It was inspired by a letter written to the St James's Gazette, whose author "seemed to believe that naval warfare of the future would be conducted on the old Nelsonic battle lines, including boarding, etc.
Whilst the name is similar to HMS Camperdown, the physical description—"one bow-gun of a hundred ton / and a great stern-gun beside"—is closer to that of her sister ship Benbow, which was built with an experimental armament.
The 16.25-inch guns of Benbow, the largest and most powerful then fitted to a Royal Navy battleship, were not greatly successful in service; they took four or five minutes to load and fire, the barrels only had a life of 75 rounds, and the muzzles tended to droop.
The ships of this class were only partially armoured, with the bow and stern being lightly protected, and had low freeboard; these factors are noted and reflected in the text.
In 1892, Benbow had recently been removed from active service and was serving as a guard ship at Greenock; the defects in her design would have been clear by this point.