is estimated at L188,350, of which L100,000 is regarded as the cost of hull.  When complete she will be manned by a complement of 254 officers and men.  In the slipway vacated by the AEolus a second class cruiser, to be named the Hermione, will be laid down forthwith.  The Hermione may be regarded as an enlarged AEolus, and will measure 320 ft. in length, 49 ft. 6 in. in breadth, with a displacement of 4,360 tons, on a mean draught of water of 19 ft.  The new cruiser will be supplied with propelling machinery of the same power as the AEolus, to be constructed in the dockyard from Admiralty designs.  The coal capacity of the Hermione is to be 400 tons, and her estimated speed is 19.5 knots.

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TRIALS OF H.M.  CRUISER BLAKE.

Special interest, says Engineering, attaches to the trials of the protected cruiser Blake, in view of the assertion frequently made by Admiralty authorities, from the first lord downward, to the effect that with her sister ship Blenheim she would surpass anything hitherto attempted.  The condition of steaming continuously for long periods and over great distances at 20 knots per hour was made a ruling condition in the design, and with forced draught she was to be able to attain 22 knots when occasion required.  But all idea of getting these high results has been abandoned.  Our readers do not need to be reminded of the frequent failure of boilers in the navy.  Although in the newer ships, profit has been gained by experience, larger boilers being provided with separate combustion chambers for each furnace; the Blake’s boilers belong to the type of defective design, with the result that, were they pressed under forced draught, the tubes would leak.  It was, therefore, decided some time ago to be content with natural draught results, and on Wednesday, Nov. 18, the vessel was taken out from Portsmouth, and ran for seven hours with satisfactory results, considerably exceeding the contract power.  But the speed was but 19.12 knots, and 22 knots can never be attained, except, of course, new boilers be provided, and when an expenditure of 5 or 6 per cent. of the first cost of the vessel (433,755_l._) would give her new boilers, it seems a pity to be content with the lesser speed, more particularly as the vessel is well designed and the engines efficient.

[Illustration:  THE NEW BRITISH CRUISER BLAKE.]

Before dealing with the engines and their trials, it may be stated that the vessel is of 9000 tons displacement at 25 ft. 9 in. mean draught.  Her length is 375 ft. and her beam 65 ft.  She was built at Chatham, and the armament consists of two 92 in. 22-ton breech-loading guns, ten 6-in. 5-ton guns and sixteen 3-pounder quick-firing, and eight machine guns, with torpedo launching carriages and tubes.  The propelling engines were manufactured by Messrs. Maudslay Sons & Field, Lambeth.  They were designed to develop 13,000 horses with natural,