introduction the demand for larger calibres by most of the prominent

naval powers has been so pressing that the Hotchkiss Company has produced a 9-pounder and has a 33-pounder in course of manufacture. It is believed that this last calibre represents about the limit of utility of the Hotchkiss system, though the gain in time by the use of ammunition carrying the charge projectile and fulminate in one case will recommend it for use with much larger calibres, even where two men may be required to handle the cartridge.” The most important trials of rapid-fire guns during the past two years are thus described by Lieutenant Driggs, United States navy: “The various systems now in use, or being developed, are the Albini, Armstrong, Driggs-Schroeder, Gruson, Hotchkiss, Krupp, Maxim, Nordenfeldt. Of these the Armstrong has not been favorably received on account of the cumbersome breech-closing arrangement. This consists in two side levers attached to and turning about the trunnions; a cross-head connects the two levers, and by an eccentric motion one of them is pressed against or removed from the breech of the gun, thus closing or opening it. The _Bausan_ has two of those guns, but with that known exception few, if any, have been put in service. “The Gruson gun is said to be very similar to the Hotchkiss in its mechanism, though not as good. The Maxim and Hotchkiss are both well known. The Nordenfeldt, which in Europe is the greatest rival of the Hotchkiss, is entirely different from the guns heretofore made under this name. In the single-shot rapid-fire gun the breech is closed with a double breech-plug, which is revolved in the breech recess by a cam motion. The plug is divided transversely; the front half carries the firing-pin, and has only a circular motion in closing and opening; the rear half acts as a wedge, the first motion being downward and the second circular, the front half then moving with it. “One of the most complete tests to which guns of this class have been subjected was that conducted by the Italian government in February of last year (1885). The trials were made at Spezia, the following being offered for test: Hotchkiss rapid-fire; improved Nordenfeldt rapid-fire on recoil-carriage; Armstrong rapid-fire; and a rapid-fire gun made at the Government Works at Venice. The Armstrong gun was not fired; the others were fired in the following order: Nordenfeldt, Hotchkiss, and Italian. “The guns were mounted on board a small ship (the _Vulcano_) for firing at sea. A large target was fixed on the breakwater in the middle of the harbor of Spezia, and two smaller targets of triangular shape had been anchored, one 550 yards inside, and the other 550 yards outside, the breakwater. The _Vulcano_ was then placed 1300 to 1400 yards inside the breakwater, and fire begun against the large target with the Nordenfeldt 6-pounder gun, which was worked by Italian sailors. A first series of eighteen shots were fired in forty-seven seconds, for rapidity of fire with rough aiming. A second series of sixteen shots were fired in thirty-four seconds. The rapidity of fire with rough aiming and untried men was thus respectively at the rate of twenty-three and twenty-eight shots per minute. Afterwards, ten case-shots were fired with the gun almost level, in order to see how the lead bullets were spread over the range. Some of them were seen to touch the water 700 or 800 yards from the muzzle, and the whole range was well covered by the 150 lead bullets contained in each of the Nordenfeldt case-shots. “The second part of the programme consisted of the firing at three targets, respectively at 600, 1200, and 1800 yards, the ranges being only approximately known, changing the aim at every third shot, and firing under difficulty, owing to the movement of the ship. Twenty-one common shells were fired, seven at each target, with good accuracy, and the shells on striking the water burst better at the shorter than at the longer ranges. “The firing at sea was closed with one more series of ten rounds, fired rapidly in twenty-six seconds, in order to see if the gun would act well after being heated by the eighty-five rounds which had already been fired. Four of the last series were ring-shells, and burst on striking the water at the first impact, breaking into a larger number of pieces than the common shells. The Nordenfeldt gun was then mounted on shore for tests of penetration. The plates used were: (1) a 5¼-inch solid wrought-iron; (2) a 4-inch solid (Cammell) steel plate; (3) one ⅞-inch steel plate, at an angle of fifteen degrees to line of fire. The two thick plates were backed by ten inches of oak, and at right angles to line of fire and one hundred yards from the gun. The perforation was in every case complete, both with solid steel shot and chilled-point shells, these latter