At the time of the great naval review it was thought that it would be a
good thing to put this system to a test, and so several of the Naval
Reserve merchantmen were ordered to fit out as gunboats.

One of the vessels thus put into use was the _Teutonic_ of the White
Star line, one of the regular ocean steamers that ply between England
and America.

She arrived in Liverpool on June 21st, and immediately received orders
to transform herself into a war-vessel, and take her place in the naval
review at Spithead.

As soon as her passengers and freight had been landed her crew set to
work to take her war supplies on board.

A British naval officer had been sent from Portsmouth to superintend the
work, and under his direction magazines and armories were arranged, gun
platforms were built, and sixteen guns were taken on board and mounted.

In the crew of the _Teutonic_ were some fifty sailors who were members
of the British Naval Reserve. To them rifles and cutlasses were
supplied, and they in their turn were transformed into regular
man-of-war's men.

The rest of the crew was made up from sailors drafted from other
warships, and then the _Teutonic_ was ready to take her place in the
great Jubilee naval parade.

So fine an appearance did she make that she was put at the head of one