s that had yet been built. The length of gun-deck
measured 158 ft.; width, 40 ft. 4 in.; depth of hold, 13 ft. 6 in.;
tonnage, 1,152; they each carried 42 guns and 280 men.

Again, in 1790, the force of new ships of the various rates was much
increased. The largest line-of-battle ship then built was the
_Hibernia_, of 110 guns. She was the first of her class introduced into
the navy. Her dimensions were as follows:--Length on gun-deck, 201 ft. 2
in.; extreme breadth, 53 ft. 1 in.; depth of hold, 22 ft. 4 in.; burthen
in tons, 2,508. The armament consisted of thirty 32-pounders on the
lower deck, thirty 24-pounders on the middle, and thirty-two 18-pounders
on the upper decks, while eighteen 12-pounders were mounted on the
forecastle and quarter-deck. It is worthy of remark that, for some time
previously, the large line-of-battle ships carried 42-pounders on the
lower deck, but it was found that the 32-pounders could be loaded much
more quickly, and that a great advantage arose in consequence.

[Illustration: FIG. 56.--The _Commerce de Marseille_. Captured 1792.]

In the year 1792 the first 40-gun frigate, the _Acasta_, was built. This
type of vessel was intended to replace the old 44-gun two-decker. The
_Acasta_ measured 150 ft. on deck; 40 ft. 9-1/2 in. extreme breadth; 14
ft. 3 in. depth of hold; with a burthen of 1,142 tons. Her armament
consisted of thirty 18-pounders on the main deck, and ten 9-pounder long
guns on quarter-deck and forecastle.

[Illustration: FIG. 57.--British first-rate. 1794.]

During the whole of our naval history down to comparatively recent
times, improvements in the dimensions and forms of our ships were only
carried out after they had been originally adopted by the French, or
Spaniards, or more recently by the people of the United States of
America. Thus, we find that, shortly after war had been declared against
the French Revolutionary Government in 1792, Admiral Hood took
possession at Toulon, amongst other vessels, of a French first-rate
called the _Commerce de Marseille_, which was larger and mounted more
guns than any vessel in the service of Great Britain. Fig. 56 is an
illustration of this fine man-of-war, which was 208 ft. 4 in. long on
the lower deck, 54 ft. 9-1/2 in. broad, of 25 ft. depth of hold, and of
2,747 tons burthen. As an instance of the progress in size, as related
to armament, made during the century, we may compare the dimensions of
this French first-rate with those