bursting in the wood behind. The thin plate was then put at more acute angle to the line of fire, and only when this angle was seven degrees or eight degrees did the projectile fail to penetrate. The indicated muzzle velocity of this gun is 2130 feet, with a 6-pound projectile and charge of two pounds fifteen ounces. “A few days afterwards the Hotchkiss gun went through the same trials and programme. For rapidity forty rounds were fired with rough aiming in three minutes, the rate being 13.3 per minute. The shooting was good, but the men serving the gun complained of being fatigued by the shocks from the shoulder-piece. The muzzle velocity was about 1085 feet, or about 300 feet below that of the Nordenfeldt. Last of all, the Italian gun was fired, but as it was designed for 1480 feet velocity, it was not brought in direct competition with the other two guns in power. The rapidity of fire obtained, however, was about twenty rounds per minute, and both the mechanism and recoil-carriage worked well.[57] “The Hotchkiss and Nordenfeldt guns were tried in competition at Ochta, near St. Petersburg, in September last (1886). The reports that have reached this country are very meagre, but are unanimous in favor of the Nordenfeldt gun. From what can be learned, the fire was first for rapidity, in which the Nordenfeldt discharged thirty rounds in one minute, and the Hotchkiss twenty rounds in the same time, the initial velocity of the former being 624 metres (2047 feet) per second, while that of the latter was 548 metres (1797 feet) per second. “The fire of both guns was directed upon a target at 1800 metres (1969 yards) range. The Nordenfeldt scored nine hits, while the Hotchkiss made none. It is more than likely that this failure was due more to defective pointing than to any defect of construction. “The trial closed with a very interesting and instructive experiment. “Four targets were placed at 600, 800, 1000, and 1200 metres; each gun was to fire as rapidly as possible for thirty seconds, changing the range each fire, from the 600 up to the 1200 metre target and back. During this test the Nordenfeldt is said to have discharged fifteen shots in the thirty seconds, and to have made nine hits, while the Hotchkiss scored but two hits and only discharged eleven rounds in thirty-two seconds. Here again the element of inaccurate sighting may be largely responsible for the difference in the number of hits, but the great disparity in the number of rounds fired must be due to the mechanical defects in the Hotchkiss system by which the action of its breech-block is too slow. Notwithstanding the reported success of the Nordenfeldt gun in the trials, the Russian government ordered a number of Hotchkiss guns and no Nordenfeldts.” [Illustration: NEW 6-INCH BREECH-LOADING RIFLE.] The latest experiments with large calibred rapid-fire guns were those of the Armstrong 36 and 70 pounder. The first piece differs materially from the new 33-pounder Hotchkiss; it is 4.724 inches in calibre, 14 feet 2½ inches length, and weighs 34 hundred-weight. It was fired with seven and a half pounds of powder ten times in forty-seven seconds, or at a rate six times faster than that obtained with the service guns of like calibre. The 70-pounder was fired with both twenty-five-pound and thirty-pound charges, at a speed of from eight to ten rounds per minute. In the latest mount for the 36-pounder the gun is supported on a rocking slide which pivots on transverse bearings, so that the piece moves only forward and backward on the slide; elevation and depression are given by a shoulder-piece attached to the slide, and the gun is secured at any desired angle with a clamp attached to the side of the slide. This development of rapid-fire pieces opens anew the discussion as to the comparative values of large and small calibre guns. At the present stage of the question it is safe to say that, however necessary the large calibre may be in armored battle-ships and coast-defence vessels, its usefulness in thin-skinned, high-powered cruisers is questionable. Abroad, the long-range guns which constitute the primary batteries are being reduced in calibre, while the secondary batteries of rapid-fire guns are increasing so much in size that before the next sea-war a nearly uniform calibre of four or five inches will probably be established. The reasons for these changes are not difficult to understand. In all sea engagements hereafter type will fight with type; that is to say, apart from the rôle which auxiliary rams and torpedo-boats may play, armored ships will oppose armored ships, and unarmored cruisers and gun-boats will, when intelligently handled, seek action only with vessels of similar character. To-day every unarmored ship afloat or under construction can be penetrated at the average fighting distance by