officers and men eat at the same tables and partake of the same food.
If any officer or private objected to it or violated this rule, he was
dismissed the service, for it was considered injurious to the service
on board ship to keep any discontented person. The crew consisted of
two hundred privates, fifty corporals, five sergeants, ten lieutenants,
ten captains, one chief engineer with two assistants, one lieutenant
commander and the commander, who was captain of the ship and had the
same rank and pay as a colonel in the army.

The gunner and assistant gunners held the same rank and pay as captains
and lieutenants in the army. The chief engineer received the same as
the commander and took orders only from him, and his assistants
received the same pay as majors in the army, and the sergeants,
corporals and privates the same pay as in the army. The gunners and
assistant gunners were chosen from among the crew for the best
shooting, for it was justly held that victory in a naval battle rested
mostly on the shooting qualities of the man behind the gun.

The other battleship was rated first class and her dimensions were as
follows: Length, six hundred and thirty feet, breadth of beam ninety
feet, draught of water thirty feet. Armament: sixteen twelve-inch
caliber guns in single turrets and placed in the following manner:
forward on the lower gun deck, five guns; one on the center line of the
ship near the bow and two on each side further back. Five guns aft on
the lower gun deck; one on the center line of the ship near the stern
and two on each side in the same way as in the first part of the ship.
Three guns forward on the upper gun deck, one on the center line of the
ship and one on each side nearer amidships; three guns aft on the upper
gun deck in the relative positions. All the guns were placed so that
twelve guns could be brought to bear on an enemy ship. The lower gun
deck was twelve feet above the water line and the upper gun deck two,
and they were constructed and equipped as those on the second class.

The first class battleships carried one hundred and two more men than
the second class, consisting of six gunners, six assistant gunners,
eighteen corporals and seventy privates. No additional force was
required for the Engineer department of the ship. I inquired of the
Chief Engineer what make of engine they used and he replied that it was
the Hammond & Co. Rotary Engine and added: "We are indebted for this
eng