THE UNITED STATES’ CRUISER “BROOKLYN.”
This vessel attracted considerable attention on account of her peculiar shape and up-to-date equipment. She is fitted with non-inflammable wooden decks, and carries eight 8-inch guns in four turrets, forward, aft, and on each beam. She is painted white, a fact which led the irreverent tars to christen her “The Cement Factory.”
“For three hours this miracle of brightness shone wondrously at Spithead. At half-past eleven or so the Prince returned the second time as before, and the golden fleet sent a thunder of salute after him. Then, as I stood on the high roof of the Central Hotel, the clock struck twelve, and before my eyes the golden fleet vanished—vanished clean away in a moment. You could just see it go.
“Here half a ship broken off, there masts and funnels hanging an instant in the air; it all vanished, and nothing at all was left except the rigging lights, trembling faintly once more on the dark sea.”
From a Photograph] [by West & Son, Southsea.
THE NAVAL REVIEW: THE FLEET, LOOKING WEST.
Photographed from the Flagship of the Commander-in-Chief, the Renown. The nearest vessel is H.M.S. Powerful; the next beyond is the Blake. In the other line are the Galatea, Aurora, Edgar, Melampus, &c.