a musket-bullet impelled with a little more than the ordinary velocity; and as there is absolutely no protection, it seems a mistake to arm such vessels with the unnecessarily large calibres now in use. Especially is this true when their employment is based mainly upon the remote assumption that such ships may have to attack fortifications. Smaller guns will do the work equally as well, if not better; for the greater intensity of fire secured by the certain action of a large number of easily handled small-calibred guns is surely more valuable than any probable advantage which might be derived from heavier projectiles fired under conditions that make their effectiveness doubtful. Whatever may be said to the contrary by mere theorists, the difficulty of handling ordnance increases enormously as the calibres grow; and sea-officers, who alone are the proper judges, insist that the monster pieces of the present day are so unmanageable as to be nearly useless. Of course, where armor penetration is vital to success, heavy armaments must and will be employed; but when this factor need not be considered, a great many light guns, easily worked by hand, are the demands of the hour. The problem, fortunately, is nearer solution owing to the development now in progress; and when this is coupled with the rapidly increasing popularity of the 5-inch breech-loading all-steel rifle, our country notably may congratulate itself that ordnance is reverting to a plane which other nations mistakenly and at great cost abandoned, and which the United States can readily attain. SHIPS OF THE MINOR NAVIES. Early in September of this year there sailed from England for the East five Chinese war-vessels of the latest types: the _Chih Yüan_ and _Ching Yüan_, fast cruisers; the _King Yüan_ and _Lai Yüan_, coast-defence ships; and a torpedo-boat as yet unnamed. Though the squadron was commanded by Admiral Lang, a captain in the Royal Navy temporarily serving under the Chinese government, the other officers were mainly, and the crews were wholly, natives who had passed through English cruising and training ships. The _Chih Yüan_ was commanded by Captain Tang, who had under him nine English and fifteen Chinese officers and one hundred and fifty men; the _Ching Yüan_ was in charge of Captain Yih, and eleven English and fourteen Chinese officers, with the same complement; while the other ships were officered and manned much the same way. There was, it is true, an English fleet surgeon, but each ship had its native medical officer and two chief engineers, one of whom was a Chinese. “On leaving Spithead,” stated the _Herald_ cable despatch, “the fleet will proceed direct to Gibraltar, thence to Port Said, where it will take in coal; it will stop at Suez, Aden, Colombo (where it will coal again), Singapore, Hong-Kong, Chefoo, and Taku, joining at this place the fleet already assembled under Admiral Ting, and replacing there many of the foreigners by native officers. The voyage is expected to occupy seventy-two days—fifty-two at sea and twenty in harbor—and during this time the crews will be thoroughly practised in torpedo, gun, and other drills. This, of course, will involve a deal of hard work, such as would try the endurance of English sailors, but the Chinamen will be allowed a plentiful supply of beef and beer.” Modern cruisers and armed battle-ships requiring the highest intelligence to fight, torpedo-drills, beef and beer—and all for that outer barbarian whom our mobs murder just for a lark! Here is a lesson for Congressmen; here an example and a possible menace for this defenceless land. The Chinese navy, though of recent growth, consists to-day of seven armored and ten unarmored ships of modern types, in addition to torpedo-boats, and to at least thirty other vessels which are not so obsolete as nine-tenths of the ships this country has in commission. Nearly ten years ago the Chinese government realized that its wooden corvettes, gun-boats, and armed junks were no longer adapted to warfare, and ordered from the Vulcan Works at Stettin the two steel cruisers _Nan Shu_ and _Nan Shen_. These are of 2200 tons displacement, and with 2400 horse-power have developed 15 knots speed; their armament is composed of two 8-inch and eight 4½-inch Armstrongs, and of lighter secondary pieces. In 1881 these ships were followed by the armored battle-ships _Chen Yüan_ and _Ting Yüan_, and by the steel cruiser _Tchi Yüan_. The battle-ships are built of steel, and have the following dimensions: length 296.5 feet, beam 59 feet, mean draught 20 feet, displacement 7430 tons. Their compound armor extends throughout a central citadel 138 feet long, and around a nearly elliptical redoubt situated at its forward end; the side armor is five feet wide, and has a thickness of 14 inches at the water-line, of 8 inches at