GERMAN NAVY.

Evening Post, Volume LXXII, Issue 93, 17 October 1906, Page 3

GERMAN NAVY.

ITS RECENT EXPANSION. IS THERE A SINISTER DESIGN? A REPLY IN THE NEGATIVE. THE FACTS AND FIGURES, In view of the cablegram relating to the alleged proposal of tho British Admiralty to place certain of its battleships on the reserve list, the following article giving the Gorman view of the naval policy of Europe, is of especial interest. The chief stimulus to British effort in maintaining the strength of her navy in proportion to the navies of the other Powers has bsen the seeming ambition of Germany in the direction of sea power. In the article below, which we republfeh from the Melbourne Herald. Yon KoenDeritz disputes the common belief of Germany's antagonism to Britain and hei persistent preparation for conquest. Of late years the belief that tho new naval policy of Germany is being directed against 'England has been so frequently expressed, both in print and in oral dipcusion, that it would almost seem to have become the settled opinion with a by no means inconsiderable section of the British public that the German Empire is preparing for a conflict with Great Britain. It has evidently not occurred to those who labour under such apprehensions that there may be, and, in fact, are, other and very substantial reasons, which have rendered necessary an increase of th© German navy, nor do they seem to have troubled about satisfying themselves whether the actual and contemplated growth of the German fleet is in reality of a proportion indicative of sinister designs and capable of being construed into a menace to the overwhelming naval forces of England. GERMANY'S DEVELOPMENT. It will be readily conceded that every nation having maritime interests at stake has not only the right, but the duty, to provide adequate protection for these interests. is precisely the position in which the German Empire finds itself to-day. In 1904, the last year for which complete figures are, so far, available, its total external trade amounted to £610,000,000, in which its sea-borne commerce participated to the extent of 70 per cent. Let it be also noted that very nearly half of this percentage, viz., 31.5 per cent, is • represented by the overseatrade other than with European countries. Then, again, the tonnage of the German mercantile marine shows an increase from 1,550,000 net registered tons in 1898 to 2,350,000 net registered tons in 1905. Correspondingly, its carrying capacity, which, in 1895, was equal to 3,260,000 tons, reached 7,660,000 tons in 1905. The capital invested in shipping companies at Bremen and Hamburg aloce amounts to £22,150,000, as against £13,650,000 seven years ago, while, the present value of shipping under the German flag is set down at £40,500,000. 'In 1595 its value was estimated at £16,350,000, and in 1899 at £21,300,000. This development, it must not be forgotten, te by no means tho result of a policy of State aid. It is the result of private enterprise, for there are only three lines of mail steamers, viz., to African ports, the East, and to Australia, which, to a moderate extent, are subsidised by the German Government, the total involved amounting to £397,975 per annum, that is to say, considerably ! less than half the sum which Enriand spends every year for her own similar services. The total tonnage launched in Germany in 1905 amounted to 255,523 tons, an increase ' of 50,000 tons on that of the previous year. In 1894 the output totalled 130,000 tons. About 60,000 men are employed by the larger yarda, which "number thirty-one, while the, capital invested in the German shipbuilding industry, which, in 1899, represented an amount of 5,500,000, had increased in 1905 to £9,000,000, i.e., by about 60 per cent. Compared with the total output of the world, Germany's share is equiva lent to about 10 per cent. The estimated value of harbour works in the mor© important German seaports is over £55,000,000, as against £57,500,000 m 1897. This amount will be considerably increased in the near future. NAVAL EXPENDITURE. German investments in foreign countries are estimated to represent £460,000,000. m addition to which something like £800,000,000 of foreign bonds are held by German capitalists, onej fourth, at least, of this amount being represented by ecrip issued by countries I beyond the seas. Add to this the fact that Germany is also a colonial power, and that about 3,000,000 of her sons are I living in foreign parts, and sufficient will have been said to show that the creation of a proportionately powerful navy is not only justified, but .has been rendered imperative by the rapid growth of the empire's maritime interests. Moreover, it will be seen that, in the elaboration of her new naval programme, Germany has not been anticipating in any way uppn her actual and very pressing requirements. On the contrary, compared with the naval expenditure of other Powers, the amount which ■ Germany is spending upon providing adequate protection of her own maritime interests; is of moderate proportions. The following figures, showing the naval expenditure of the five principal sea Powers for 1893 and for 1903, will clearly prove this : —

