This paper examines the properties of three lead zirconate titanate (PZT) compositions that posses an internal bias field. The materials considered are Navy Type I, Navy Type III and a new composition called biased PZT (b-PZT). The latter was developed to achieve similarly low loss levels and similarly high internal bias field and coercive field as Navy Type III, but with higher piezoelectric charge coefficients. The three materials were characterized by measuring polarization vs. field as well as the displacement of multi-layer stack actuators. Field-induced crack propagation studies were also performed as a means to assess the relative robustness of the materials. In addition, the properties of barrel-stave flextensional transducers fabricated using the three materials were measured and compared. It is shown that the new b-PZT composition is a suitable substitute for Navy Type I and Navy Type III and may provide superior performance in high-power sonar transducers and other demanding applications. 1.