the lower and of 10 inches at the upper edge; the protection to the redoubt is 12, and to the conning-tower 8, inches thick. The armament consists of four 12-inch Krupps, echeloned in pairs within the redoubt; of two 5.9-inch Krupps mounted forward and aft inside of machine-gun proof turrets; of eleven Hotchkiss revolving cannons, and a supply of Whitehead torpedo-tubes. The engines are of the three-cylinder compound type, and develop 7300 horse-power and 15.5 knots. The ships have double bottoms, minutely subdivided, and in addition to a cork belt forward and abaft the citadel a steel protective deck two inches thick curves to the extremities. The twin-screw steel cruiser _Tchi Yüan_ is of 3200 tons displacement, and has two sets of two-cylinder horizontal compound engines, which develop 2800 horse-power and a speed of 15 knots; her dimensions are: length 236 feet 3 inches, beam 34 feet 5 inches, and draught 15 feet 9 inches. The entire under-water body is covered by a curved steel deck, which is 4 inches thick, and extends 4 feet 9 inches below the water-line; the space between this deck and the one above is used for coal-bunkers. “There are two machine-gun proof turrets on the fore and aft line, the base of the forward one being surmounted by a fixed tower armored with 15-inch steel, which extends to a height sufficient to protect the base of the turret, its machinery, and gun-carriages. The armament is composed of two 8.27-inch (21 centimetre) Krupps in the forward turret, of one 5.9-inch (15 centimetre) Krupp in the after turret, of two similar guns on the main deck aft, of five Hotchkiss revolving cannons, and of a supply of Whitehead torpedoes, discharged through four above-water tubes.”[58] The swift protected cruisers _Chih Yüan_ and _Ching Yüan_ were built at Elswick; the unnamed torpedo-boat is of the _Yarrow_ type; and the coast-defence vessels _King Yüan_ and _Lai Yüan_ were constructed at Stettin. The displacement of the cruisers is 2300 tons, length 268 feet, beam 38 feet, depth 21 feet, and draught 14 feet forward and 16 feet aft. Each vessel has two pairs of triple-expansion engines. Both the engine and boiler rooms are divided into water-tight compartments by transverse and longitudinal bulkheads, and the machinery is so arranged that either boiler can work on one engine or on both, and the change necessary to effect this can be made while the vessel is in motion. The result of this intercommunication between each engine and each boiler is that the vessel can proceed so long as any single boiler and engine are uninjured. In the four trial trips, two with and two against the tide, with all their weights, armament, and Chinese crews on board, they attained an average speed of 18.536 knots. The vessels are built of steel, and have two decks, the lower one consisting of four-inch steel plates, rising in the middle above the water-line and inclined at the sides so as to dip below it. The engines, magazines, rudder-head, and steering gear lie below, and are protected by this deck. The openings in the deck are encircled by coffer-dams, armored with steel plates, inclined so as to deflect projectiles. The bows are formed and strengthened for ramming purposes. Additional protection is given to the vessel by a partition which is built on the protective deck parallel to the side of the ship; this encloses a space that is eight feet wide, and is subdivided into a great number of water-tight compartments for the stowage of four hundred and fifty tons of fuel. Both ships have double bottoms, minutely subdivided into water-tight compartments. The armament consists of three 21-centimetre Krupp guns—two mounted forward and one aft—all on centre-pivot, shield-protected Vavasseur carriages; of two 6-inch Armstrongs on sponsons, also Vavasseur mounted; of eight 6-pounder rapid-fire Hotchkiss; and of six Gatling guns. There are four above-water torpedo-tubes—two fixed (one in the bow, firing ahead, and one aft, pointed astern) and two training, one in each broadside. There are two electric search-lights for each vessel, with a nominal power of 25,000 candles, while the cabins and rest of the ship are lighted with incandescent lamps. “It is humiliating,” writes the _Army and Navy Gazette_, “but nevertheless an actual fact, that two of the cruisers of the Chinese squadron under command of Admiral Lang are superior in certain novelties of construction to any of our own vessels of this class. In point of speed the two unarmored ships which have been turned out by the Elswick firm cannot be touched by our swiftest cruisers. They steam nearly nineteen knots an hour. The traversing and manipulation of their guns can be effected with such rapidity that when saluting the garrison at Portsmouth recently it appeared almost impossible that the guns could have been properly