This new, more extensively illustrated edition of the authoritative 1990 work shows how, in the years after the Battle of Waterloo, British warships developed from sail and wood to steam and iron, culminating in the world’s first iron-hulled, seagoing battleship, HMS Warrior. Written by a naval architect, it progresses from the structural innovations of Robert Seppings (1767–1840) to subsequent refinements of steam and the paddle-fighting ship, metal hulls and screw propulsion, and the evolving role of the Royal Navy.