The first battleships to carry them were the British laid down in 1889. They were adopted as a result of live-firing trials against in 1888. Casemates were adopted because it was thought that the fixed armour plate at the front would provide better protection than a turret, and because a turret mounting would require external power and could therefore be put out of action if power were lost – unlike a casemate gun, which could be worked by hand. The use of casemates enabled the 6-inch guns to be dispersed, so that a single hit would not knock out all of them. Casemates were also used in protected and armoured cruisers, starting with the 1889 . and retrofitted to the 1888 during construction.