sponged between each discharge, the two bow guns especially keeping up a continuous roar. Only the two sponson 6-inch guns are from Armstrong’s; they are mounted on Vavasseur carriages, and fitted with singularly simple breech apparatus. The other three heavy guns are Krupp’s 21-centimetres (about 8¼-inch). These last are protected with a shield of entirely unique construction. It is of steel, and commencing from the trunnion ring spreads out into a wide shelter sufficient to accommodate the entire gun detachment. The sights are also under cover. The stern-chaser has a single shield; the two bow-chasers are included within one. The torpedo apparatus is most complete. In addition to the two tubes opening ahead and astern, which are well above the surface of the water, there are six others in connection with the torpedo-room. “But the latest improvement which is observable on board is the steel armored conning-tower, fitted with Lord Armstrong’s patent telegraph and communications, for which a special royalty of four hundred pounds has to be paid. It is the most perfect scheme for conducting fighting operations that has ever come under our notice. A model for laying all the guns is prominently placed in front of the steering-wheel, which is under personal command of the officer in charge. On the left are tubes and telegraphs by which he can converse with the officer in command of the gun detachment, and correct any mistakes observable in the laying of the guns. Then he can fire simultaneously, if desirable, or singly, if preferred. All stations on board are also in communication with this conning-tower. Hence the entire fighting power of the vessel, torpedoes and all included, is at the disposal of the officer in command within the conning-tower. Another useful modification has been effected in these vessels. The conning-tower, which is at the foot of the foremost fighting mast, has close to it the signal station, also protected with steel armor, so that the signaller therein is absolutely secure, and close to the commanding officer, from whom he receives and to whom he communicates outside signals.” The torpedo-boat built by Yarrow is said to be the fastest of its size that has ever been launched, as it has reached a speed of about twenty-eight knots an hour. It is armed with two fixed 14-inch torpedo-tubes in the bows, and one 14-inch training-tube on deck abaft the funnel. It is also supplied with a powerful armament of Hotchkiss and Gatling guns, and a strong electric search-light so arranged as to be worked either from the conning-tower or from the deck. The _King Yüan_ and _Lai Yüan_, built by the Vulcan Company at Stettin, are powerful vessels, effective for either coast defence or distant sea service. Their principal dimensions are: length 269 feet, beam 39 feet 4 inches, depth 25 feet 6 inches, mean draught 16 feet 8 inches, and displacement 2900 tons. They are built entirely of steel, with double bottoms extending two-thirds of the length, and the under-water body is divided by bulkheads into sixty-six water-tight compartments. The armor protection is compound, and consists of a belt six feet wide extending the length of the machinery and boiler space, having a maximum thickness of 9.5 inches at and above the water-line, and a minimum thickness of 5.1 inches. This belt is terminated at either end by thwartship armored bulkheads, 5.1 inches thick. At the forward end of the belt is a circular revolving turret eight inches thick, on top of which is the conning-tower, with an armor protection of six inches. The under-water body is protected by a complete steel protective deck, 1.5 inches thick over the top of, and three inches thick forward and abaft, the belt. A partial cork belt above the protective deck gives additional stability. The engines consist of two sets of three-cylinder compound type, situated in two separate compartments, driving twin screws, and developing 3400 horse-power with forced draft. The boilers, four in number, are placed in two separate compartments. A speed of about sixteen knots was attained. The armament consists of two 21-centimetre (8.27-inch) Krupps mounted in the turret; of two 15-centimetre (5.91-inch) similar guns carried in recessed ports; of two 47-millimetre Hotchkiss rapid-fire guns; of five 37-millimetre revolving cannons; and of four torpedo-discharging tubes—three above-water and one in the bow below the water-line.