GERMAN NAVY.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 777, 29 March 1910, Page 7

GERMAN NAVY.

THE. 1910 PROGRAMME. :; tiy Telßßraph—PreßS Association—Cooyrleht . Berlin, March. 27.'.' The Howaldt Works at Kiel have contracted to ,build the first of three battleships of tihe 1910 programmed '.'■ i.'.'.<: >ROCRESS IN 1908. ;: During 1909 three .armoured ships Were completed and 'commissioned-' in. Germany, four ■ were launched, and the same-number of'new-ships begun. Of the three ships completed for service, twowere of the Dreadnought type; the third .was the pro-Dreadnought armoured cruiser Blucher. On trial all these ships did well in the way'of speed, ex-, cecding that, for which they' were designed. .' The. Nassau and her three sisters carry'the llin. gun'.in'their main batteries," but the three battleships launched during the year will, it is reported; be'armed-with the now 12in. Three''small' cruisers were completed in 1909, the Emdon, Oolberg, and Mainz, the first being fitted with reciprocating engines, and the last .two with turbines of German manufacture. :The Mainz attained on trial .speeds of 27.5 and 28 knots. ...Two other,cruisers of this typo wero. launched, tho : KohV(Ersatz-Sch--walbe) oh June 5, now' making, her trials, and tho Augsburg (Ersatz-Sper-ber)'. on July 11|. while,two .more of the 1909 programme'were"giveh -: put s 'tp contfact, making four in hand..' Germany has now five -turbine-driven oruisers completed, and one of-them ' formed part' of the' German squadron ■ whioh went. ,to New York for. the HudsonFulton celebrations,, being the first tur-;bined.,,vcssol-pf the German Navy '■ to cross the Atlantic. '''• a ' |: , . There are now, exclusive of the Taku, 84 destroyers in the German Navy less than 12: years old.' Of this number, 12 .'were added in 1909, "N05.'162 to 173. :These boats are ; turbine-driven, and in October.No. 16-t, built at the Vulcan' .works and .fitted with turbines, made a', speed,on trial.of 34.45 knots. This was exceeded, however, in December by Noi 171, a Gormania boat, with' turbines of the.Parsons type, which attained a : speed of, 34.72 knots; : This .'"record" has again been'beaten in January by No. 166, built by Schichau, and .with turbines of the Melrns and Pfenningbr type, which -is reported to have mado. an'average on all her runs'.'.of. 35.93 knots and a maximum speed :of .36.3. AH these destroyers are of.the 1908. programme, and the designed speed was only 30 knots. The 12.boats of the 1909 programme, according to the;,"Berliner Tagobjatt,"-. were contracted for in July last, two in the ; Germania yard 'at Kiel,,, four in the Schichau yard at Elbihg, and six in the Vuloan yard at Stettin. As reported in '"The Times" of• December 16 last, the Kiel' correspondent of the "Kolnische Zeitung" had stated, that the first .of the'; 12-.' destroyers of. the 1909 pro-' gramme had already been completed .at Stettin,, and that„the oonstrilction of, the other .destroyers of the same programme' was already far advanced. If this statement is correct—and it has, not been, .confirmed—the achievement of the Vulcan iyard'has'been, of an unprecedented., character: The boat whose trials have just been mentioned, No. 16G. ; 0f the 1908 programme,' was ordered in; the summer of that year, launched:, in .June, 1909, and has just been, completed. She has. been, therefore,. 19 month's in. hand from date, to order., We should' expect therefore, unless there is' acceleration, to find tho 1909 destroyors- completed early in 1911. No new torpedo boats have been laid down for the' last 12 years. Two ■submarines, "U. 3" to "U. 4," were completed in 1909, and tho construction was advanced, of four others, "U. 5" to "U..8," all of which' wDI go into ■service in 1910.

' The' following tatle shows the armoured ships laid down, launched, or completed for Germany during 1909. — » .-Bv '■■■■■' '"l*%i Displace--£§>§S Name.. Type.• ment. Q%£ g Nassau ... Battleship 17,760 C, 1909 Westfalen ... „ 17,700. C, 1009 Kheinland „. „ 17,760 1., 1008 Posen . ... „" : 17,760 L., 1908 Helgoland ... . „ ' 19,500 L„ 1909 Ostfriosland ... „ 19,500 L., 1909 Thuringen ... „ 19,500 L., 1909 E.-h'rithjof ... „ 19,500 •B„ 1909 E.-Heimdall ... „ — 8., 1909 E.-Hildobr'd .., „ — 8., 1909 E.-Hagen* ... „ — A., 1910 E.-Acgir o ... „ _ A., 1910 E.-Odin* ....'.. „ - A., 1910 Blunher '■ ... Armd. Csr. H. 760 C, 1909' Von der Tann „ 18,700 L., 1909 "G" - „ — 8., 1908 "H" ... „ - 8., 1909 "I"* - A.! 1910 •1910-11 programme authorised. C, completed. L., launched. 8., begun. A., authorised.