Sailors on H.M.S. Black Prince Firing Cannon and Rifles

Naval trainees show off their weapons prowess for the camera

Royal Navy recruits aboard the training ship HMS Black Prince show off what they've learned. Naval subjects like this one were popular with early filmgoers, partly no doubt due to the popular pride in Britain's then domination of the waves, but also because they offered a glimpse at a world few would have seen at first hand. Right from the start, the new medium was opening up new vistas for eager audiences.

This was the third Royal Navy ship to bear the name Black Prince, and was once, alongside its sister ship, HMS Warrior, the powerful warship in the world. By 1900, the Black Prince was refitted as a training ship and moored at Queenstown (now Cobh), County Cork.