[59] As additions to the lightly armored gun-boat _Tiong Sing_, built in 1875, China ordered this year from the Vulcan Company two heavy coast-defence vessels of 7000 tons displacement and 6000 horse-power, and laid down at Foochow an armored gun-vessel. The _Tshao Yong_ and _Yang Wai_ are steel cruisers built at Elswick, of 1350 tons displacement and 2400 horse-power; they have developed sixteen knots, and are armed with two 10-inch and four 4½-inch Armstrongs, with a secondary battery of two lighter pieces and six machine guns. The _Fee-chen_, a small steel cruiser built at Sunderland, England, has triple-expansion engines, and is expected to develop thirteen knots. Her armament consists of two 6-inch Armstrongs and four lighter guns; she is also fitted to do cable work. Three cruisers of the _Nan Shu_ type are being constructed in Chinese dockyards, besides several of the _Kuang Chen_ class of gun-boats. The Japanese navy consists of forty vessels, of which eight only are modern. The classified armored fleet includes five ships, among them the _Adsama Kan_, formerly known as the _Stonewall Jackson_; none of these is of any importance except the central battery ship _Fu Soo_, which was launched in 1877. In January of this year, however, the Japanese government ordered from the Société des Forges et Chantiers de la Méditerranée two coast-defence vessels, to be built on the plans of M. Bertin, constructing engineer of the Japanese navy. They are to be built entirely of steel, on the cellular plan, with two longitudinal and twelve transverse bulkheads. Their principal dimensions are: length 295 feet 2 inches, beam 50 feet 6 inches, depth 34 feet 9 inches, draught aft 21 feet 2 inches, displacement 4140 tons. The armament proposed is one 12.6-inch (32-centimetre) breech-loader, eleven 4.72-inch (12-centimetre) breech-loaders, six rapid-fire guns, twelve revolving cannons, and four torpedo-tubes—one in the bow, one in the stern, and one each broadside. Two independent triple-expansion engines, driving twin screws, and required to develop 5400 indicated horse-power with forced draft, and 3400 with natural draft, supplied with steam by six three-furnace boilers in two groups, furnish the motive power. The estimated maximum speed is sixteen knots. A heavy protective steel deck and a complete surrounding arrangement of coal-bunkers protect the engine and boiler space and magazines. The complement of officers and men will number four hundred. In March, 1887, a small armored gun-vessel, designed by the same official, was laid down at the Ishikawa-Shima dockyard, Japan. The displacement is 750 tons, length 150 feet, and beam 25 feet.[60] Of the unarmored vessels, the sister ships _Naniwa-Kan_ (already described) and _Takatschio_ are at present the most important, though six modern cruisers now under construction in Japanese dockyards will soon be added to the fleet. The navy is manned and officered exclusively by natives, and the service is well administered and popular. Owing to possible complications with China, coast defence has become a live national question, and the wealthy Japanese are subscribing large sums for ships and forts. In addition to these voluntary contributions, the new tax which has been imposed will enable Japan to put herself in an excellent condition for attack or defence. The other navies not described in these pages have afloat or under construction but few modern ships-of-war. Still, there are vessels in the minor services which ought to be briefly described. One of these, the _Almirante Brown_, of the Argentine navy, is a twin-screw, central-battery steel ship which was launched in 1880. Her dimensions are: length 240 feet, beam 50 feet, draught 20 feet 6 inches, and displacement 4200 tons. With 4500 horse-power she attained 13.75 knots, and her coal endurance is given as 4300 knots at 10 knots speed. Her armament is made up of eight 8-inch and six 4½-inch Armstrongs, and of four machine guns; the armor is compound, nine inches thick on the belt and eight inches on the battery. There is also building in England for this government a central casemate steel cruiser of 4400 tons displacement. The armor on the casemate is to be compound, ten inches thick, and the armament is to be composed of eight 8-inch breech-loading Armstrongs, with a secondary battery of rapid-fire guns and torpedo-tubes. The estimated speed is fourteen knots. In addition to these two vessels the Argentine navy has two small coast-defence turret-ships, one 14-knot steel cruiser (the _Patagonia_, which is similar in appearance to the United States steamer _Atlanta_), six gun-boats, eleven torpedo-boats, and a few other vessels of an unimportant character. The Brazilian navy has, exclusive of her capital torpedo-boat flotilla, over fifty vessels, of which a dozen are classed as armored. These last are mainly medium draught, coast-service turret-ships and river monitors, though among them are the _Riachuelo_ and _Aquidaban_, twin-screw armored cruisers, and the _Solimoes_, an armored battle-ship. The _Riachuelo_ made a sensation when she first appeared, and is still one of the most formidable vessels in the world. She is built of steel, and has the following dimensions: