The Italian, Russian, German, Austrian, and Turkish Navies
The Continental navy next in present interest to that of France is the Italian, owing to the fact that the Italian government, although largely abstaining from the use of armor, has applied itself urgently to developments of gun-power and speed in large war-ships. The Duilio and Dandolo (illustrated on page 105) were considered in the chapter on the French navy, and their resemblance to the Inflexible type pointed out. They are nearly as large as the Inflexible, although differing greatly in proportions and form from her. They appear to me to be more objectionable, from the want of armored stability, if one may so speak, than even the Ajax and Agamemnon, which are themselves, as we know, more objectionable than the Inflexible. The cause of this is to be found in the fact that in designing the British ships, whatever else they may have lost sight of, the Admiralty constructors saw that the more you contracted the length of the armored citadel, the more necessity there was for giving the ship great breadth. The reason of this can be made clear. The fractional expression which represents the statical stability of a ship has in its numerator the quantity y3x, in which y represents the half-breadth of the ship at the water-line, and x the length of the ship. If we regard the stability of the armored citadel only, and neglect the unarmored ends, x represents the length of that citadel, and y its half-breadth. Now if we take two rectangular citadels, one, say, 100 feet long and 60 feet broad, the other the same length, but only 50 feet broad, then the value of x will be the same for both, but the values of y3 will be 216,000 and 125,000 respectively, the ship 60 feet broad having, cæteris paribus, nearly double the citadel stability of the 50-feet broad ship. On the other hand, if you wish to give the narrower ship the same citadel stability as the broader one, it will be necessary to make her citadel no less than 172 8/10 feet long. Now the citadel of the Duilio is 107 feet in length,31 and the breadth is 64 feet 9 inches—say 65 feet. The citadel of the Inflexible is 110 feet long, and its breadth 75 feet, the figures for the Ajax being 140 feet and 66 feet. Now presuming the citadels to be rectangular in each case, we shall have,
Inflexible y3x = 618,750 Ajax y3x = 453,024 Duilio y3x = 452,075
From which it would appear that the Duilio of 11,000 tons derives from this element of stability only about as much as the Ajax of 8500 tons derives from it, and only about three-fourths of that which the Inflexible of 11,400 had allowed to her. There are other circumstances, of course, which enter into the stability of these ships, but nothing which I know of or can imagine to enable the Duilio to compare much more favorably in this respect with the other vessels, deficient as they themselves are. All this applies, of course, solely to the ability of these ships to depend upon their armored citadels for safety in war: in peace they are all safe enough as regards stability, because they have their unarmored ends to add largely to it, although I should doubt if the Duilio is greatly over-endowed with stability even with her long unarmored ends intact.
I now come to a series of ships in which the question of the amount of their armored stability does not arise, because they have no armored stability at all. For some reason or other Lloyds, in their Universal Register, following bad examples, have arrayed the Italia and her successors under the heading of “Sea-going Armor-clads.” These ships are nothing of the kind, in any reasonable sense of the word, but are, as ships, wholly unarmored, although carrying elevated armored towers, and some armor in other places. Mr. King (in his work previously referred to) puts the facts correctly when he says:
“The armor is only used” (in the form of a curved deck, be it understood) “to keep out shot and shell from the engines and boilers, the magazines, shell-room spaces, and the channels leading therefrom to the upper deck, and to protect the guns in the casemate when not elevated above the battery, and the gunners employed in firing them. But all other parts of the ship above the armored deck” (which is below water, be it said), “all the guns not in the casemate, and all persons out of the casemate, and not below the armored deck, will be exposed to the enemy’s projectiles.”
Mr. King takes note of this total abandonment of side armor as a means of preserving stability when a ship is pierced at the water-line, and regards this abandonment as a bold defiance of the principles which I have laid down for some years past. I cannot say that I take this view of the matter. I have always discussed this matter from the British navy point of view, and had these ships of the Italia type been built for the British navy in substitution of real iron-clads, while France, Russia, and other European countries were still building such iron-clads, I should have certainly condemned them. The primary requirement of British first-class ships is that they shall be able to close with and fight any enemy of the period whatever, and any defect which unfits them for this work, or makes it extremely dangerous to perform it, is a disgrace to England. Even if armor were given up by other powers, it would be a matter for careful consideration in England whether enough of it for the protection of their existence against contemporary guns should not be retained in her principal ships. England’s ability to live as a nation and as the head of an empire is dependent upon her naval superiority, and no price to purchase that can be too great for her to pay. But with Italy the case was and is wholly different. She could not compete with England in naval power, and would not wish to if she could, for she is without an ocean empire to preserve. But Italy has European neighbors, and when she began to build these Italias and Lepantos she had for neighbor one power, France, which had unwisely persisted for years in building wooden armor-clads, neither strongly protected nor swift, nor very powerfully armed; and I am not at all sure that, to such a navy as France then had, a few extremely fast and very powerfully armed ships such as Italy built were not excellent answers. The Italia would have been available also against a very large proportion of the British iron-clad fleet, and of the fleets of Austria, Turkey, and Russia. The idea of the Italian ministers clearly was to give weaker ships no time for long engagements with them, but to pounce upon them by means of enormous speed, and to destroy them at a blow by means of their all-powerful ordnance. They might well expect to have with such ships so great a command over the conditions under which they would give battle as to be well able to repair in time, and at least temporarily, such dangerous wounds as they might receive. But more than this cannot be said for such ships: they are not fit to engage in prolonged contests, or to fight such actions as by their assaults on superior numbers and their endurance of close conflict have won that “old and just renown” of which England is so deservedly proud. It seems to me as obvious as anything can possibly be that such ships as the Italia, if once adopted as models for other great powers, would admit of easy and cheap answers. Ships of equal speed, merely belted with very thick armor, and armed with an abundance of comparatively light shell-guns, would effectually defy them. There would be no need of enormous and costly armaments, or of ponderous armored towers, or of huge revolving turrets, for giving battle to ships which any shells would be able to open up to the inroads of the sea, and which, being opened up, would lose their stability, and insist upon turning bottom upward. But for the purposes of the Italian government, as I conjecture them, the Italia class of ships, large as they are, have probably been excellent investments, and may continue to be, so long as the priceless value of impregnable belts and interior torpedo defence is understood by so very few.
The Italian government, having completed the Italia, is now pressing forward with four other equally large ships (of over 13,000 tons each) of similar type, and with three others of 11,000 tons. Curiously enough, it keeps with these among the “war vessels of the first class” not only the Palestro and Principe Amedeo, of about 6000 tons, launched in 1871-72, but also the Roma, a wooden vessel of 5370 tons, launched twenty years ago, and some four or five iron ships, of 4000 tons and of 12 knots speed, launched more than twenty years ago. I will not occupy time and space by regarding the particulars of these old vessels (having omitted similar ones from my French tables), but will here give the particulars of the modern vessels of the Italian first class, which alone deserve notice:
MODERN ITALIAN WAR-SHIPS OF THE FIRST CLASS.
| Name of Ship. | Displace- ment. | Indicated Horse-power. | Speed. | Length. | Breadth. | Draught of Water. | Greatest Thickness of Armor. | Heaviest Guns carried. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tons. | Knots. | Feet. | Feet. In. | Feet. In. | Inches on Sides. | |||
| Duilio | 11,140 | 7,700 | 11.1 | 340 | 64 4 | 26 8 | 22 | 4 of 101 tons. |
| Dandolo | 11,200 | 7,700 | 11.2 | 340 | 64 4 | 27 | 22 | 4 ″ 101 ″ |
| Inches on Towers. | ||||||||
| Italia | 13,900 | 18,000 | 18 | 400 | 74 | 27 8 | 19 | 4 ″ 103 ″ |
| Lepanto | 13,550 | 18,000 | 18 | 400 | 73 4 | 27 8 | 19 | 4 ″ 103 ″ |
| Re Umberto | 13,250 | 19,500 | 18 | 400 | 74 9 | 28 7 | 19 | 4 ″ 106 ″ |
| Sicilia | 13,250 | 19,500 | 18 | 400 | 74 9 | 28 7 | 19 | 4 ″ 106 ″ |
| Sardegna | 13,250 | 19,500 | 18 | 400 | 74 9 | 28 7 | 19 | 4 ″ 106 ″ |
| Lauria | 11,000 | 10,000 | 16 | 328 | 67 | 27 | 14 | 4 ″ 103 ″ |
| Morosini | 11,000 | 10,000 | 16 | 328 | 67 | 27 | 14 | 4 ″ 103 ″ |
| Doria | 11,000 | 10,000 | 16 | 328 | 67 | 27 | 14 | 4 ″ 103 ″ |
The manner in which the towers and guns of the Italia type are arranged is shown in section and in plan, which are taken for convenience from the works of Mr. King and of Lord Brassey, and were prepared, I believe, from official drawings.32
Among her unarmored vessels, in addition to a large number of old and slow small craft, Italy possesses some fast modern war-ships of the second and lower classes which are deserving of notice. In the first place, she has eight steel vessels ranging from 2500 tons to 3600 tons, which Lloyds describe as “deck-protected cruisers,” with a total absence of any justification, I think, excepting that other people have doubtless done so before.33
There certainly are people who for business or other purposes would call anything a “protective deck,” but why these eight vessels should be removed from the category of unarmored ships, and constitute a class by themselves, is more than I can imagine even the slightest reason or justification for. I do not know any modern naval gun which will not penetrate an inch steel plate when presented to it as it is in the curving down decks of these vessels. It appears to me a trifling with serious matters to try and induce naval authorities, officers, and seamen to believe that these vessels, and similar ones wherever they are to be found, have any pretensions to be regarded as “protected.”
