German Maritime Progress.

Taranaki Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 11635, 16 March 1901, Page 6 (Supplement)

German Maritime Progress.

Tun ada^e that preparation for war is the surtsi. guarantee of peace has been very doeply grafted into the minds of modern German rulers. Indeed (says a correspondent of The Times) it has bee >me an axiom with German statesmen that, however costly ihi sacrifice, neither expense nor labour must be spared to attain that goal at least. The realisation of the underlying dream of German supremacy involves the ultimate shaking off of ev< ry vestige of dependence upon foreigners during the critical periods sun to occur in her futuro development. Her burden of Empire has been, during the last few decades, such a rapidlyincreasing quantity that one can but marvel at her forethought and resource iv meeting the attendant and equally increasing requirements. A further stage iti carrying out the doubli prec pt of 'Germany for the Germans" and *• Deutschland über alias " has just been reached by the actual commencement of two immense dry docks for the use of tho Imperial navy at Wilbelmshaven. Before proceeding *o give details of the docks iv question, it may be of interest to review shortly the recent development of shipbuilding and the facilities for the same in Germany at the present time. The problems which presented themselves to the helm-men of the n jwly-construetct! German empire at the commencement of the seventies in regard t ) the creation of a home 'shipbuilding industry were mainly two in number. The first was the provision of ports on the Baltic and North Seas; the second, the retention, in times of peace, of a body of skilled German ship artificers, who might, in the event of wa-, be a national necessity. Exuberant Chauvinism was resolutely excluded during the solution of the problem; the march forwards might be slow bat was made none the less surely. Experienced English draftsmen and workmen found ready employment in Germany. Valuable indirect ass'stanee was afforded by the ad miss-on of English rolled plates and other material free of dnty, thus allowing readier competition with English rates of construction and thereby encouraging German shipping lines to place their orders in German dockyards. This veiled subvention farther insured against the emigration abroad of the newly trained German artificers in slack times of naval construction, since the workmen in question were assured of other employment on the construction of mercantile vessels. The next important Government supporter of the German shipbuilding industry was the Imperial Postal Department, which, it should also be remembered, was, equuLy with, the Customs, also a child of the new German Imperialism. Oneof the conditions of the iirst Imperiarpostal subv ; ntion to NorthGerman Lloyd in 1885, which involved an annual payment of £220,000 for 15 years, was the construction of new vessels, as fai as possible of German materials, in German yards. Repairs' ■were olso, whenever possible, to be exe.'Uted in German yards. These conditions naturally involved the constitution of a German board of classification, similar to Lloyd* in England and the Bureau Veritas in France. This creation may be regarded as one of the milestones on the road of German shipbuilding development, as its previous non-exist-ence deprived German shipowners and underwriters of the' incentive to repair, dock, or class vessels in Germany. In this way the postal subventions have Tendered incalculable service to Germau yards, as is shown by the increase in the number of iron floating docks between 1880 and the present time — viz., nine in 1880, 17 in 1890, and 27 in 1900. The latest service rendered by tho German Government to maritime industry is the report which has just been issued by the German Admiralty. A special committee wsi appointed a few months ago for the purpose of gauging the abilities of the' various German shipyards to construct the vessels which were recently voted at a cost of £45,000,000 as an addition to the German navy. This report, now procurable, will doubtless prove a most effective national advertisement of German technical ability in shipbuilding and will attract many foreign orders which formerly went to England. It shows that 35,000 trained workmen are permanently employed, the larger proportion in dockyards on the Baltic, where shipbuilding has principally developed, although the shipowning interest there has lost in importarce, having been mainly transferred to Hamburg. The six principal Baltic >ard* employed as many workmen as all the other Baltic and North Sea yards together. In 1898 about 75,000 tons of shipping, representing 150,000 indicated hor3e-power, were constructed. The year 1899 showed still better results — viz., 3CJ,030 to,ns completed or Htill building m the <osix yards. The construction of vessel* of war was also more extensive in the Baltic yards than in those of tho North Sea, being, in 1899, 18 for German account and 16 fur foreign Governments, whilnt in the North Sea yards but four' for German account were under construction. To return to the construction of tho two new dry docks at Wilhelrahhaven, it is estimated that five yo.irs will bo required for their completion, which will involve a total outlay of 12.000,000 marks, of which 10£ millions will fall upon the Empire. The remainder is a contribution of the North Germ m Lloyd at Brume 1 !), in eopsidera- ; tion of the Imperial Navy's foregoing ' rrjii „ a(<juirc<l iv March, 1892, to pro- < ciJ : c overall vessels of the Geriir>'i ui'.tcj. tile uniiniv: us regards use of thj

company's dork at Bremerhaven. at present the largest of the kind on the Continent. This renunciation of Imperial precedence applies, however, only to times of peace. The preliminary works at Wilhelmshaven, for which 600,000 marks were granted by the Reichstag, have so far progressed that the task of excavation can now b 9 commenced. Running parallel to each other on the northern side of the dockyard basin, they will be separated by a division of 25 metres in breadth. Both docks will extend 175 metres lengthways, and, as the German men-o'-war of the largest class, the Wittelsbach series, are only 126| metres in length, it is assumed that these dimensions will suffice for many years to come. The bejm of the class of vessel just cited measures 20*8 metres, whereas the docks will be 25 metres across. As a naval dock has to take into consideration the possibility of severely damaged ships* being sent in for repairs, with several water compartments run quite full, or even in an almost sinking condition, and requiring immediate docking, a bottom depth of 7 - 5 metres under the normal Avater line has been given to these docks. The water line of the harbour basin being 375 metres above the normal, a total depth of 11$ metres is afforded. The largest men-of-war have I generally a draught of 7*6 metres, so that i the dock dimensions will provide accommodation for vessels exceeding that draught to an extent of 3*50 metres. Gigantic pumps, will be able to empty these docks, two similar to which are also under construction at Kiel, in 2£ hours. In conclusion, attention may be drawn to a recent report by Mr W H. Gastrell, our commercial Attache at Berlin in which he mentions that the German Government has, since 1888, spent £24,428,000 on harbour accommodation for increased shipping. Some £15,000,000 of this sum has been expended at Hamburg on such work; at Bremen', Yegesack, and Bremerhaven, £5,700,000; at Altcwa, £450,000; at Geestemunde, £800,000; at Danzig, £400,000; and at Stettin, £1,450,000 in addition to £628,000 in 1897-98 for a new free harbour there, and private enterprise in Germany has been in keeping with the State assistance rendered. It is hardly realised at home that the total steam tonnage of Germany, which in 1871 amounted only to 81J994 tons, has risen to upwards of 2,159,000 in 1900. As an instance of the vast capital invested in single steamship companies in Germany, I may be cited the £5,550,000 in the North- 1 German Lloyd and the £4,637,000 in the Hamburg-American. Of 18 such companies, the shares of which are quoted on 'Change, two paid in 1899 11 percent., eight 10 per cent., four 8 9 per cent, and the remainder with but one exception 6*7 per cent.