Abstract: A seawater activated battery plate, and a method of making the same, utilizing an electrically conducting grid and an active reducible material primarily constituting lead chloride adhering to the grid such that the grid is exposed at a surface of the active material, the material adjacent the grid primarily constituting porous lead and a metal chloride. The battery plate is characterized by its inexpensive method of manufacture, its quick activation even in cold seawater, its absence of significant voltage peaking at initial discharge and uniform voltage generation during discharge.