These unarmored vessels are, however, notable for high speed, three of them being of fifteen knots, and the other five of seventeen knots. One of these 17-knot vessels, the Giovanni Bausan, built by Sir William Armstrong & Co., at Newcastle-on-Tyne, so closely resembles the Chilian vessel Esmeralda that the engraving of the latter vessel on this page may be taken to illustrate the general character of both. The breadth (42 feet) is the same in each, and so is the draught of water (18½ feet), but the Bausan is a few feet longer than the other. The armament is almost precisely the same, being two guns of about twenty-five tons, mounted one forward and one aft, and six of four tons. I have chosen the Esmeralda for the illustration of both vessels because (by the favor of Sir William Armstrong & Co.) I am in possession of an instantaneous photograph of her at full speed, from which the engraving has been made. This is very interesting, because it exhibits what few readers are likely to have seen, but what most will be glad to see, viz., the form which is taken by the permanent waves that accompany such a ship when steaming at the full speed of seventeen knots in comparatively still water. The engraving also well represents the position of the bow and stern guns.
The 15-knot vessels of Italy are named Giojà, Amerigo Vespucci, Savoia, and Colombo, of which the Amerigo Vespucci is illustrated from a drawing by De Martino on page 115. Those of seventeen knots, besides the Bausan, are the Etna, Vesuvio, Stromboli, and Fieramosca. All the last-named vessels carry the same armament as the Bausan; the others an armament of 4-ton guns only. The Italian government also possesses (built or building) eight other vessels exceeding or reaching fifteen knots in speed, of which two are built of wood and the remainder of iron or steel. It has likewise of fast torpedo craft a 2000-ton vessel of nineteen knots, which mounts six 6-inch guns and nine 6-pounders; and four others of twenty knots, to carry machine guns, viz., the Tripoli and Goito, of 741 tons, and the Folgore and Saetta, of 317 tons. It is also proposed to build six others, of 741 tons and twenty knots, two of which, the Monzambano and Montebello, have been laid down at Spezzia. They have sixty-two complete first-class torpedo-boats of over one hundred feet in length, and twenty-one second-class, already built, of less than one hundred feet.
It will be seen from the foregoing statement that the Italian navy is one of much importance, capable of working great destruction upon an enemy’s fleet of ordinary ships, able to cope with no inconsiderable number of modern vessels, and such as would enable the Italian people and government to speak with a voice that would have to be attentively heeded by any possible ally or any probable enemy in the event of European complications arising, or of a European war becoming imminent. This does great credit to successive Italian political administrations.
Of late the German government has been very active in promoting commercial ship-building and ocean enterprise, but it has been very slack in the development of its imperial navy, and for this reason the Russian navy next claims our notice. Russia, with the continent of Europe interposed between its northern and its southern ports, is compelled to divide its naval strength into two, concentrating one part upon the Baltic and the other upon the Black Sea; and both these divisions of its navy are under restrictions which approach pretty nearly to the conditions of blockades. With winter comes the natural blockade of Cronstadt and St. Petersburg on the Baltic, and this sometimes lasts so long that I have myself seen the first merchant-vessel of the year approach Cronstadt on the 29th of May, or within a very few weeks of midsummer. In the South, Sebastopol and Nikolaiev are under the permanent domination of the Bosporus forts and fleets, and of European treaties, which are stronger still. The disasters of the war of 1854 and the political engagements which ensued have also borne heavily upon the naval spirit of Russia, and it says much for the greatness of that country that again, in spite of all these hinderances, it is raising its navy into a position of European importance.
Considering the Black Sea fleet first, the entire interest excited by its armor-clads centres in the three new 16-knot ships, the Catherine II., Sinope, and Tchesme. These three ships are belted throughout with 18-inch armor, and are armed with six guns of forty tons and seven of four tons, this battery being fought en barbette in towers plated with armor fourteen inches thick. The Universal Register and the French Carnet agree in assigning to the Catherine II. a length of 320 feet and a tonnage of 10,000, and to the other two ships a length of 314 feet and a tonnage of about 8600. They also agree in describing the horse-power of each of the three ships as 9000 indicated, and the speed as 16 knots. The Admiralty Return previously quoted gives them a speed of 15 knots, and equal tonnages of 10,800 tons.34 I am unable to give the tonnage decisively, but I know that the tonnage originally intended for these ships was 9990, and I am in possession of the details of the corresponding weights. The discrepancies as to steam-power and speed are matters of great moment. I believe that both the Universal Register and the French Carnet are wrong in associating a power of only 9000 horses with a speed of sixteen knots, the fifteen knots given by the Admiralty being the speed expected with 9000 indicated horse-power; but this power is to be obtained with natural draught, while with forced draught the power is to be increased to 11,400, and the speed increased to sixteen knots. The formidable character of these ships needs no comment, although I cannot regard them as nearly equivalent to or as well designed as the somewhat larger Nile and Trafalgar of the British navy. The only other Black Sea armored vessels are the slow and small, but somewhat powerful, circular ships Novgorod and Vice-admiral Popoff, of which the latter is surrounded by 18-inch armor, and carries two guns of forty tons. A torpedo-vessel of the 600 ton class, developing 3500 horse-power, and 20 knots speed has been built at Nikolaiev.
The Baltic fleet of Russia contains only one finished iron-clad of much importance, the Peter the Great, of 9340 tons and 14 knots speed, carrying four guns of 40 tons; but two other ships, the Emperor Alexander II. and the Nicholas I., of 8400 tons, are now under construction at St. Petersburg. No interest attaches to the Pojarsky, the four Admirals, and several other old, weak, and slow armor-clads of the Baltic navy. This fleet comprises, however, eight belted cruisers, of which five are important. These are as follows:
| Name of Ship. | Displacement. | Indicated Horse-power. | Speed. | Armor. | Principal Armament. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tons. | Knots. | Guns | |||
| Vladimir Monomach | 5800 | 7000 | 15.4 | 7-inch. | 4 of 9 tons. |
| Dmitri Donsköi | 5800 | 7000 | 16.25 | 7-inch. | 3 ″ 29 ”35 |
| Admiral Nachimoff | 7780 | 8000 | 16 | 10-inch. | 8 ″ 9 ″ |
| Alexander Nevsky | 7572 | 8000 | 16 | 10-inch. | 8 ″ 9 ″ |
| Emperor Nicholas | 8000 | 8000 | 16 | 10-inch. | 2 ″ 40 ″ |
The only fast armored cruisers of the Baltic fleet are the Rynda and Vitias, of 2950 tons, 3500 horse-power, and 15 knots speed; and another, the Admiral Korniloff, now being completed at Nantes, to be much larger and faster. Among torpedo-vessels there is the twin-screw steel Iljin, of 600 tons, which has steamed 20 knots, and carries 19 machine guns; another, of only 140 tons, but to steam 20 knots, has been built at Glasgow; and a third, of like size, but of 17 knots, at St. Petersburg. The torpedo-boats of the Russian navy are given in the Parliamentary Return as below:
Baltic Torpedo-boats.
Completed: 4 over 100 feet in length; 74 over 70 feet in length; 20 under 70 feet in length. Completed and building: 6 over 100 feet in length, of which 4 are over 150 feet long—total, 104.
Black Sea Torpedo-boats.
Completed: 5 over 100 feet in length; 8 over 70 feet in length; 6 under 70 feet in length. Completed and building: 7 over 100 feet in length—total, 26.
Russia has also a volunteer fleet consisting of ten vessels of no great fighting value; a Siberian flotilla comprising nine gun-boats and other small craft; a Caspian flotilla of seven small vessels; and an Aral flotilla of still less moment.
In the German armored navy four citadel vessels figure as having the heaviest (16-inch) armor, but these are of that objectionable Sachsen type to which I previously adverted. In order to let the reader see under what slight pretexts some people are prepared to regard ships as powerful iron-clads, I give engravings which represent the Sachsen in side view and in plan, these illustrations being taken from Captain J. F. von Kronenfels’s “Das Schwimmende Flottenmaterial der Seemächte.” The shaded portion in the middle exhibits the extent of this ship’s armor; the long white ends are left to depend upon walls of cork, etc., which are very poor—nay, almost imaginary—defences against the effects of explosive shells.
