On March 6, 1889, a meeting was held at the Admiralty on second-class battleships, which was attended by the chief shipbuilder of the English fleet, W. White. At the meeting, a decision was made on the tactical purpose of the ships, their dimensions, proposed shipbuilding elements and weapons were determined. At the meeting, it was decided that these ships were being built primarily for service at the Chinese and Pacific stations as flagships. At the same time, they must be stronger than the foreign ships they may encounter in battle. Usually these were cruisers. Russian armored cruisers with 8-inch artillery were considered the most likely opponents. Taking into account that the new battleships would have to operate in Chinese rivers, they also needed a shallow draft. A repetition of the armored cruiser Imperius, which served at the Chinese station and had a draft of 27 f 3 dm, was tried to be avoided at all costs. Vesey Hamilton, who was present at the meeting, expressed his opinion that the best draft was 26 feet, which allows one to serve in these waters “comfortably and without problems.”