Launch Of The German Frigate Kaiser At Poplar

Launch of the German frigate Kaiser at Poplar, 1874. A '...powerful ship of war, built by Mr. J. D. Samuda, M.P., of the firm of Samuda Brothers, for the Imperial Government of Germany...[She] was designed by Mr. E. J. Reed, late Chief Constructor for the Admiralty...The hull is protected by an armour belt..., with an armour-plated battery on main deck fitted to contain eight 22-ton steel breech-loading guns. They are arranged to fire broadside; but the two foremost guns, one on each side, are also adapted for use as bow chasers, and capable of being trained to cross-fire before the vessel; the two after guns can be trained to fire within fifteen degrees of the line of keel...The Kaiser will be "ship" rigged, with a full amount of sail-power, so as to be able, as a sailing-vessel, to secure the greatest efficiency when under canvas without the aid of steam. The engines, manufactured by Messrs. J. Penn and Sons, of Greenwich, are a pair of horizontal, direct-acting trunk engines, of the collective nominal power of 1150 horses, but capable of exerting 8000 indicated horse-power, arranged to work expansively, and having surface condensers and superheaters. The speed will be fourteen knots an hour'. From "Illustrated London News", 1874. Creator: JR Wells. (Photo by The Print Collector/Heritage Images via Getty Images)