In observing the limitation of the armor in this and similar ships one is tempted to ask, Why stop there? Why not shorten the armor, say to twenty or thirty feet of length, and make it a yard thick, and then enter her in the list of iron-clads as a vessel with armor three feet thick? Deck-plating, according to such constructors, is ample for the protection of engines and boilers, and everything else which is below water.
The remaining three ships of this class are the Baiern, the Baden, and the Würtemberg. The engraving of the Sachsen represents their general appearance. Their dimensions and other particulars will be given presently in table on page 125, but it will be observed that the armament is arranged in a forward and in a midship battery, giving right-ahead fire with four guns, a stern fire with two, and beam fire with three.
The largest iron-clad of the German navy is the König Wilhelm, of 9750 tons, which steams at 14¾ knots. She is also the most thickly armor-plated (armor, twelve inches); but having been launched eighteen years ago, her guns, although numerous, are only of fourteen tons weight. I designed this ship for his Majesty, the late Sultan of Turkey, Abdul-Aziz, but before she was much advanced in construction she was purchased by the Prussian government, and passed from under my care. A few years later I designed the Kaiser and Deutschland for the Prussian government; and these vessels, built on the Thames, and launched in 1874, although 2000 tons smaller than the Wilhelm, steamed but one-fourth of a knot less (14½ knots). They carry 10-inch armor and 10-ton guns.
These ships are described on page 125. The principal ships built in Germany are the Preussen and the Friedrich der Grosse, which, although designed by the German Admiralty constructors, are but reproductions on a less scale, and with some variations, of the British turret-ship Monarch, designed by myself. Lord Brassey (in “The British Navy,” vol. i., page 22) says: “In the mean time Germany had constructed three turret-ships of precisely the same type as the Monarch, but of somewhat smaller dimensions. These were the Preussen, the Friedrich der Grosse, and the Grosser Kurfürst.”36 His lordship goes on to say (what I do not understand), “Their armor at the water-line is six inches thicker, while at the turrets it is two inches less, than that of the Monarch.” Now, as Lord Brassey elsewhere says (page 326), “the Monarch is protected with 8-inch armor,” and (page 333), writing of the Preussen, “that the armor-plates at the water-line are 9¼ inches thick, below the water 7¼ inches, and above the water 8¼ inches,” it is obvious that there cannot be the difference of six inches which his first-quoted statement alleges. There doubtless was a difference of an inch, or possibly of two inches, in so far as a few of the armor-plates were concerned, but not more, and how far this difference extended is very doubtful, seeing that nowadays if the constructor of a ship thickens but two or three plates on each side of his ship he feels entitled to speak of her as being armored with plates of the maximum thickness, and to mislead mankind accordingly. Nor is this surprising, when we see in a late return to the British Parliament ships like the British Collingwood class, the French Brennus class, and the German Sachsen class gravely included in the lists of “armored vessels.”
The particulars of the German armored fleet, leaving out the Hansa, a weak and weakly armed ship of only 3500 tons and 12 knots speed, and all smaller armored craft, are as follows:
SEA-GOING ARMORED SHIPS OF GERMANY.
| Name of Ship. | Displacement. | Indicated Horse-power. | Speed. | Maximum Armor. | Principal Armament. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tons. | Knots. | Inches. | Guns. | ||
| König Wilhelm | 9750 | 8300 | 14¾ | 12 | 18 of 14 tons. |
| Kaiser | 7550 | 8000 | 14½ | 10 | 8 ″ 18 ″ |
| Deutschland | 7550 | 8000 | 14½ | 10 | 8 ″ 18 ″ |
| Friedrich der Grosse | 6600 | 4930 | 14 | 9½ | 4 ″ 18 ″ |
| Preussen | 6600 | 4380 | 14 | 9½ | 4 ″ 18 ″ |
| Baden | 7280 | 5600 | 14 | 16 | 6 ″ 18 ″ |
| Baiern | 7280 | 5600 | 14 | 16 | 6 ″ 18 ″ |
| Sachsen | 7280 | 5600 | 14 | 16 | 6 ″ 18 ″ |
| Würtemberg | 7280 | 5600 | 14 | 16 | 6 ″ 18 ″ |
| Oldenburg | 5200 | 3900 | 13½ | 12 | 8 ″ 18 ″ |
| Friedrich Karl | 6000 | 3500 | 13½ | 5 | 16 ″ 9 ″ |
| Kronprinz | 5480 | 4800 | 14¼ | 5 | 16 ″ 9 ″ |
All the above German ships are completed, and have been for a long time, with the exception of the Oldenburg, which was not launched until 1884. The Baden was launched in 1880, the Baiern and Würtemberg in 1878, and all the rest earlier—the Friedrich Karl and Kronprinz nearly twenty years ago. Germany appears to have no iron-clad, large or small, under construction at present. It is unnecessary to set forth in detail her small armored gun-vessels; suffice it to say that she has one iron turret-ship, the Arminius, of 1560 tons, with 7½-inch armor, but only carrying four 9-ton guns, and steaming 10 to 11 knots; and eleven iron vessels of 10 feet draught of water, 1090 tons displacement, 700 horse-power, 9 knots speed, and 8-inch armor, each carrying one 12-inch gun of 37 tons. These were all built at Bremen, and launched between 1876 and 1880, inclusive. They are named after such agreeable creatures as basilisks, crocodiles, salamanders, scorpions, etc., but owing to their small speed would probably prove of less aggressive habits than their names imply. They would nevertheless be very useful in defending the coasts and harbors.
The abstention for the present of the German government from the construction of armored ships must not be taken as implying that it prefers the fast unarmored cruiser as a type of war-ships, for it has no such cruiser built, and is building but three of very high speed, and one of 16 knots.37 The particulars of these are as follows:
| Name of Ship. | Displacement. | Indicated Horse-power. | Speed. | Armament. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tons. | Knots. | Guns. | ||
| Elisabeth | 4500 | 8000 | 18 | 14 8-inch. |
| Ariadne | 4800 | 8000 | 18 | 14 8-inch. |
| Charlotte | 3360 | .... | 16 | .... |
| Loreley | 2000 | 5400 | 19 | 2 4-inch. |
The Admiralty Return makes no mention of the last ship, as she is but a despatch-vessel, but she is mentioned and particularized in the Universal Register. It is to be further observed that the first two vessels on this list are each to have a 3-inch deck, for the protection of the engines, boilers, etc., which fact has induced the Admiralty officers to designate them “protected ships,” as they do their own ships of this really unprotected type, and as they have not designated the French cruisers Tage and Cécile.
The German navy comprises a few modern and fast frigates, some of which have been honored with illustrious names, as will be seen from the following list:
GERMAN UNARMORED FRIGATES.
| Name of Ship. | Displacement. | Indicated Horse-power. | Speed. | Principal Armament. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tons. | Knots. | Guns. | ||
| Bismarck | 2850 | 2500 | 13½ | 16 of 3½ tons. |
| Moltke | 2850 | 2500 | 13½ | 16 ″ 3½ ″ |
| Stosch | 2800 | 2500 | 13½ | 16 ″ 3½ ″ |
| Stein | 2800 | 2500 | 13½ | 16 ″ 3½ ″ |
| Prinz Adalbert | 3860 | 4800 | 15 | { 2 ″ 6 ″ |
| {10 ″ 3½ ″ | ||||
| Leipzig | 3860 | 4800 | 15 | 10 ″ 3½ ″ |
| Charlotte | 3310 | 3000 | 15 | 18 ″ 4 ″ |
| Gueisenau | 2810 | 3000 | 15 | 16 ″ 3½ ″ |
There are also some modern corvettes in this navy which may be classed in point of speed with the above frigates; these are,
GERMAN UNARMORED CORVETTES.
| Name of Ship. | Displacement. | Indicated Horse-power. | Speed. | Principal Armament. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tons. | Knots. | Guns. | ||
| Alexandrine | 2330 | 2400 | 1538 | 10 of 4 tons. |
| Arcona | 2330 | 2400 | 15 | 10 ″ 4 ″ |
| Carola | 2160 | 2100 | 14 | 10 ″ 4 ″ |
| Marie | 2160 | 2100 | 13½ | 10 ″ 4 ″ |
| Olga | 2160 | 2100 | 14 | 10 ″ 4 ″ |
| Sophie | 2160 | 2100 | 14 | 10 ″ 4 ″ |
| Freya | 2000 | 2500 | 15 | 8 ″ 4 ″ |
There are about a dozen other smaller and slower gun-vessels and gun-boats in the German navy, but they need not be considered here. As to sea-going torpedo-vessels, the German government took the lead in the production of this type of ship, and had the Ziethen launched at Blackwall as a despatch-vessel ten years ago, for a torpedo armament, and with a speed of 16 knots—an example of naval enterprise worth remembering to the credit of Germany. The Bletz and Pfeil, of 50 per cent. larger tonnage, have since been produced in Germany, but only with a speed about equal to the Ziethen’s. Two torpedo gun-vessels of 855 tons and nearly 2000 horse-power, and 15 knots speed (of which vessels the Admiralty Return makes no mention), were launched at Bremen in 1884. The following is the Admiralty statement as to German torpedo “boats:” Completed, 58 (43 over 100 feet in length). Completing and building, 2 torpedo division boats; 30 torpedo-boats over one hundred feet in length.—Total, 90.
