THE GERMAN FLEET.

Waikato Times, Volume I, Issue 25, 27 June 1872, Page 3

THE GERMAN FLEET.

Thk "Allgemeine Zeitung" publishes some remarks, by " an eminent officer of the French Navy," on the German Fleet. ''Nothing prevents the German Empire," he says, " from creating a powerful navy. Jts coasts on the Baltic and the North Sea extend for a distance of 1,400 kilometres, and a canal sufficiently deep for ships of war will soon unite these seas, and make the difficult passage of the Sound and the Bolt ur.necessary. As for the mercantile marine, it is known to be superior in tonnage to the French ; the number of Bailors at the disposal of Germany, is, therefore, sufficient to provide for a very considerablo navalforce. . . . The coast, too, is so protected by rocks and sandbanks that it presents very great obstacles to the attack of a hostile fleet, and when the works at Kiel, Memel, Pillau,and at the mouths of the Elbe and Wcscr, are completed, it will require a very largo number of small iron-clads to enable an enemy to effect a landing or any other hostile operation. It thus appears that Germany neithor wants coasts, nor portr,v.or seamen. What she wants is ships. She has only five iron-clads. with as many corvettes and a few smaller vessels; her iron-clads, the Konig Willielm especially, are very good, but the other vessels are almost useless." In regard to the torpedo vessels lately adopted by the German Admiralty, the officer obBcrv es :—"The small size of these vessels, their slight elevation above the surface of the water, and the impenetrability of their plates will make it possible for them to approach a fleet at auchor even in the day-time, if it does not keep an iron-clad ready with steam up to drive the aggressor back. At night tberr operations would, of course, be much easier, and it would bo necessary to have a small ileot of cruisers to watch their movements. . There is nothing more dangerous than vessels lying deep in the water; artillery is almost powerless against them. This was strikingly shown in the war between Paraguay and Brazil, where rafts with big guns slung upon them did immense injury to the Brazilian fleet. All the Brazilians could see were the guns and their gunners, and it was found impossible to take aim at such small objects in the heat of a naval battle. ... Three of the Gorman torpedo vessels have already been constructed, and three more are now being built at Dantzic; and ten officers and ;M0 men, selected from the German Navy for their special qualifications, are to be employed exclusively in the management of this important branch of the service. We also had a torpedo sohool at Kochefort before the war, but ecomomical considerations have now com : pellcd us to abandon the work we then commenced. It seems to me that nothing can be more sensible and effective than the new organisation of the German navy, and when it is complete, which will not take a very long time, Germany, though not a first-class naval power, will.be in a position to deal hard blows at other nations with fleets of much greater pretensions; for the navies of England, France, Russia, and the United States have had to go through experiments, the fruits of which Germany is now reaping without any cost to herself."