Charles Dickens offered a short meditation on the construction of HMS Achilles following a visit to Chatham Dockyard in 1863, first published in the weekly magazine All the Year Round on August 29, 1863, and then included in his collection The Uncommercial Traveller. Dickens came away impressed by the experience, and the idea that such a large iron construction could float or move.
In 1863, Charles Dickens penned a short essay about the construction of HMS Achilles following a visit to Chatham Dockyard, which was first published in All the Year Round on August 29. The piece was later included in his collection The Uncommercial Traveller. Dickens was impressed by this experience and the idea that such an enormous iron structure could float or move.