Money was voted in 1884-85 for seventy torpedo-boats. When these have been built, the number of German torpedo-boats will be one hundred and five, and these are to be increased to one hundred and fifty.
Reviewing the condition of the German navy as set forth above, it becomes obvious that for some years past the policy of the imperial German government (contrary to that of the Prussian government, which, before the empire, built several large and powerful sea-going ships) has been to avoid all competition in naval matters with the great naval powers, and to apply its moderate expenditure to vessels of a defensive class, such as armored gun-boats and coast torpedo-boats—a policy which, in view of the limited interests of Germany in the Mediterranean and across the seas, has much to commend it.39
The Austrian government also, which with less necessity for naval strength now than it had when it possessed Lombardy and Venice, has slackened greatly in the production of iron-clads of late years, and has but two, and these of very moderate size, under completion. These are the barbette-battery ships Kronprinz Rudolph, of 6900 tons, and the Kronprinzessin Erzherzogin Stefanie, of 5150 tons. The former vessel is to carry 12-inch armor, and to be armed principally with three 48-ton guns; and the latter to carry 9-inch armor, and to be armed with two such guns. There is much uncertainty about even the intended speed of these vessels, neither the French Carnet nor the Universal Register stating the speed, while the Admiralty assigns a speed of 14 knots to the Rudolph only. But while the Carnet gives the indicated horse-power of each as 6500, the Register gives that of the Rudolph as 8000, and that of the smaller vessel as much as 11,000. If these latter figures be correct, the Rudolph will exceed 14 knots and the Ferdinand 16.40 Austria already possesses two powerful iron-clads in the Custoza and the Tegetthoff, but her Kaiser, Lissa, Ferdinand Max, and Hapsburg are old wooden vessels, lightly armored and armed, and need not be further considered. Besides the iron-clads already named, she has likewise the three iron central-battery and belted ships Don Juan d’Austria, Kaiser Max, and Prinz Eugen, each of 3500 tons, 2700 indicated horse-power, and 13½ knots speed, with 8-inch armor (the thickest) on the belt, and each carrying eight guns of 9 tons. The unarmored vessels of Austria (other than those classed as torpedo craft) are numerous, but most of them are small and slow. Those of thirteen knots and upward are but three in number, the Laudon, Radetzky, frigates of 3380 tons and 14 knots speed, and the wooden gun-vessel Hum, of 890 tons and 13¼ knots speed. Austria is providing herself with several of Sir W. Armstrong & Co.’s light steel vessels of eighteen knots speed for torpedo service, of which she has one, the Panther, completed, and two others, the Leopard and Seehund (all of 1550 tons), under construction. She had also four 14-knot torpedo-vessels, built at Pola and Trieste. Of torpedo “boats” she has the following: Completed, First class, 135 feet in length, 2; second class, over 100 feet in length, 18; third class, from 85 to 90 feet in length, 8. Incompleted, First class, 135 feet in length, 2; second class, over 100 feet in length, 8.—Total, 38.41
The navy of Turkey, which was formidable a few years ago, possessing as it did some of the most powerful and efficient iron-clads in the world at that period, both large and small, is rapidly declining in importance in presence of the powerful ships constructed or constructing in England, France, Russia (Black Sea), and Italy. The Turkish navy would not have held its high position so long had it not been for the foresight of the late Sultan Abdul-Aziz, having all his armored ships built of iron. There is not a wood-built iron-clad in the Turkish navy. The largest Turkish armored ship, and one still very powerful, is the frigate Mesoodiyeh, of 9000 tons, built at Blackwall, which in her main features resembles the German König Wilhelm, being, like her, of English design, but instead of having eighteen main-deck guns of fourteen tons, she has twelve of eighteen tons, and her battery is consequently of less length. Her speed is fourteen knots. Next to her comes the Hemidiyeh, launched in 1885 at Constantinople, of similar type to the other vessel, but of only 6700 tons, and therefore carrying but 9-inch armor, and ten guns of fourteen tons, and steaming at a knot less speed. Turkey has no less than thirteen other iron-clads, ranging in tonnage from 2000 to over 6000, in speed from 11 to 14 knots, and in armor from 5½ to 9 inches. The most notable of these, if I may be allowed as its designer to say so,42 has been the Feth-i-Bulend (“Great Causer of Conquest”), built at the Thames Iron-works in 1869. This little vessel, although of only 2700 tons displacement, carried a 9-inch armor-belt, and a main-deck battery of 6-inch armor protecting four 12-ton guns, placed at the four oblique sides of an octagonal battery, and steamed at fourteen knots—a speed unexampled at that time for an iron-clad of her small tonnage. It is a well-known fact that whenever of late years Turkey has had naval work to do, the Feth-i-Bulend, on account of her speed, handiness, and general efficiency, was selected by the late lamented Hobart Pasha to perform its most active part.
Of unarmored vessels Turkey has few worth mentioning as fighting ships, beyond three composite corvettes now under construction at Constantinople, one of 1960 and one of 1160 tons, both of which are to steam at fourteen knots, their armament consisting of eight and six light guns respectively; and one other of 670 tons which is to steam fifteen knots43 and to carry five light and four machine guns. A steel torpedo-vessel which is to steam at twenty-one knots, and three torpedo cruisers complete the list of new vessels laid down. Turkey has six torpedo “boats” one hundred feet long, built in France; six more of larger size, one hundred and twenty-five feet long, building in Germany; and five of one hundred feet, building in Turkey and France—in all, seventeen torpedo-boats.
This review of Turkish naval force bears out the remark with which I introduced it, and shows that, either from lack of support from the Western European powers or from some other cause, fighting superiority in the Black Sea is being effectually abandoned by Turkey to Russia.
Captain Lord Charles Beresford, R.N., M.P. (now a sea lord of the Admiralty), who moved for the Admiralty Return to Parliament to which I have made repeated reference, included Greece among the powers whose “fleets” were to be reported on; but as Greece has but two small and weak iron-clads, and they are nearly twenty years old, and as she has no other at present even under construction, the pretensions of her “fleet” are scarcely proportional to her political ambitions. She has but one fast cruiser, the Admiral Miaulis, and she is only a 15-knot vessel, and carries nothing more in the way of guns than three of six tons and one of five tons. Greece’s only “torpedo-vessel” steams no more than fourteen knots, and the Admiralty Return assures Lord Charles Beresford and the world that she has but twenty-seven torpedo-boats, of which seventeen are over and ten under one hundred feet in length, and that she is not building any more. Considering the island interests of Greece and her situation in the Mediterranean, no one can pronounce her naval force as excessive, or regard her government as being tempted to any high heroic policy by her possession of an imposing navy.
I have not mentioned the Spanish or Portuguese “fleets,” nor is it necessary to do much more than mention them now. Spain has only one finished iron-clad, of over thirteen and less than fourteen knots speed, and that is the Vitoria, which was launched at Blackwall, on the Thames, more than twenty years ago. She has thin armor, and could attempt but little in war. Spain is, however, building a large steel turret-ship, the Pelayo, of 9650 tons, at La Seyne, to carry two 38-ton and two 48-ton guns, with 18-inch armor on a citadel and 19½ on her turrets. She is to steam at sixteen knots. This one ship will, I presume, when finished, compose the armored “fleet” of Spain—that country once so great upon the sea. Of unarmored vessels of war Spain is building several, of which three are to have the advantage of stout steel decks, and one is to be very fast. It will be well to assemble these unarmored vessels of fourteen knots and upward in a table:
Table G.—UNARMORED WAR-VESSELS OF SPAIN.
