The failure of the Admiralty to obtain a boiler suited
to the needs of war-ships has been generally recognised both in the Report on the Naval Estimates, and in the debate in the House of Commons, though Mr. Forwood, while admitting that in his own opinion the boilers placed in the new vessels had been for some time inadequate in size and deficient in construction, pleaded that the Blake," Blenheim,' and' Vulcan' should not be considered as failures, because, though they are nearly four knots slower than was promised, they are still fast vessels, and because the increase of power needed to gain the last few extra knots is extravagant, and out of proportion to that required for lower speeds. He seems to forget that it was to provide this additional power-5,000 horse-power in the case of the Blake '—that the extra cost of the vessels was agreed to by Parliament, and that, as this condition was not fulfilled, the ships have failed in what was intended to be their principal excellence. The weights of the new boilers are to be increased 20 per cent., though Mr. Forwood, who is thinking of the larger vessels, and admits that it is impossible to carry in war-ships boilers approaching in weight those used by the mercantile marine, says nothing of the eighteen 'Sharpshooters' which are building, two of which have already failed to do their speed. Meantime, the tubulous boiler, which Lord George Hamilton suggested as a possible remedy, is growing in favour both in France and America, and the whole of the sea-going torpedo-boats now building are to be fitted with it in both countries.
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