Note 209 — Chapter XXVIII · THE NEW DEPARTURE.

As a matter of fact it was weaker than it should have been, but this was due to the neglect of shipbuilding by Mr. W. H. Smith, whose favourite policy was to make old ships do for new ones by patching their boilers. Lord Northbrook had pushed on shipbuilding, and made up leeway so that in first-class ironclads the country was more than a match for France. But much had still to be done in other directions—e.g., in providing vessels for scouting, and for torpedo warfare. The armament of the Navy was also obsolete, in fact, when Mr. Smith handed the Navy over to Lord Northbrook, there was not a single big breech-loading gun mounted in the Fleet.