VESSELS OF FOURTEEN KNOTS AND UPWARD, INCLUDING TORPEDO-VESSELS.
| Name of Ship. | Displacement. | Indicated Horse-power. | Speed. | Principal Armament. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tons. | Knots. | Guns. | ||
| Reina Regente | 4300 | 11,000 | 19 | 4 of 8 inches. |
| Alfonso XII | 3000 | 4,400 | 14 | 8 ″ 6 tons. |
| Aragon (wood) | 3300 | 4,400 | 14 | {4 ″ 6 ″ |
| {4 ″ 3 ″ | ||||
| Castilla ″ | 3300 | 4,400 | 14 | 8 ″ 4 ″ |
| Navarra ″ | 3300 | 4,400 | 14 | {4 ″ 6 ″ |
| {4 ″ 3 ″ | ||||
| Reina Cristina | 3000 | 4,400 | 14 | 8 ″ 6 ″ |
| Reina Mercedes | 3000 | 4,400 | 14 | 8 ″ 6 ″ |
| Cristabel Colón | 1100 | 1,600 | 14 | 3 ″ 4 ″ |
| Don Antonio Ulioa | 1100 | 1,600 | 14 | 3 ″ 4 ″ |
| Don Juan d’Austria | 1100 | 1,500 | 14 | 5 ″ 4¾ inches. |
| Infanta Isabel | 1100 | 1,500 | 14 | 5 ″ 4¾ ″ |
| Isabel II | 1100 | 1,600 | 14 | 5 ″ 4¾ ″ |
| Velasco | 1100 | 1,600 | 14.3 | 3 ″ 4 tons. |
| Isla de Cuba | 1000 | 2,200 | 15 | 6 ″ 4¾ inches. |
| Islas Filipinas | 1000 | 2,200 | 15 | 6 ″ 4¾ ″ |
| Destructor (torpedo-catcher) | 400 | 4,000 | 24 | Machine guns. |
| Alcon (sea-going torpedo-boat) | 108 | 1,200 | 23 | ″ ″ |
| Azor ″ ″ | 108 | 1,200 | 23 | ″ ″ |
| Orion ″ ″ | 88 | 1,000 | 20 | ″ ″ |
Spain has likewise four 125-feet torpedo “boats” of 19 knots; one, 105 feet long, of 18 knots; and three or four smaller ones.44
Portugal has but one iron-clad, central-battery type, of 2480 tons, 13½ knots speed, with 9-inch armor, and two 28-ton guns. Of unarmored vessels she has but three exceeding twelve knots, in speed, viz.:
| Name of Ship. | Displacement. | Indicated Horse-power. | Speed. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tons. | Knots. | ||
| Liberal | 500 | 500 | 16 |
| Zaire | 500 | 500 | 16 |
| Alfonso de Albuquerque | 1100 | 1360 | 13.3 |
All the rest are very slow, and available for little else than harbor defence in time of war.
This concludes our review of the navies of the Continent. The impressions which it has made upon my own mind are mainly these: The minor naval powers are falling more or less completely out of the lists of naval competition. Spain and Portugal have ceased to be, and Greece has not become, of any naval importance—Spain alone making some small effort to keep respectable, but even that effort is chiefly expending itself—as that of the United States government is about to expend itself, by-the-bye—in the production of very fast vessels, which may be useful in preying upon commerce, but which are scarcely fit to fight even pirates, and which a real war-ship would dispose of with a single round of her battery fire. They will be efficient in running away, no doubt, when danger arises; but “running away” was not the method by which the United States won naval distinction, nor that by which Spain once became great and Greece immortal. The naval policy of Germany is defensive; she is almost without pretensions upon the open sea. Turkey is slowly but surely succumbing to Russia, and in the near future the Russian Black Sea fleet will hold unquestioned mastery over Turkey. Italy has a naval rôle of her own to play in Europe, and on the whole is playing it well. Austria would do well to hesitate in her present naval condition before again exposing herself to the swift and destructive onslaughts which the tremendously armed and excessively fast Italian ships could make upon her. France is a really great naval power, and there are circumstances which would make a naval conflict between her and England one of the most uncertain in the history of the world. The French have very largely abandoned the protection of their guns by armor; we, most unhappily, have still more largely abandoned the protection of our ships, and it remains to be seen which has been the most foolish. In such a conflict the French would have this advantage over England—the overthrow of their guns, or the destruction of their gunners at them, would not prevent their ships themselves from withdrawing from action and repairing their injuries. What would become of our Ajaxes, Agamemnons, our Collingwoods and Benbows (both these latter with guns as much exposed as the French, by-the-bye), when their long, fragile ends had been smashed and water-logged, and their high speed consequently gone, is a question which I prefer not to speak of further. There was, there is, there ever will be, but one sound policy for a nation that desires to command the seas, and can afford to do so, and that is to reject all doubtful fads, all dangerous fancies, and to insure without ceasing pronounced superiority in every known and measurable element of naval power. New inventions will and must be made; new sources of power, new means of attack, will and must be discovered; but these things take time and money and skill to develop, and that power is the greatest and safest which from time to time and always prefers the thing which must succeed to that which may, and which others fear will, fail in the hour of trial. One hope I, the present writer, have, and it is that the terrible development of the weapons of war—for terrible it is with all its shortcomings—and the enormously increasing cost alike of single actions and of conflicts between squadrons and fleets, will tend to further, and to greatly further, those influences which are happily operating in favor of peace and good-will among men.
Notes
Italy
The characteristic development of the Italian navy has been the abandonment of side-armor as a protection to stability, and the attempt to obtain high speed and great coal endurance. This bold departure in the matter of armor is due mainly to the fact that Italy’s sea policy is governed by conditions which appeal nowhere else with equal force. “It is the combination of a large army and a powerful fleet,” writes Sir Charles Dilke, “which really makes Italy formidable; for if Italy has only the fifth army it has the third navy of all the powers. Captain à Court has admirably pointed out how, for a young country, and a country with an overburdened budget, it was not possible to build ship for ship against France, and not within Italy’s power to create a fleet numerically equal to that of France, but that it was possible to build a small number of enormous sea-going iron-clads of the first class, ‘larger, stronger, swifter, and more heavily armed than any afloat.’ Were Italy not protected by a powerful fleet, such as might have some chance of holding its own against the French in its own waters, the French fleet could be used to destroy Italian mobilization if Italy had joined an alliance against France. The Italian railway lines could be cut at many places from the coast. Not only from Toulon and Ajaccio, but also from her new port at Biserta, on the Tunisian coast, France could keep watch and could pounce on Italy.
“The great difficulty, however, in the way of Italy is caused by her want of coal, for Italy may be said to have no coal for her ships, and the difficulty of getting coal to her southern ports in time of war would be immense if she had not command of the seas. In materially increasing the number of her large iron-clads Italy has been aiming at nothing less than the command of the Mediterranean as against France; but supposing that France were sufficiently free from the risk of maritime attack elsewhere to be able to concentrate her naval strength in the Mediterranean, it would be a delusion to suppose that the Italian naval forces could hold their own against the French. The Italian material is excellent, no doubt, but the results of Lissa are not encouraging.
“To judge from naval expenditure, Italy seems to get a great deal for her money. If we were to look at the figures we should suppose that there were five navies in the world worth counting—the British and French of the first class, and the Russian, German, and Italian of the second class; but as a matter of fact the Russian and German navies are not worth counting by the side of the Italian navy of to-day. I doubt, however, whether the Italian, German, and Austrian navies could possibly hope to hold the Mediterranean against those of France and Russia, weak as is the Russian navy, in a general Continental war, so high is the estimate which I form of the power of France at sea. Russia, indeed, spends more upon her navy than does Italy; but Russia probably does not get her money’s worth. Italy at the present moment, in addition to the two splendid ships which she has at sea, is building or equipping eight first-class sea-going iron-clads as against seven being built by France and eleven by ourselves, and she certainly seems to have, as regards the material of her fleet, achieved remarkable results at a low rate of cost.
“The Italian fleet, in the event of war, would not have those scattered duties to perform which would fall to the lot of the French and English navies. The fleet of Italy would have to defend the Italian coast against attack, and if possible to keep up the communications with Sicily and Sardinia. Massowah would have to take care of itself, and the Italian fleet would be concentrated, while that of France, in some degree, would have to be dispersed over the whole world; but unless France had to put forth on land such efforts as to need the men and guns of her navy for the defence of her own fortresses, the time of concentration in the Mediterranean would arrive, and a great strain would be imposed upon the Italian fleet.
“Those who look upon the Italian navy as being a navy of offence because it consists chiefly of iron-clads of the first class capable of holding the seas, forget the necessity imposed upon Italy by her shape and geographical position. It is impossible to defend the coast of Italy by fortifications, and there is no country so vulnerable. The mountains run down the centre of a long, narrow strip, and the strategic railway lines are easily reachable from the sea. On the south, too, Carthage once more threatens Rome. The Italian monster iron-clads are certainly not too numerous for the defence of the Italian coast, and in my belief the naval policy which has been pursued by Italy is one which was necessary to her existence, and she is to be congratulated upon the low price at which she has succeeded in obtaining her splendid ships.”45
Owing to this extent and character of the Italian coast, the government believes that absolute safety cannot be secured, and all that may be expected is the disturbance or defeat of any great attempt at invasion or bombardment. This the officials hope to effect by dividing the attention of the enemy’s fleet, so that secondary means of defence may be utilized against all attacks. The question, therefore, resolves into one of ships. If armored vessels had to resist the gun alone, effectual protection, they reason, could be given by increasing the thickness of armor; but since the invention of torpedoes, and the development of great speed in torpedo-boats, the bottoms of ships and not the armored sides will be the points of successful attack. The best vessels for their needs, therefore, will be such as are capable of making the greatest impression on any given point; that is, such as may be enabled by the partial abandonment of armor to carry enormously heavy guns, and have great speed, the highest coal endurance, and sufficient protection, by new structural devices, to meet without fear any other vessel afloat.
