The batteries of the H.M.S. Terrible let loose.
Much of the terror of gunfire from a capital ship is the roar of the guns, and silent movies are..... well, they're silent, with only a piano or perhaps a small orchestra to offer the aural side of the nerve-wracking, terrifying racket.
So how do you shoot that? How do you take a movie camera and make a movie that lasts less than a minute, that will inspire the accompanist, who will add his or her skill to the visuals, and so inform the audience?
William Dickson did that here.