Whether my readers belong to the bluest of the “blue water” school; whether they advocate two British keels to one possessed by any possible combination of foreign powers as the irreducible minimum below which the British fleet shall not go; whether they take a more moderate view, founded, as they believe, on the power of the nation to pay for its fleet, and the ability of other nations to pay for their fleets, in which case the ability of some other nations to borrow money to have their best vessels built in British yards must not be lost sight of; or whether my readers belong to the other extreme and believe that any and every British fleet is too powerful and that the time is coming when the Imperial cheek shall be turned to the envious smiter: whatever be their political and social faiths, the fact remains that the fleet in being is the sole guarantee of this nation’s safety, and that the payments for the several warships and the personnel of the Navy are but so many premiums for insuring the defence of the country and the maintenance of the inviolate integrity of these islands. Whether the money has always been spent to the best advantage is a point upon which experts differ, and is outside my intention to consider. But I hope to show something of the types of vessels provided, and, incidentally, to indicate how engineering skill and profound science have been devoted to the evolution of the modern ship of war. * * * * * The earliest known employment of a warship dates back, according to the present computations of Egyptologists, some six thousand years B.C.; but discoveries yet to be made may cause that estimate to be revised, for the more the scientific investigation of ancient Egypt is pursued, the greater is the tendency to date events more remotely still. All that is known of this ship is that it existed, and that it saw service as escort to a trading expedition on the Nile. The first naval engagement of which we have any definite knowledge was fought near the mouth of the Nile about 1000 B.C. The ships held only a few men each and were propelled by rowers, and so little dependence was placed on their sails that the latter were furled to be out of the way during the actual fighting. For hundreds of years oars were the chief means of propulsion, the sails only being availed of when the wind was very favourable. To increase the speed of the vessels, bank after bank of oars was added until ships carrying as many as eighteen banks are averred to have been constructed--though the evidence of the correctness of the statement is a long way from being conclusive--and one historian even goes to the length of asserting that a ship having forty banks of oars was built, but this may be disbelieved. For the most part, ships having two, three, or four banks were preferred for war purposes, because of their handiness.