The first fruits of this policy were seen in the central-citadel battle-ships, Duilio and Dandolo. Apart from their novelty, the mere fact that the Italians could produce such machines with home resources was a surprise to the rest of Europe. “The rise of iron ship-building in Italy,” says the London Engineer, “is almost a romance. It owes its origin to the far-seeing efforts of Italy’s greatest statesman, Cavour.... Ten years ago it would have seemed ludicrous to the builders on the Clyde had they been told that a country which had no coal worth speaking of, and whose iron, though abundant, was difficult to get at, and where, moreover, not half a dozen men knew how to do the simplest iron ship-building job, would in the course of those years not only beat them in quality but in price, and would be turning out the largest, the most powerful, and the best built vessels in the world. Such, however, is the case.”
Subsequently the Italian Admiralty realized that the ships of the Duilio design were deficient in speed and coal endurance, and that their construction forbade the efficient use of a secondary armament for defence against torpedo and other auxiliary boats. So, after much earnest study, the Italia type has been adopted. The account in the text needs no amplification here, except to state that in her steam trials she made a maximum speed of 18 and a mean speed of 17.66 knots per hour, although the 18,000 indicated horse-power required by the contract was not developed. Eight of her 6-inch guns, it may be added, have lately been removed.
The Re Umberto and Sicilia are steel barbette ships, similar to the British Admiral class without the partial armor-belt. Their principal dimensions are, length 400 feet, beam 74 feet 9 inches, mean draught 28 feet 7 inches, and displacement 13,251 tons. The engines of the former are to develop 19,500 horse-power and 17 knots. A complete steel deck three and a half inches thick protects the under-water body. The battery is to consist of four 17-inch 106-ton pair-mounted guns, carried on the fore-and-aft line in two barbettes, which are protected by 18.9 inches of steel armor. There are in addition a number of 6-inch breech-loading rifles, and a supply of rapid-fire and machine guns, and of torpedo-tubes. The Sardegna, of the same general type as the Umberto, is now being built at Spezzia.
The Giovanni Bausan, built at Elswick between 1882 and 1885, is a ram-bowed, schooner-rigged steel cruiser, similar to, but larger than, the Esmeralda, her dimensions being, length 280 feet, breadth 42 feet, draught 18½ feet, and displacement about 3100 tons. She has an under-water protective steel deck one and a half inches thick, and cork-filled cellular compartments about the water-line. The coal supply is 600 tons, the coal endurance 5000 miles at 10 knots, and with 6000 horse-power and 116 revolutions she made on trial a speed of 17.5 knots. Her battery consists of two 10-inch, six 6-inch, and a secondary armament of rapid-fire and machine guns, and of torpedo-tubes.
The steel cruisers mentioned in the chapter, the Etna, Stromboli, and Vesuvio, are 283 feet 6 inches in length, 43 feet in beam, 19 feet 3 inches in draught, and displace 3530 tons; with forced draft 7700 indicated horse-power and 19 knots are to be developed. Their armament is to consist of two 10-inch (25-ton) Armstrong breech-loaders, mounted in an unarmored barbette on the fore and aft line, six 6-inch guns on sponsons, eight rapid-fire and machine guns, and four torpedo-tubes—two submerged at the bow and two above water in broadside. The Fieramosca of the same class is slightly different in dimensions, and the Tripoli, Goito, Monzambano, and Montebello are rapid torpedo-cruisers, 229 feet 6 inches in length, 25 feet 10 inches in beam, 9 feet 6 inches in mean draught, and of 741 tons displacement. They were designed to develop 4200 indicated horse-power and a speed of 22 knots; but it is claimed that the Tripoli, which was launched at Castellamare in August, 1886, realized a speed of twenty-four knots, and maintained a twenty-three knot rate for fifty miles. The engines of the Monzambano and Montebello will be triple-expansion, and those of the Tripoli and Goito of the two-cylinder compound inclined type. These vessels have three screws, one shaft coming out underneath the keel at an angle of eight degrees, while the others are carried farther forward on either side. The armament consists of four 57-millimetre and four 37-millimetre rapid-fire guns, of three 37-millimetre revolving cannons, and of five torpedo-tubes, two at the bow, fixed, and three training—one aft and one on each beam. The Confienza, a small twin-screw cruiser of nearly the same dimensions, carries four 4.72-inch guns, together with rapid-fire and machine guns, and five torpedo-tubes. She is to develop 17.5 knots and 2800 horse-power, and, like the Tripoli class in general, has very light steel frames and plating, and resembles outwardly an enlarged torpedo-boat. The Folgore and Saetta are torpedo-vessels, similar in type to the Tripoli, but smaller; the Archimede and the Galileo are armed despatch-vessels of the Barbarigo type; and the Volturno and Curtatone are cruising gun-vessels. Other notable additions to the fleet are the partially protected steel cruiser Angelo Emo, of 2100 tons, the Dogali, and the National Line steamer America. The Angelo Emo was designed by Mr. White, and built at Elswick for the Greek government, but subsequently she was bought by the Italians, and has, under her new name, made a capital record. The Dogali is a twin-screw, lightly protected steel cruiser, built at Elswick. The displacement is 2000 tons, length 250 feet, and beam 37 feet; on the first trial the triple-expansion engines developed 8100 horse-power and a speed of 18.5 knots, and later, with 7600 horse-power and 154 revolutions, a speed of 19.66 knots was attained. The armament is to consist of six 5-inch guns mounted on sponsons—two on the forecastle, two on the poop, and two in the waist.
The America is 441 feet 8 inches in length over all, 51 feet 3 inches in beam, 38 feet 5 inches in depth, draws 26 feet aft, displaces 6500 tons, has a coal capacity of 1550 tons, and develops 9000 horse-power and a maximum speed of 17 knots on a consumption of 216 tons of coal per day. She is built of steel, was launched in 1884, purchased in January, 1887, and when refitted is to do duty as a torpedo-depot and transport-vessel. Two iron cruising gun-vessels, the Miseno and Palinuro, of 548 tons displacement, 430 horse-power, and 10 knots speed, have lately been added to the fleet.
RUSSIA.
Russia has shown a marked independence in policy and design. Penned in the Black Sea by treaties, and blockaded in the Baltic for nearly half the year by ice, she has sought in coast-defence vessels, fast commerce-destroyers and torpedo-vessels, the fleet best suited to her necessities. In 1864 a number of monitors, built mainly upon Ericsson’s system, were launched, and later four vessels, sea-going, ten-knot turret-ships, were constructed. These are known as the Admiral class, and range in displacement from 3754 in the Lazareff to 3693 in the Tchitchachoff. About 1871 a radical departure was made by the adoption for the Crimean defence of the circular or Popoffka type. As the shallow waters of this coast forbade the employment of anything normal in design except light, unarmored gun-boats, recourse was had to a structure of circular form, which with heavy weights could carry a great displacement upon a relatively small draught. Two of these batteries, the Novgorod and the Admiral Popoff, were laid down, the dimensions of the latter being as follows: extreme diameter 121 feet, diameter of bottom 96 feet, depth of hold at centre 14 feet, extreme draught 14 feet, and displacement 3550 tons. The nominal horse-power was 640, and the number of screws six; the armament consisted of two 41-ton breech-loading guns mounted en barbette 13 feet 3 inches above the water-load line, and of four smaller pieces in an unarmored breastwork. The Novgorod attained on her trial eight and a half knots, and the Popoff had a mean speed of eight knots.
The Russians were the first to solve the problem of an armored cruiser in which great speed could be combined with effective protection against the guns of a majority of the high-sea ships then afloat. The General Admiral, launched in 1873, and the best known of this class, is built of iron, wood sheathed under water, and coppered. She is 285 feet 9 inches in length, 48 feet 2 inches in beam, and with 21 feet mean draught has 4438 tons displacement. She was designed to steam 13 knots, carry 1000 tons of fuel, and have a coal endurance of 5900 miles at 10 knots; the battery and belt are armored with six-inch plates; the belt is seven feet wide at the water-line, and has, level with its upper edge, a highly curved deck of iron. The type proved so successful that it has been reproduced and improved in most of the great navies.
The Catherine II., Tchesme, and the Sinope are the most powerful battle-ships of the Russian fleet. The first and second were launched in May, 1886, the third in June, 1887; they are built of iron and steel (wood sheathed and coppered), have ram bows, and are of the following dimensions: length 339 feet, beam 69 feet, mean draught 26.5 feet, displacement 10,181 tons. They are encircled by a belt of compound armor twelve to eighteen inches thick, and have a complete 3-inch protective deck. Within a 14-inch armored pear-shaped redoubt six 12-inch rifles are pair-mounted on Moncrieff disappearing barbette carriages; seven 6-inch guns are carried on the gun-deck—six in broadside and one on a shifting pivot mount—and the secondary battery is composed of seven Hotchkiss revolving cannon and seven torpedo-tubes. The engines of the Catherine II. and the Tchesme are of the vertical compound three-cylinder type, and are to develop 11,000 horse-power and 16 knots; the engines of the Sinope are of the triple-expansion type, and are to develop 10,000 horse-power with natural, and 13,000 with forced, draught. The cost of each vessel will be about $4,500,000. The second ship of the Emperor Alexander II. type, now building at St. Petersburg by the Franco-Russian Company, and named the Nicholas the First, is to be 8440 tons in displacement, 327 feet in length, 67 feet in beam, and have 25.5 feet draught. These ships carry a complete belt of steel armor six to fourteen inches thick and nine feet wide, and a curved steel deck, three inches thick, covers their under-water bodies. The battery is to consist of two 12-inch guns, mounted in a pear-shaped barbette tower forward; in the broadside there are to be four 9-inch, eight 6-inch, and four 3.5-inch rifles, together with a number of Hotchkiss guns. The barbette tower has steel armor, ten inches thick, and the usual torpedo-tubes are to be supplied. The estimated horse-power is 8000 and the speed 16 knots.
