2-913-975 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

H.M. Screw Line-of-Battle Ship "Caesar", 90, at Portsmouth, 1854. British warship being prepared for service in the Crimean War. Among the '...mighty preparations for the coming struggle was the fitting of the Caesar (Capt. Robb)...new screw-ship, at our great naval arsenal, Portsmouth...Her hull is of wood, and she is fitted with Messrs. John Penn and Son's patent engines...The time occupied in the fitting was five weeks; the greatest number of men at work, at any one time, was 300, working from seven in the morning until nine at night...There might be heard the fleet for the North Sea practising morning and afternoon in gunnery, when the firing was magnificent: the victualling was going on with surprising activity; and the taking in stores demanded a continuance of exertions which were almost superhuman...[She] left Portsmouth, to augment the [Royal Navy] fleet under Admiral Napier'. From "Illustrated London News", 1854.