Part 2 of 2

+---------------+---------+-----------+----------------+ | | Draught | Greatest | Heaviest Guns | | NAME OF SHIP. | of | Thickness | carried. | | | Water. | of Armor. | | +---------------+---------+-----------+----------------+ | |Feet. In.| Inches on | | | | | Sides. | | | Duilio | 26 8 | 22 | 4 of 101 tons. | | Dandolo | 27 | 22 | 4 ” 101 ” | | | | Inches on | | | | | Towers. | | | Italia | 27 8 | 19 | 4 ” 103 ” | | Lepanto | 27 8 | 19 | 4 ” 103 ” | | Re Umberto | 28 7 | 19 | 4 ” 106 ” | | Sicilia | 28 7 | 19 | 4 ” 106 ” | | Sardegna | 28 7 | 19 | 4 ” 106 ” | | Lauria | 27 | 14 | 4 ” 103 ” | | Morosini | 27 | 14 | 4 ” 103 ” | | Doria | 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] [Illustration: SECTION OF THE “ITALIA.”] 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.” [Illustration: DECK PLAN OF THE “ITALIA.”] [Illustration: THE “ITALIA.”] 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. [Illustration: THE “ESMERALDA.”] 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. [Illustration: THE “AMERIGO VESPUCCI.”] 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. [Illustration: THE “CATHERINE II.”] 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: +-----------------+-------+---------+------+--------+------------------+ | |Displa-|Indicated| | | Principal | | NAME OF SHIP. |cement.| Horse- |Speed.| Armor. | Armament. | | | | power. | | | | +-----------------+-------+---------+------+--------+------------------+ | | Tons.| |Knots.| | Guns | |Vladimir Monomach| 5800 | 7000 | 15.4 | 7-inch.| 4 of 9 tons.| |Dmitri Donsköi | 5800 | 7000 | 16.25| 7-inch.| [35]3 ” 29 ” | |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. [Illustration: HALF-DECK PLAN OF THE “SACHSEN.” SIDE ELEVATION OF THE “SACHSEN.”] 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. [Illustration: THE “SACHSEN.”] 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. [Illustration: HALF-DECK PLAN OF THE “KAISER.” SIDE ELEVATION OF THE “KAISER.”] 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. +----------------+--------+---------+-------+---------+---------------+ | | Displa-|Indicated| Speed.| Maximum | Principal | | NAME OF SHIP. | cement.| Horse- | | Armor. | Armament. | | | | power. | | | | +----------------+--------+---------+-------+---------+---------------+ | | 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 | Speed. | Armament. | | | | Horse-power. | | | +---------------+---------------+--------------+--------+------------+ | | 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. | Displa-| Indicated | Speed. | Principal | | | cement.| Horse-power. | | 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. | Displa- | Indicated | Speed. | Principal | | | cement. | Horse-power. | | Armament. | +---------------+---------+--------------+---------+---------------+ | | Tons. | | Knots. | Guns. | | Alexandrine | 2330 | 2400 |[38]15 | 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 knots[43] 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. +----------------------+--------+---------+--------+-----------------+ | | Displa-|Indicated| | Principal | | NAME OF SHIP. | cement.| Horse- | Speed. | Armament. | | | | power. | | 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 | Speed. | | | | Horse-power. | | +------------------------+---------------+--------------+--------+ | | 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: