)

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[118] navy. This fleet comprises, however, eight belted cruisers, of
which five are important. These are as follows:
Name of Ship. Displacement. Indicated
Horse-power. Speed. Armor. Principal
Armament.
Tons. Knots. Guns
Vladimir Monomach 5800 7000 15.4 7-inch. 4 of 9 tons.
Dmitri Donsköi 5800 7000 16.25 7-inch. 3 ” 29 ”[35]
Admiral Nachimoff 7780 8000 16 10-inch. 8 ” 9 ”
Alexander Nevsky 7572 8000 16 10-inch. 8 ” 9 ”
Emperor Nicholas 8000 8000 16 10-inch. 2 ” 40 ”

The only fast armored cruisers of the Baltic fleet are the Rynda and Vitias, of
2950 tons, 3500 horse-power, and 15 knots speed; and another, the Admiral
Korniloff, now being completed at Nantes, to be much larger and faster. Among
torpedo-vessels there is the twin-screw steel Iljin, of 600 tons, which has steamed
20 knots, and carries 19 machine guns; another, of only 140 tons, but to steam 20
knots, has been built at Glasgow; and a third, of like size, but of 17 knots, at
St. Petersburg. The torpedo-boats of the Russian navy are given in the
Parliamentary Return as below:

Baltic Torpedo-boats.

Completed: 4 over 100 feet in length; 74 over 70 feet in length; 20 under 70 feet
in length. Completed and building: 6 over 100 feet in length, of which 4 are over
150 feet long—total, 104.

Black Sea Torpedo-boats.

Completed: 5 over 100 feet in length; 8 over 70 feet in length; 6 under 70 feet in
length. Completed and building: 7 over 100 feet in length—total, 26.

[119]

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.

[120]

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.

[121]
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.
Blueprints
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.
War-ship in harbor
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[122] 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.

[123]
Blueprints
HALF-DECK PLAN OF THE “KAISER.”
SIDE ELEVATION OF THE “KAISER.”

[124]

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[125] cannot be the difference of six inches which his first-quoted statement
alleges. There doubtless was a difference of an inch, or possibly of two inches, in
so far as a few of the armor-plates were concerned, but not more, and how far this
difference extended is very doubtful, seeing that nowadays if the constructor of a
ship thickens but two or three plates on each side of his ship he feels entitled to
speak of her as being armored with plates of the maximum thickness, and to mislead
mankind accordingly. Nor is this surprising, when we see in a late return to the
British Parliament ships like the British Collingwood class, the French Brennus
class, and the German Sachsen class gravely included in the lists of “armored
vessels.”

The particulars of the German armored fleet, leaving out the Hansa, a weak and
weakly armed ship of only 3500 tons and 12 knots speed, and all smaller armored
craft, are as follows:

SEA-GOING ARMORED SHIPS OF GERMANY.

Name of Ship. Displacement. Indicated
Horse-power. Speed. Maximum
Armor. Principal
Armament.
Tons. Knots. Inches. Guns.
König Wilhelm 9750 8300 14¾ 12 18 of 14 tons.
Kaiser 7550 8000 14½ 10 8 ” 18 ”
Deutschland 7550 8000 14½ 10 8 ” 18 ”
Friedrich der Grosse 6600 4930 14 9½ 4 ” 18 ”
Preussen 6600 4380 14 9½ 4 ” 18 ”
Baden 7280 5600 14 16 6 ” 18 ”
Baiern 7280 5600 14 16 6 ” 18 ”
Sachsen 7280 5600 14 16 6 ” 18 ”
Würtemberg 7280 5600 14 16 6 ” 18 ”
Oldenburg 5200 3900 13½ 12 8 ” 18 ”
Friedrich Karl 6000 3500 13½ 5 16 ” 9 ”
Kronprinz 5480 4800 14¼ 5 16 ” 9 ”

All the above German ships are completed, and have been for a long time, with the
exception of the Oldenburg, which was not launched until 1884. The Baden was
launched in 1880, the Baiern and Würtemberg in 1878, and all the rest earlier—the
Friedrich Karl and Kronprinz nearly twenty years ago. Germany appears to have no
iron-clad, large or small, under construction at present. It is unnecessary to set
forth in detail her small armored gun-vessels; suffice it to say that she has one
iron turret-ship, the Arminius, of 1560 tons, with 7½-inch armor, but only carrying
four 9-ton guns, and steaming 10 to 11 knots; and eleven iron vessels of 10 feet
draught of water, 1090 tons displacement, 700 horse-power, 9 knots speed, and 8-
inch armor, each carrying one 12-inch gun of 37 tons. These were all built at
Bremen, and launched between[126] 1876 and 1880, inclusive. They are named after
such agreeable creatures as basilisks, crocodiles, salamanders, scorpions, etc.,
but owing to their small speed would probably prove of less aggressive habits than
their names imply. They would nevertheless be very useful in defending the coasts
and harbors.

The abstention for the present of the German government from the construction of
armored ships must not be taken as implying that it prefers the fast unarmored
cruiser as a type of war-ships, for it has no such cruiser built, and is building
but three of very high speed, and one of 16 knots.[37] The particulars of these are
as follows:
Name of Ship. Displacement. Indicated
Horse-power. Speed. Armament.
Tons. Knots. Guns.
Elisabeth 4500 8000 18 14 8-inch.
Ariadne 4800 8000 18 14 8-inch.
Charlotte 3360 .... 16 ....
Loreley 2000 5400 19 2 4-inch.

The Admiralty Return makes no mention of the last ship, as she is but a despatch-
vessel, but she is mentioned and particularized in the Universal Register. It is to
be further observed that the first two vessels on this list are each to have a 3-
inch deck, for the protection of the engines, boilers, etc., which fact has induced
the Admiralty officers to designate them “protected ships,” as they do their own
ships of this really unprotected type, and as they have not designated the French
cruisers Tage and Cécile.

The German navy comprises a few modern and fast frigates, some of which have been
honored with illustrious names, as will be seen from the following list:

GERMAN UNARMORED FRIGATES.

Name of Ship. Displacement. Indicated
Horse-power. Speed. Principal
Armament.
Tons. Knots. Guns.
Bismarck 2850 2500 13½ 16 of 3½ tons.
Moltke 2850 2500 13½ 16 ” 3½ ”
Stosch 2800 2500 13½ 16 ” 3½ ”
Stein 2800 2500 13½ 16 ” 3½ ”
Prinz Adalbert 3860 4800 15 { 2 ” 6 ”
{10 ” 3½ ”
Leipzig