THE SQUADRON.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 5501, 28 February 1896, Page 2

THE SQUADRON.

SOME DETAILS OF WARSHIPS. [by oue shipping reporter.] Comparisons are said to be odious, but a few particulars relative to some of the ships now in Lyttelton and others afloat will doubtless prove interesting. The flagship Orlando is a protected cruiser of 5000 tons displacement, and is about onethird the size of some of the battleships now afloat. The cost of the four_warships in Lyttelton Harbour was .£627,593, made up as follows :— Orlando .£266,803, Eingarooma .£128,076, Katoomba .£116,719, and Wallaroo £1 15,995. Great Britain possesses thirty-three battleships whose displacement is over 10,000 tons, the largest being the Magnificent, and eight others with a displacement of 14,900 tons each. The cost of these huge floating citadels was very nearly a million pounds each. The Empress of India, 14,150 tons, cost .£838,087, and the Eamillies, of the same tonnage, .£874,255. The expenditure on the British navy amounts to between seventeen and eighteen million pounds a year. The French navy includes sixteen battleships of more than 10,000 tons, the largest being the Bouret, of 12,200 tons, which was built at a cost of -£978,340. The French navy estimates for the year 1893-94 totalled .£10,702,861. Eussia, like France, has recently considerably increased her naval expenditure, and during the year. 1894 — the latest period for which estimates are available — she spent nearly .£6,000,000 on her navy. The Eussian navy includes eleven warships whose displacement exceeds 10,000 tons, the largest being the Tria Sriatitelia (Three Saints) with a displacement of 12,480 tons. Italy, too, has a formidable navy, including the largest battleships afloat. These are the Italia and Lepanto, of 15,900 tons each. Both of them carry four 100-ton Armstrong guns. These enormous vessels are spoken of as magnificent specimens of shipbuilding,, but the absence of external armour renders them liable to serious damage underneath the structure carrying the heavy guns. Not one-third of their sides is armoured, and unless the two screws are worked separately they are unwieldy. Approximately Great Britain spends seventeen, France ten and Russia six millions per annum on their respective navies. Of these sums England can devote about .£5,000,000, France about .£2,500,000 and Russia about .£2,674,000 a year to the construction of new ships. At first sight these figures appear to be quite satisfactory, but when read in the light of the policy which it is generally admitted England nmst adopt to enable her to retain command of the sea, . viz., "to construct a battleship for every battleship begun by either of the Powers that might act in concert against her and for every cruiser built to build two," the figures are not all that could be wished. At the present time Great Britain stands far above her rivals with respect to first and third-class battleships. In second-class battleships and armoured cruisers the position is not generally regarded as satisfactory, while in first-class cruisers and smaller cruisers she occupies a tolerably sound position.