length 305 feet, beam 52 feet, draught 19 feet 6 inches, displacement 5700 tons. Her armor is compound, eleven inches thick on the belt and ten inches on the turret, conning-tower, and redoubt. She has also a steel deck, which curves forward to strengthen the ram, and aft to protect the steering gear. Her armament consists of four 9-inch 20-ton Whitworths (Armstrong altered) mounted in two echeloned turrets, and of six 5½-inch guns carried under cover in the superstructure. Her secondary battery includes fifteen machine Nordenfeldts and five above-water torpedo-tubes. With 7300 horse-power she attained a speed of 16.71 knots, and is credited with a coal endurance of 4500 miles at 15 knots speed. The _Aquidaban_ is of the same type and general appearance as the _Riachuelo_, but of smaller dimensions. Her length is 280 feet, beam 52 feet, draught 18 feet, displacement 4950 tons. The compound armor is from seven to eleven inches in thickness, and seven feet in width on the water-line belt, and is ten inches thick on the conning-tower and on the oval redoubts which protect the bases of the two echeloned turrets. The armored deck and redoubt roofs are built of steel, from two to three inches thick. The armament consists of four 9-inch 20-ton guns mounted in the turrets, and of four 70-pounders carried under the superstructure. The secondary battery is made up of fifteen 1-inch Nordenfeldts and five above-water torpedo-tubes. She developed on trial 6251 horse-power and a speed of 15.81 knots, and made on the voyage from Lisbon to Bahia 3600 knots in 13 days and 17 hours, and from Bahia to Rio Janeiro 750 knots in 2 days and 20 hours. The average speed for the passage from England to Rio was nearly eleven knots on a daily coal consumption of forty-three tons. The Chilian navy has the two iron-armored, twin-screw, central-battery ships _Almirante Cochrane_ and _Blanco Encalada_, and the lightly armored turret-ship _Huascar_. The _Almirante Cochrane_ and _Blanco Encalada_ are 210 feet in length, 45 feet 9 inches in beam, 19 feet 8 inches in draught, and 3500 tons in displacement. The former carries four 9-inch and two 7-inch breech-loading Armstrong rifles, four lighter pieces, and seven machine guns. Before the alterations and repairs lately made, the _Blanco Encalada_ had six 12-ton muzzle-loading Armstrong rifles, four lighter pieces, and seven machine guns. The _Huascar_ was built in 1865, and is a slightly protected iron ship of 2032 tons displacement, 1050 horse-power, and 12 knots speed. Her battery consists of two 10-inch muzzle-loading Armstrongs and two 40-pounders. Her wonderful record on the west coast of South America has made her name as familiar in the mouth as a household word, and whatever may have been the justice of the war, there never can or will be a question of the superb courage with which she was fought by her gallant officers and crew. Chili has three wooden corvettes, the _Chacabuco_, _O’Higgins_, and _Pilcomayo_, one composite corvette, the _Magellanes_, one steel cruiser, the _Esmeralda_, five gun-boats, two paddle steamers, one despatch-boat, one transport, and eleven torpedo-boats. In April, 1885, the _Esmeralda_ ran from Valparaiso to Callao, 1292 miles, in one hundred and eight hours, the engines during the last eight hours barely turning over. In the exhaustive trials made before her departure from England the highest speed attained was 18¼ knots per hour. The _Esmeralda_ is said to be at present in an inefficient condition, both as regards her speed and battery power. In November, 1886, the Chilian government gave the Armstrong firm an order for a powerful, partially-protected steel cruiser, which is to be of 4500 tons displacement, and to develop 19 knots speed. Her armament is to consist of two 10-inch, one 8-inch, and two 6-inch Armstrong breech-loaders, with a secondary battery of four 6-pounder rapid-fire guns, eight Hotchkiss revolving cannons, and eight torpedo-tubes. The cost of this vessel is to be about $1,500,000. APPENDIX I. SUBMARINE WARFARE. The practicability of submarine navigation was established by the Dutch over two hundred and fifty years ago. Then, as now, its underlying idea, its claim for recognition, was the advantages the system gave in marine warfare. Nor is its battle value overestimated; for such a boat, if successful, exercises an influence that is great in material uses, that is enormous in moral effects. Its development has been slow; for though the problem was solved long ago, no practical results were attained until within the last thirty years. During the late war submarine boats were for the first time employed with such sufficient success that the great maritime powers have considered the type to have an importance which justified investigation. They reached this conclusion because no plan