Trafalgar Bay, though several were designed. The improvements made were rather in the form of the underbody in order to increase the speed and sea-going qualities of the ships. One of the largest old-style battleships ever proposed was the _Duke of Kent_, which was to have been a four-decker carrying one hundred and seventy guns, and having a tonnage of 3,700. She was to have been given a length of 221 feet 6 inches on the gun-deck, an extreme breadth of 64 feet, and a depth of hold of 26 feet. On the lower deck she was to have had thirty-six 32-pounders, and a similar complement on the lower middle deck; thirty-six 24-pounders on the middle deck; thirty-eight 18-pounders on the upper deck; ten 12-pounders and six 32-pounder carronades on the quarter-deck; and four 12-pounders and four 32-pounder carronades on the forecastle. Though she never progressed beyond the paper stage, these particulars are interesting as showing what the naval architects of a hundred years ago were prepared to design. The _Queen_ of one hundred and ten guns, the first three-decker launched after Queen Victoria’s accession, the _Vernon_ of fifty guns, and _Pique_ of forty guns, and others of various classes were designed by Sir W. Symonds, who, during his fifteen years’ surveyorship to the Admiralty, was responsible for no fewer than one hundred and eighty vessels. The finer lines he gave them increased their speed, and they were broader, loftier, and roomier between decks than their predecessors, and were better ships all round. They may be regarded as embodying the highest degree of excellence to which the sailing wooden warship attained.