The Star. FRIDAY, AUGUST 7, 1908.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 9308, 7 August 1908, Page 2

The Star. FRIDAY, AUGUST 7, 1908.

FLEETS. ' s On Sunday tho American fleet will be in New Zealand waters, representative vessels of the British navy will exchange courtesies with it, and Auckland will be en fete in welcome. It. will bo the first time in the history of the dominion that anything like so powerful a naval force has cast anchor on these waters, and to many thousands of our people the scene will be a^ great object-lesson of • what an. American newspaper, writing on the navy, called "the fist of the nation." There will be sixteen vessels in all in. that mighty fleet, and their array will doubtless impress the onlookers .with America's naval strength. The pageant cannot fail to fill the eye. It is useful in this "connection to learn how the nations stand in regard to fleets. Recently the British Admiralty issued an interesting return in which it 6howed the constitution, of the navies of the nations, battleships, cruisers, coast defence vessels, torpedo vessels, torpedoboat destroyers, torpedo-boat 6, and submarines built and building. Taking battleships first it was shown that Great Britain had 60 built and 5 building; Finance's figures were 31 and 10, Russia's 10 and 4, Germany's 32 and 8, Italy's 15 and 5, the United States's 23 and 7, and Japan's 15 and 2. Of arjnoured cruisers Britain has 30, France 18, the United States 12, Japan 10, none of the other Powers reaching double figures; while in the armoured cruisers building Britain has 8, tho next highest being France with 5. In protected cruisfers of the first-class Great Britain has 21, Germany and Italy have none, France and Russia 7 each, the United States 3, and Japan 2. None of the Powers have any of these on the stocks. Of the secondclass Britain has 45, Germany and the United States 16 each, France 12, Japan 11, Italy 4, and Russia 2. Germany, however, has 8 in course of construction, and Japan one. Great Britain has no unprotected cruisers, neither has Italy, but Germany has 15, and the United States and Japan 5 each, Japan having 2 building, the only two on the schedule. In coast defence vessels Britain has none on the list, France has 8> Germany and the United States 11 each, and Russia 2. Ot scouts Britain has 8 in commission, and the United States has 3 building, the columns for the other Powers in this class of vessel being empty. In torpedo vessels Great Britain is 20 strong, France has 14, the rest not reaching double figures. It is, however, to the " mosquito" fleet that the nations seem to have paid most attention, for of torpedo-boat destroyers Great Britain has 143 afloat, the others ranging from 85 to the credit of Russia, down to America's 20 and Italy's 17. Of ,this class of vessel France has 31 building, Germany 26, Russia 12, and Britain 6. But by far the most numerous of the "mosquitoes" are the tor-pedo-boats. Of these France has 280 in commission and 19 buiding, Russia has 162 afloat, Italy 108, with 5 on the stocks. Britain 89, and 17 not yet launched, Germany M in commission, Japan 79. and the United States 32. The last class in the schedule is submarines, and in connection with these ! we have heard a good deal of France's progress. She has 40 afloat and &9 building, as against Britain's 37 afloat and 11 on the stocks. Russia's figures are 20 afloat and 8 building, and the United States 8 afloat and 7 building. The figures of tho others are hardly worth quoting. Britain's claim to have a fleet up to the two-Power standard is thus well founded, for in every class of vessel proved to be of real value in naval warfare she holds far and away the largest number of vessels, the exceptions being in torpedo-boats, <o which France and Russia have of late devoted a good deal of attention, and in submarines which appear to be almost a hobby with the French naval authorities.