The Vitias and Rynda, steel cruisers, in which the vital parts will be covered by a curved steel deck one and a half inches thick, are of 2965 tons displacement, develop 3000 indicated horse-power, and have a speed of 15 knots. The Pamjatj Azowa, a cruiser of the Impérieuse type, with a partially armored belt and barbette batteries, is expected to develop 8000 indicated horse-power and 17 knots.
The rapid, unarmored steel cruiser building at St. Nazaire, and named the Admiral Korniloff, is of 5000 tons displacement, has triple expansion engines, a curved steel deck to protect the machinery and boilers, and a cellular subdivision, which it is hoped will insure stability in case of perforation at or below the water-line. For the Black Sea fleet six heavy gun-vessels have been projected; these are the Uralets, Tereto, Kubanets, Zaporojets, Donets, and Chernomorets, of 1224 tons displacement and 2000 horse-power; their armament is to be two 8-inch guns, one 6-inch breech-loading gun, two 6-pound rapid-fire pieces, four revolving cannons, and two torpedo-tubes. The Bobr and Sivoutch are heavily armored gun-vessels of a new type; the Coreets and Manchooria are small twin-screw cruisers of 1213 tons displacement, and the Aleuta is a transport, the interior arrangements of which are designed mainly for the storage and distribution of high explosives and torpedoes.
The remarkable development of machine-gun fire on board torpedo-vessels is shown in the Iljin and the Saken, a type which occupies the middle ground between the smaller class of French torpedo-cruisers and the British torpedo-boat catchers. The Iljin carries twelve revolving cannons and seven Hotchkiss rapid-fire guns, and has seven above-water torpedo-tubes, one on each side of the stem, one on the port side of the stern, and four in broadside. Russia has a most effective fleet of torpedo-boats, some of which have attained very high speeds under the usual test conditions of carrying 14½ tons of ballast, coal sufficient for 1200 miles, and a crew of eighteen. The Russian officers have already shown their skill and daring in this system of warfare, and, should they be called upon, there is no doubt that the whole capacity of these boats will be tested under the guidance of a courage and an intelligence which are unsurpassed in any other navy of the world.
SPAIN.
On January 12, 1887, a new naval programme was announced by the Spanish Government, and the following types and numbers of vessels were designated as necessary for the modern fleet:
1. Eleven protected steel cruisers: eight to be of 3200 tons, and three of 4500 tons displacement. The armament will be of the 9.45 or the 11-inch calibre Hontoria breech-loading guns, mounted on central pivots, with smaller pieces in broadside and a secondary battery of rapid-fire guns and torpedoes. All the ships are to be constructed on the cellular system, with double bottoms and water-tight compartments, are to have triple-expansion engines and twin screws, and are expected to attain a speed of 19 knots with natural, and 21 knots with forced draft.
2. Six steel torpedo-cruisers of 1500 tons displacement and a speed of 23 knots. They are to mount central-pivot guns from 6.3 to 7 inches in calibre, in addition to a number of smaller broadside guns, revolving cannons, and torpedoes.
3. Four torpedo-cruisers of 1100 tons displacement, to develop a speed of from 18 to 21 knots, and to be furnished with a heavy primary and the usual secondary battery.
4. Twelve steel torpedo gun-boats, six to be of 600 tons displacement, and six of 350 tons, with a speed of not less than 16 knots.
5. Sixteen steel torpedo gun-boats of 200 or 250 tons displacement, with a speed of 14 to 16 knots.
6. Ninety-six torpedo-boats, 100 to 120 tons displacement, with a maximum speed of 24 knots, and a coal endurance of 1500 miles.
7. Forty-two torpedo-boats of 60 to 70 tons displacement.
8. One transport of 3000 tons, to be equipped as a floating arsenal or machine-shop.
9. Twenty steel steam-launches of from 30 to 35 tons displacement, built on the life-boat system, and fitted with triple-expansion engines, to drive the boats from 12 to 14 knots per hour.
The cost of the new fleet will be:
| For new vessels | 189,900,000 | Pesetas. |
| For completing vessels now building | 22,600,000 | ″ |
| For arsenals | 10,000,000 | ″ |
| For submarine defence | 2,500,000 | ″ |
| Total | 225,000,00046 | ″ |
When these vessels are finished Spain will have the following fleet:
| New Vessels. | Present Vessels. | ||
| Armor-clad | 1 | Armor-clads | 2 |
| First-class cruisers | 12 | First-class cruisers | 6 |
| Second-class cruisers | 13 | Second-class cruisers | 16 |
| Torpedo gun-boats | 32 | Smaller vessels | 37 |
| First-class torpedo-boats | 100 | ||
| Second-class torpedo-boats | 50 | Total afloat | 61 |
| Steam-launches | 20 | To be constructed | 229 |
| Arsenal transport | 1 | ||
| Total | 229 | Grand total of fleet | 290 |
In the Reina Regente the Spanish government expects to have the fastest cruiser afloat. Her keel was laid in the Thompson’s Yard at Clydebank on June 11, 1886, and she was launched February 24, 1887. She is built of steel, is 320 feet in length, 50 feet 7 inches in beam, has a sea-going displacement of 4800 tons, and with her full capacity of coal and stores on board, a displacement of 5600 tons. The motive power consists of two independent, horizontal, triple-expansion engines (each working in its own compartment), which are capable of developing with forced draft 12,000 indicated horse-power and a speed of 20.5 knots. The battery will consist of four 9.45-inch Hontoria rifles, mounted on platforms raised four feet above the deck, and situated two forward and two abaft the superstructure; of six 4.72-inch Hontoria guns, two mounted each side on sponsons, and one each side in a recessed port; of eight 6-pounder rapid-fire guns, six revolving cannons, and five above-water torpedo-tubes. The ship has a complete steel deck, curving from about six feet below the water-line to its horizontal height; this latter section is about one-third the width of the ship, and is three inches thick over the engines and boilers, and one inch thick for the rest, while the inclined and curved sides are four and three-quarter inches thick. To assist in excluding water when pierced, a complete belt of cellulose extends around the ship inside the inner skin, and about the height of the water-line.
The torpedo-boat chaser Destructor is not only a good sea-boat, and capable of making a long passage at high speed, but has proved herself to be one of the fastest vessels afloat. She has 350 tons normal displacement, and when fully loaded and equipped 458 tons. Her engines have developed 3829 indicated horse-power. During ten days in November, 1886, a maximum speed of 23¾ knots was attained, and on December 13th of that year she reached a mean speed for four hours of 22.65 knots, and an estimated coal endurance of 5100 miles at 11½ knots, and of 700 miles at full speed. In January, 1887, she ran in twenty four hours from Falmouth to Finisterre, thus covering the 495 miles at a mean speed of 21 knots.
The Pelayo, a barbette ship of the Amiral Duperré class, has a complete water-line belt of steel, 6 feet 11 inches wide, and from 11.8 to 17.72 inches thick. The steel armor on the barbette towers is 11.8 inches, and the protective deck which extends throughout her length is 3.5 inches thick. The dimensions are as follows: Length 344 feet 6 inches, beam 66 feet 3 inches, draught 24 feet 8 inches, and displacement 9902 tons. The armament consists of two 12.6-inch 48-ton guns in the barbettes; of two 11-inch guns on sponsons, one each side; of twelve 4.72-inch guns in broadside, and of one 6.3-inch piece in the bow. The secondary battery is composed of fourteen rapid-fire and machine guns and seven torpedo-tubes. The contract horse-power is 7000, the speed 15 knots, and the coal endurance (the supply being 700 tons) is sufficient for 885 miles at 15 knots, and 2340 miles at 13 knots. The five ships of the Infanta Isabel class are launched, and the small steel cruisers Isla de Luzon and Isla de Cuba are rapidly approaching completion.
AUSTRIA.
Austria has under construction this year the two armor coast-defence vessels described in the text: the Tiger, a 3800 ton protected cruiser of the latest type, and the Meteor, a torpedo-cruiser of the Leopard and Panther class. These last-mentioned important additions to the fleet are 224 feet long, 34 feet beam, 14 feet draught, and of 1550 tons displacement. They differ from the English Condor and the French Archer in these particulars: first, the steel protective deck is not continuous; secondly, the engines are of the vertical, inverted, triple-expansion type; and thirdly, the engine cylinders are protected by steel shields surrounded by coal or sand-bags. The armament consists of four large-range Krupp guns, mounted in sponsoned turrets, of numerous machine and rapid-fire pieces, and of four above-water torpedo-tubes. Under natural draft 17.6 knots, and with forced 18.9 knots, were accomplished.
