For some time the official Navy List was the only source to which researchers could go to learn the names of Her Majesty's ships and the number of guns they carried. Beyond these elementary facts, and the names of the commanding and principal officers, together with the stations upon which the vessels were employed, the Navy List had always been silent. However naval annuals such as Particulars of the Warships of the World issued by Lloyd's Register of British and Foreign Shipping had thrown light upon the technicalities of warship construction, and had afforded abundant statistics regarding British and foreign war fleets.