The converted ships carried differing numbers of mines, with figures ranging from about eighty to roughly one hundred and ten. Both deck strength and the weight of the mine type available at conversion may explain the variation. The tentative explanation treats 1890s marine steel as less standardized than the material produced in much larger quantities after 1900, leaving more ship-to-ship variation among nominal sisters. It comes from a naval-architecture book recalled from memory rather than a checked specification, so it remains a hypothesis.
Notable Point · 58:23-59:56
Mine capacity exposes variation in early marine steel
Different mine loads among Apollo sisters lead into a cautious explanation of variable deck strength, changing mine weight, and the limited standardization of 1890s marine steel.