The 87-ton torpedo-boats Falke and Adler, built by Messrs. Yarrow & Co., are 135 feet long, with 14 feet beam, 5½ feet draught aft and 2¼ feet forward. The engines are of the three-cylinder, compound, surface-condensing type, and developed 1250 horse-power and 22.4 knots in fighting trim. The coal supply of twenty-eight tons is expected to give an endurance of two thousand miles at ten knots. Their armament is composed of two machine guns and two torpedo-tubes, which discharge straight ahead. The Habicht, a 90-ton torpedo-boat, built by Schichau, was designed to develop with a load of 14½ tons a speed of 20½ knots, and to have a coal endurance of 3500 miles at a 10-knot rate; but on trial she realized 21.77 knots for three hours. It is understood that future boats will be much larger, approaching 300 to 400 tons displacement. The budget for 1887 provides 720,000 florins for torpedo-boats and vessels.
Though Austria holds a secondary place as a maritime power, she is, of all the Continental nations, the one most liable to precipitate the next great war, and it seems strange, therefore, that she does not try to acquire a great number of those special classes of ships which, after all, are the only logical answers the weaker naval countries can make to the more powerful.
“While the Austrian military position, in spite of the desire of the emperor for military reform, is still weak, I cannot find words too strong to praise the political ability with which the Austrian empire is being kept at peace and kept together. The Austrian empire is a marvel of equilibrium. The old simile of a house of cards is exactly applicable to its situation; and just as in the exercises of acrobats, when seven or nine men are borne by one upon his shoulders, it is rather skill than strength which sustains them; so, if we look to the Austrian constitution, which we shall have to consider in the next paper in this series, it is a miracle how the fabric stands at all. At the same time it is impossible for Austria, although she can maintain her stability in times of peace, to impose upon either her Russian or her German neighbors as to her strength for war. Prince Bismarck is obliged, with whatever words of public and private praise for the speeches of the Austrian and Hungarian statesmen, to add the French and Russian forces together upon his fingers, and to deduct from them the Austrian and the German, with doubts as to the attitude of Italy, doubts as to the attitude of England, and contemptuous certainty as to the attitude of Turkey.
“If Austria could have presented Prince Bismarck not only with an English alliance, but with an English, Turkish, and Italian alliance, he might possibly have allowed her to provoke a general war; but with the difficulties attendant upon a concession of territory to Italy, except in the last resort, and with Turkey at the feet of Russia, it was difficult for Prince Bismarck to go further than to say to Austria, ‘Fight by all means, if you feel yourself strong enough to beat Russia single-handed. France and Germany will “see all fair,” and you can hardly expect anybody effectually to help you.’ Prince Bismarck deals with foreign affairs on the principles upon which they were dealt with by King Henry VIII. of England, when that king was pitted against the acutest intellects of the empire and of France. His policy is a plain and simple policy, and not a policy of astuteness and cunning, and almost necessarily at the present time consists in counting heads.”47
There have been no additions of any importance to the fleets of the other European powers since the publication of Sir Edward Reed’s article, and their policy has in no way been changed from that epitomized in the text. The apathy of Germany is inexplicable, and as for the others, there seem, except with Turkey, perhaps, no good reasons why they should strive to create fleets, as they are either too poor to build and support them, or their dangers from maritime attack are not great enough to make a large navy necessary.
Holland has lately launched the Johan Willem Friso, which is the last of six large cruisers, “of which the others are the Atjeh, Tromp, Konigin Emma der Nederlanden, De Ruyter, and Van Speyk.... All these vessels are built of iron and steel, sheathed with wood to four feet above the water-line, and coppered. They are of 3400 tons displacement and of the following dimensions: Length 262 feet 5 inches, beam 39 feet 4 inches, and mean draught 18 feet 4 inches. Their armament is six 6.7-inch Krupp guns (one carried in the bow, one in the stern, and the others in broadside), four 4.72-inch Krupp pieces in broadside, six 37-millimetre revolving cannons, and a supply of Whitehead torpedoes. The engines drive single screws, and have an estimated horse-power of 3000, which has been slightly exceeded by some and not attained by others. The speeds vary from 14.1 knots to 14.7 knots. The coal supply is 400 tons—sufficient for six and three-quarter days’ steaming at full speed or for thirteen days at ten knots.”48
Denmark has the Valkyrien, a steel cruiser of 2900 tons, fitted with a good battery and five torpedo-tubes, and designed to develop 5000 horse-power and 17 knots. Her new double-turreted, armored, coast-defence vessel Iver Huitfeldt has developed a maximum speed of 15.6 knots.
From data furnished by First-lieutenant Tasker H. Bliss, U. S. Artillery, the peace strength of the principal Continental nations may be summarized as follows:
| Permanent Establishment. | Cost. | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country | Population. | Army. | Navy. | Total. | Army. | Navy. | Total. |
| Germany | 45,234,000 | 427,274 | 11,109 | 438,383 | $86,000,000 | $10,000,000 | $96,000,000 |
| Russia | 78,000,000 | 760,000 | 29,008 | 789,000 | 146,000,000 | 20,500,000 | 166,500,000 |
| Austria | 38,000,000 | 287,000 | 8,500 | 295,500 | 58,500,000 | 3,500,000 | 62,000,000 |
| Italy | 29,000.000 | 210,373 | 15,055 | 225,428 | 41,000,000 | 10,000,000 | 51,000,000 |
| France | 37,672,000 | 518,642 | 43,235 | 561,877 | 119,250,000 | 41,000,000 | 160,250,000 |
| England | 35,000,000 | 199,000 | 58,000 | 257,000 | 78,000,000 | 53,750,000 | 131,750,000 |
A rough analysis of these figures shows that in strength of army Russia is first, France second, Germany third, Austria fourth, Italy fifth, and England sixth; and that in naval strength England is first, France second, Russia third, Italy fourth, Germany fifth, and Austria sixth. The cost of each nation’s navy is in direct proportion to its strength of personnel; but in armies England, though last in numbers, changes place with Italy, which supports its forces with the least expenditure. It may be added that in total cost England, with next to the smallest force, pays more than Germany, with the third largest in numbers.
The percentage of expenditures is as follows:
| Service per Capita of Population. | Cost per Man. | Taxation per Inhabitant to Support the Peace Establishment. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country. | Army. | Navy. | Total. | Army. | Navy. | |
| Germany | 0.94 | 0.02 | 0.96 | $201.00 | $900.00 | $2.12 |
| Russia | 0.97 | 0.04 | 1.01 | $192.00 | $707.00 | $2.13 |
| Austria | 0.77 | 0.02 | 0.79 | $204.75 | $411.75 | $1.65 |
| Italy | 0.73 | 0.05 | 0.78 | $194.75 | $664.25 | $1.75 |
| France | 1.37 | 0.11 | 1.48 | $230.00 | $931.00 | $4.25 |
| England | 0.57 | 0.16 | 0.73 | $391.50 | $924.75 | $3.76 |
An examination of Lloyd’s Universal Register of Shipping for 1887 shows that the present condition of European navies may be popularly stated in this manner: England has 6 guns capable of penetrating 36 inches of unbacked iron, and 16 others which can penetrate 28 inches of the same material; Italy has 20 guns which can penetrate 33 inches of iron; France has 14 guns which can pierce 27 inches, and 14 others able to penetrate 25 inches of unbacked iron. Russia has 20 guns and Spain 2 which can pierce 24 inches of iron. No other power has any guns capable of equivalent results. In other words, of guns able to penetrate 24 inches of unbacked iron, France has 28, Italy 20, Russia 20, Spain 2, and Great Britain 22.
In war-ships of 20 knots and above, England has 1, France 1, Italy 10, Spain 2, and other European nations 4; of 19 knots speed, England has 11 ships, France 10, Germany 3, Italy 2, and other nations 9; of 18-knot ships, England has 5, France 7, Germany 2, Italy 6, and other nations 6. English supremacy is, however, chiefly seen in 17-knot ships, of which she has 25, mounting 181 guns; France, 4 with 20 guns; Italy, 5 with 40 guns; and other nations 4 with 19 guns. England has 11 ships of 90 guns that can steam 16 knots, whereas France has 3 only of 58 guns. At 15 knots, France has 16 ships of 214 guns, and England 12 ships of 126 guns; and at 14 knots, France has 28 ships of 334 guns, and England 15 ships of 252 guns. Summarizing these figures, it appears that with speeds above 14 knots England has 80 ships of 795 guns, France 69 of 699 guns, Germany 35 of 285 guns, and Italy 41 of 201 guns.
Out of a total mercantile tonnage now afloat of 20,943,650, Great Britain and her colonies own 10,539,136. The total steam mercantile tonnage of the world is 10,531,843, and of this Great Britain and her colonies own 6,595,871, or nearly two-thirds of the whole.