This work is an interpretation of the complete transformation of the Royal Navy which took place in the years between the Napoleonic and Russian Wars. The book sets out to show how the Admiralty, far from being obstructive to the introduction of steam power, grasped those opportunities which came with the Industrial Revolution. The application of steam to industry and transport on land, and to the propulsion of ships at sea, was as profound a development as the application of electronics in the latter part of this century. This book tells how the Royal Navy came to be right at the forefront of this development.