Their development has been a process long and painful.

On no other things has so much money been spent; to perfect no other things have so many lives been sacrificed; on no other things, excepting possibly religion, have so many books been written; to no other things has the strenuous exertion of so many minds been devoted; in operating no other things has such a combination of talent and genius and power of will and spirit been employed.
A battleship is an instrument requiring skill to handle well, considered both as a mechanism and as an organization.

Its effective handling calls for skill not only on the part of the captain, but on the part of all hands.

The finest dreadnaught is ineffective if manned by an ineffective crew.

The number and complexity of the mechanisms on board are so great as to stagger the imagination; and the circumstances of modern warfare are so difficult that, as between two forces evenly matched as to material, a comparatively slight advantage in errors made will turn the scale in favor of the more skilful.