' For th© sam© decade, the absolute increase of tho naval expenditure incurred by the same Powers was as follow* :

•It must also be remembered that, in 1893, the majority of these Powers were already in possession of a powerful navy the maintenance of which involved a corresponding cost. This, by the way, explains in the case of Franco the small increase of her* expenditure, albeit her absolute expenditure washicher than that of Germany, where, in addition, during the same period, r most, if not all, foundations for her^naval programme had to b© laid out, and, as it were, created. Taking the figures for the year 1903, it niny nko bo mentioned that the amounts involved are' equal to about 16s 9d in tne ca&e of Great Britain, 6s 4d in that of France, and 2s in the case of RuEsia, while for the United States and for Germany these figures work out at. 4s 6d and 3a 8d respectively. Here again it will be noticed that in comparison to other Powers the- petition of Germany is by no means unfavourable. THE GERMAN PROGRAMME. A» to tho question whether the actual and contemplated increase of the German navy is of the kind to warrant apprehensions on the part of Great Britain, this will best bo answered by referring to th© fundamental Navy Aot of 14th June, 1900, and th© ''Amendment Act of sth June, of the present year. These two Acts provide that the German fleet is to consist' of thirty-eight battleships, twenty larg© and thirty-eight small cruisers, with, of course, the. necessary complement of smaller craft, which, however, for present purposes, rn,ay be loft out of consideration. Provision is also made for the renewal, except in the cae of

total loss, of battleshipc after a period of twenty-five years, and of cruisers after a. period of twenty years from th© date of the first instalment of the building vote for the ship to be replaced having been approved by the Reichstag, a provision, by the way, which, in itself, considering the short life of the modern warship, is hardly indicative of any intention on the part of Germany to outrival England. Let it be also noted that the Amendment Act while restoring the six large cruisers comprised in the original programme of 1900, but which had been rejected by the Reichstag, has made no provision for building seven cruisers of the smaller type, which had likewise been proposed six years ago, and shared the fate of the larger ships. It remains only to add that, with the exception of one battleship, which, however, in all likelihood will not be taken in hand before 1910, and of six large .cruisers, to which reference has just been made, all new constructions, including those provided for by the estimates of 'the current year, will represent renewals, and/ by tho Act of 1900, have been distributed as follows : —

THE FLEETS COMPARED. The following are lists of the more im portant battleships of the principal naval Powers, comprising the first all-battle-ship«», as well as armoured and protectad cruisers, that were in commission on list January, 1905, and the other, the same classes of vessels in couree of construction on that date : — r sißks iBki 8 k r: i s i §. .... »5" § jr. . s* ' *" . ** E £ S3 S3. IliSlSii*! I §§§iiiir i s HM !il £. O w2. O 1-8 I- £ SBS9SSQQ wo*w o* ictQQOOO' & OOOOOOOu q UQICOOOOOO J^ •a ° >*\u SS 3 £ 5^ «" © *-»5Zi **" , o.i ;o.i B »? 3-* mKKSSgSSP g. £ a £ " £ | !S:! S: ißi 8S ? § § ggsSSSSg^ § g &•* 01 w • g£ , g 50 o -a o» o* -^,00 -a<a ejicjiQ-**ot-'O&tfl O >•- Q -C C 3 O g Q O CJI tij O O O © O Of the twenty-one- battleships thatr_ Germany hud in commission on Ist January, 1905. two, viz., the Elsass and the Braumschweig, launched in 1903 and 1902 respectively, have a displacement of 13,200 tons each. Five, viz., the Macklenburjj, Schwaben, Zaehringen, Wettin, [ and Wittelsbach, of 11,830 tons displacement each, were launched, the first four I in 1901 and the Wittelsbach in 1900, while another batch of five, viz., the Kai»3r Barbarossa, Kaiser Karl der Groc&e, Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse, Kaiser Wilhelm 11., and the Kaiser Friedrich HI., of 11,150 tons displacement each, have been built between the years 1896 and 1900. The next four ships, viz., the Woerth, launched in 1892, and the Brandenburg, Kurfurst Fredrich Wilhelm, _ and f WeLs6enburg, launched in 1891, which have each a displacement of 10,060 tons, can, 'although modernised to some extent in recent years, hardly be classed as up-to-date, while of t)he ifive remaining vessels, which comprise the Oldenburg, launched in 1884, and which has a displacement of but 5220 tone, as well a 6 the Baden, Wuerttemberg, Bayern, and Sachsen, of 7370 tons displacement each, and built I between the years 1877 and 1880, all that can be said 16 that their fighting value is insignificant. Nevertheless, when the Navy Act of 14th June, 1906, was passed, these obsolete two ships, together with eight coastguard vessels of the Siegfried type, and having a displacement of from 4100 to 4150 tons, have been included in the effective lists ot battleships on which they have remained ever since. It may be added that, in a similar manner, there were included in the lists of protected cruisers such vessels as the Schwalbe, Sperber, Buasard, Falke. Seeadler, Cormoran, Condor, and Geier, which have often been seen in these waters, and were built between 1887 and 1895. Their displacement varies from 1120 to 1630 tons. In addition to these there are to be found tho Blitz and Ther Pfail, which displace 1390 tons, and date from 1883, and one or two similar vessels. Of protected cruisers Germany had, on Ist January, 1905, the Kaisenn Augusta, of 6050 tons, and 21.5 knots speed, built in 1892, as well as five ships of the Freya. type, three of which displace 5660 tons, while the displacement of the other two, which are sheathed and coppered, is 5880 tons. Their speed, viz., nineteen knots, is comparatively low for vessels of this class, and as they carry not a very heavy armour, it seems a settled matter that, from the coming year, they will be generally made use of as school-ships. Of really efficient ships, classed as protected cruisers mention must be made of the Gazalle and Niobe, the Nymphe, Thetis, Ariadne, Amazon©, and Medusa, also th< Frauenlob, Arcona, and Undine, and the Bremen, Hamburg, Berlin, and Luebeck, all built between 1898 and 1904, and having a displacement from 2645 te 4250 tons, with speeds ranging up to 23.5 knots. The remaining ships, which include the Comet, a vessel of only, 960 tons displacement, cannot bo considered any longer as effective. Of the four armoured cruisers that were in commission on Ist January, 1905 the largest is the Fuerst Bismarck, 01 10,700 tons displacement, launched in 1897, and which has been stationed for some years as flagship on the China station. Th© three others are the Prinz Heinrich, of 8930 tons displacement, Launched in 1900, and the Prinz Adalbert and Prledrieh Carl, which both displace 9050 tons, and were launched the former in 1901, and the latter in 1902. THE NEW VESSELS. As to ships in course of construction or completing, the German yards had in hand on Ist January, 1905, the battleships Heescn k Preussen, Lothringen, Deutschland, Hannover,' and Pommern, all of 13,200 tons displacement. Of these the first four have since been commissioned for their trials, -while the Hannover and Pommern have been launched, tho on© on 29th September, atod the other on 2nd December, 1905. Work was ako progressing on three armoured cruisers, viz., the Roon and the York, each of 9550 tons displacement, which have since been placed in commission, and the Gneisenan, of 11,600 tonß displacement f launched on 14th June, of the present year, also on five protected cruisers. Of these latter, the Muenchen, launched on 30th, April, 1904, and the-j

Leipzig, launched on 21st March, 1905, have meanwhile gone into commission j while the Danzig, launched on 23rd September, 1905, will not be ready before next spring, and the two others are still on the stocks. These five ships have each a displacement of 3250 tons. NEW SHIPS COMPARED. Of new war vessels, Germany laid down in 1905 the battleships Schlesisen, launched on 28th May of the present year, and another " Q," not yet ready for launching, both of 13,200 tons displacement, the armoured cruiser Scharnhorst, a sister vessel of the Gneiacnan, launched on 22nd March of this year, and two protected cruisers of 3420 tons displacement, which are still on the stocks ; ■while the current year will witness th© laying down of two battleships to replace the old Bsyern and Sachs en, one. Armoured cruiser and two protected cruisers, which are intended to take th« places of the Pfell and Komet. The battleships will each be of 18,000 tons displacement, while- the armoured cruisers ■will displace 15,000 tons, and each of the two protected cruisers 3500 tons. In thus increasing the displacement of her battleships and armoured cruisers, Germany is only following the example set by other nations. Leaving out th© Dreadnought and the four armoured cruisers of the Invincible class, France has made provision for the building of sis battleships of 18,C00 tons, of which the Danton has already been started afc Brest, while at least two others are to be laid down in the course of this year. Tn all, eleven battleships of this type, together with ten armoured cruisers of the first-class and sis of the second, are to be built according to the programme of last year. Then w-a find Japan^ laying down one, if not two battleships of even larger dimensions, for these will dieplac* 19,150 toes, while Russia has the armoured cruiser* Rjurib, of 15,000 tors displacement, under construction, and is elaborating plans for rebuilding her fleet. But it is chiefly to the" United States 'that 'one must turn in order to gain an insight into the activity of 'other nations, '.not only would it seem certain that the displacements — 15,500 tons — of the Michigan and South Carolina, for which ->rovision was made in last year's estimates, are to be increased to ,18,000 lfcons apiece* but, according to cabled news, of recent date, another, and evidently still larger, battleship is to' be" taken in nand without delay, in addition to which six armoured cruisars of "14,500 tons'displacement, were under construction or completing at the beginning of the present year. AMERICAN ACTIVITY. Nothing, besides, serves to better illustrate the unprecedented activity reigning in the American yards than -the fact that on Ist 'January, 1909, the United States, with twenty-six .battleships of 345,600 tons displacement in all,'' will take second place and rank immediately after England, while France and Germany, with twenty-nine and twenty-two battleships of 325,000 and 260,800 displacement in all respectively, will follow, in Che third and fourth place. Tn armoured cruisers, France, having completed on that date twenty-four ships of 222,300 tons displacement in all, will take second place, and the United States, with fifteen ships of 189,500 tons displacement in all, third, while Germany will follow far behind as a bad fourth, having ready, to go into commission only seven armoured cruisers, which together -will displace not more than 68,200 tons. In both instances, Great Britain will, of course, 6tand far ahead of all the other nations, for, by Ist January, 1909, she will have finished sixty battleships of 846,200 tons displacement in all, while her armoured cruisers will, be found to number thirty-six, and will displace together 436,900 tons. Compared with figures such as' these, the efforts Germany is making to raise the fighting standard of her fleet are hardly of a nature to give cause for apprehension on the part of Britishers. Much that has been ' said and »yritten about the alleged sinister intentions of the Empire has been the result, no doubt, of those who have riven utterance to such alarmist opinions being not sufficiently familiar with the real facts. Calm reflection, however, will , show wiat Germany, far from harbouring aggressive designs, is merely endeavouring to provide protection for her growing martime interests. In that she is perfectly justified, and has, moreover, but to follow the example set by other nations.

Great Britain Fiance _ Buasia „ U.S. America „ Germsny _ „ 22,200,000 ~ 2,400,000 - 7,250,000 _ 11,050,000 - 6,400,000

Country. Great Britain Franco „ Russia ... U.S. America. Germany „ Naval Expenditure. 1893. 1903. ~ JJ'JIS'SS 0 36,700,01 - 10,160,000 • 12,650,0< ». 5,£00,000 12,700,0< - 6,400,000 17,20001 - 4,050,000 10,500,01

fear. 1905 L 907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 L 913 L 914 L 915 1916 1917 ships. ~ 2 . ~ 2 2 _ 2 X _ 1 1 1 •: i 2 cruisers. 1 1 1 1 1 1 cruiser/ 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 1