THE NAVIES OF THE WORLD.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1266, 4 June 1896, Page 39

THE NAVIES OF THE WORLD.

GREAT BRITAIN'S STRENGTH, COM PARED WITH THAT OF OTHER NATIONS.

In view of the fact that Great Britain is about to add considerably to tho strength of her navy it may bo interesting to understand tho relative positions of tho naval strength of tho principal Powers of tho world. Dividing tho navies of the loading Powers of Europe into four classes, wo find that Great Britain possesses 75 ships lit for tho lino of battle ; France, 49 ; Russia, 37 ; and Germany, 31. Great Britain has 124 modern cruisers; France, (il ; Russia, 23; Germany, 1!». In coast defences Great Britain is represented by 53 ironclads and heavily armed guuboats; France, 28; Russia, 34 ; Germany, 13. In torpedo flotilla there aro 291 vessels to the credit of Groat Britain j Franco, 2'J4 ; Russia, 229; Germany, 192. The totals aro, therefore: —Great Britain, 513; Franco, 102; Russia, 323 ; Germany, 252. It will be seen that, as against any two of tho other Powers, Great Britain stands, in three out of the four categories, in a disadvantageous position. Of ships fit for the lino she has eleven fewer than Franco and Russia, of coast defence ships she has nine fewer than tho sanio allies, and of torpedo vessels she lias 202 fewer. Only in the matter of cruisers has she a numerical superiority over any pair of her rivals. Of these she has forty more than France and Russia, and fourty-four more than Franco and Germany. Great Britain, however, possesses tho advantages flint she can build much quicker than any of her rivals. Moreover, an analysis of tho tonnage shows that tlio moan displacement of British ships is greater than that of tho foreign ones, and therefore that British ships are, vossel for vessel, superior to tlio others.

A:i attempt to compare tho relative strength of tho navies of tho world by merely showing the number of ships in each of them is necessarily unsatisfactory, because the quality of tho vessels must bo taken into consideration if one wishes to make an accurate estimate of their lighting value. In computing tho fighting powers of a navy each battle-ship must be judged upon its individual qualifies. In order to sccuru a standard for the purpo.-.c of comparison tile latest improvements in hulls, guns, armour, machinery and coal endurance must bo take'!) into consideration. Such a comparison was made some time ago, and the relative value of our own and foreign navies was obtained by expressing tho total strength of each in terms of an assumed standard battle-ship of the highest rani; of to-,lay.

Taking into account- all tho armoured ships afloat and building, it has been calculated that the following list showed tho number of ships in terms of standard battle-ships possessed by the principal naval Powers :

In the same manner a calculation of the strength of each Power in cruisers cannot bo made by giving each nation rank, based upon tho number of ships of this class she- possesses. There aro so many types of cruisers, ami their efficiency varies so greatly according to tho duties they are expected to perform, that it would bo difficult for navy men to agree upon tho features of the standard cruiser.

Groat Britain Franco ... or.) Ku.-:sia ... a2Tj Italy ... 20'0 United State,-; ... 1U0 Germany ... ... !>'.S Spain ... \:> Japan ... 4'0 Austria Holland ... ... 34 ... 2 0 Turkey ... 15 Norway and Sv '.'eden ... 1-4 Argentina ... ,.. 1-3 Brazil .. 1 1 Denmark ... ... 1-0