M. August Normand of Havre had achieved remarkably economical results with the engines of torpedo boats constructed by his firm for the French Government. He had recently delivered to the French Government four single-screw torpedo boats (numbers 126,127 and 128) and one twin-screw boat, the Avant Garde. The fuel consumption at 10 knots was so small in Numbers 126, 127 and Avant Garde that it was deemed advisable to carry out a trial with No. 128 with exceptional care, and for this purpose the boat made two runs on successive days, of eight hours each. It was found that the consumption of fuel for both days was 0.462 kilograms per French horsepower hour. The boat (length 121 feet, beam 18 feet 2 inches, draught 3 feet 9 and a half inches; displacement 79 tons) was fitted with an inverted-vertical double-acting compound marine engine operating at 320 revolutions per minute with steam supplied at 143 pounds per square inch by a locomotive marine boiler.