of defence exists which could defy the operations of a weapon that attacks not only matter but mind. There is no danger which sailors will not face; because their environments are always perilous, and their traditions are rich with glorious records of seeming impossibilities overcome by pluck and dash. They are willing always, even against the heaviest odds, to accept any fighting chance. They know that the unexpected is sure to happen. The spirit that made Farragut take the lead of his disorganized line in Mobile Bay still lives; his clarion call of “Damn the torpedoes! Follow me!” is a sea instinct, born of brine and gale, which never dies. Whatever coast fighting or port blockading may demand, sea battles are unchanged. History teaches that ships always closed for action, and that vessels fighting each other from beyond the circling horizons, or hull down, with long-range guns, are the dreams of shore inventors. Guns and ships have changed, but men and the sea are changeless. The fighting distance of to-day is not much greater than it was in Nelson’s or in Perry’s time; and the next naval war will surely prove that battle will be nearly as close as in Benbow’s age, when the gallant tars combed innocuous four-pound shots out of their pigtails, and battered each other within biscuit-throwing distance with deftly shied chocking quoins. It is fortunate, in the interest of good, square fighting, that the operative sphere of submarine boats is limited to coast work. Fortunate, because while the bravery and the grit are the same, the threatening of a danger which cannot be squarely met is apt to benumb the heart of the stoutest. A sailor hates to run; he does not care to fight another day when the chance of the present is open before him; but of what avail are the highest courage and skill against a dull, venomous dog of an enemy who crawls in the darkness out of the deeps, and, silently attaching a mine or torpedo, leaves his impotent foe to sure destruction? Submarine mines may be countermined; when necessary, defied; guns may be silenced and torpedo-boats so riddled by rapid-fire guns that they will be disabled beyond the radius of their effective action; automatic torpedoes may be checked by netting, or by the prompt manœuvrings of the attacked vessel; ship may always fight ship. But what is the chance for brain or brawn against a successful submarine boat, when the mere suspicion of its presence is enough in itself to break down the blithest, bravest heart of oak. It is here that their moral effects are enormous. The history of their development may be briefly told. In 1624 Cornelius Van Drebble, a Hollander, made some curious experiments under the Thames. His diving-boat was propelled by twelve pairs of oars and carried a dozen persons, among them King James I. In 1771 Bushnell, of Connecticut, constructed a boat which Washington described in a letter to Jefferson as being a “machine so contrived as to carry the inventor under water at any depth he chose, and for a considerable time and distance with an appendage charged with powder, which he could fasten to a ship, and give fire to it in time sufficient for his returning, and by means thereof destroy it.” Fulton borrowed Bushnell’s idea, and in 1801 experimented successfully with it in the Seine. He descended under water, remained for twenty minutes, and after having gone a considerable distance, emerged. In 1851 a shoemaker named Phillips launched in Lake Michigan a cigar-shaped boat forty feet long and four feet in its greatest diameter. This was his first attempt, but in the course of a few years he so far perfected his arrangements for purifying the air that on one occasion he took his wife and children, and spent a whole day in exploring the bottom of the lake. In the history of these boats, as told in the report of the Board on Fortifications, Phillips afterwards descended in Lake Erie, near Buffalo, and never reappeared. Many other attempts were made, the most successful being that of a Russian mechanic, who in 1855 built a diving-boat which was under such perfect control that he could remain submerged for eight hours. The boat which sank the _Housatonic_ was a remarkable submarine vessel; it was about thirty-five feet long, built of boiler iron, and had a crew of nine men, of whom eight worked the propeller by hand, while the ninth steered and governed the boat. She could be submerged to any desired depth or could be propelled on the surface. After various mishaps she went out of Charleston harbor, attacked and sank the United States steamer _Housatonic_, then on blockade duty; as she never returned, it is supposed that the reflex action of the torpedo destroyed her. In the report quoted above the results already attained in submarine navigation are thus summarized by Captain Maguire, U.S.A.: