The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1871-07-26
THE GERMAN NAVY.
IT'S FoRMER AND PRESENT CONDITION
:, THE NEW NAVAL STRONGHOLD.
The system of Naval Instructfon-How
the Officers and seamen of the Navy
are Obtained.

the Officers ind Seamen of the Navy
are Obtained.
WILHELMsHAvEN, June "a.
In the year 1s47, there was Germany. after
a fashion, but That Germany had no feet, or
any. notion of fleet. In the year ls4s, there
were ideas of German Empire, to be con-
stituted in some revolutionary fashion or
other by a constituting Parliament Sitting at
Frankfort-on.the-Main It tseemed good unto
this inchoate Empire that it should have
fleet. the suggestion being owing chiefly to a
member named Kerst, who had first been q
schoomaster, and then lived for a long time
In Brazil. A fleet of some Kind was got to,
gether-if curious collection of the least"
crafts from other naVies could be called feet
land then came the question about o port
on the North Sea, for any port on the Baltic
obviously had its disadvantages. a committee
was delegated. with the right of secret sit
tings, to inquire into the capabilities OF GER
tain localities for havens, Kerst being the
moving power in the matter. While the COM
mttee was deliberatlng, and had almost con-
cluded O provisional bargain with the Grand
Duke of Uldenburg for Wllhelmshaven, there
came crisis In the affairs Of the problematlcal
German Empire. Its fleet was put up to suc.
Ou,
now to discover; the ships that least merited
breaking up were bought at auction by Prus
sia, Prussia, too, assumed the Wihelmshaven
negotiation, and concluded 1t in the year 1853,
buying from Grand Duke Peter slip of bul
rush waste land, measuring about.3l50 acres,
extending from the Banter Creek on the south
to Heppensertrlt on the north, for the sum
of s375, ,0OO-a purchase not profitable on the
! face of it, but made with the view of convert
iny the bulrush waste into O great naval port
and arsenal. Since then the boundary OF
1853 has been extended some little dis
tance inland. The construction of the war
haven was commenced In the year 1854,
manner for severli years. The annual sum
expended In the work for the first ten years
was never greatly over s250000, and when
the magnitude OF the plan Is considered, 1t Is
obvious that such vote as this was mere
drop in the bucket. But Ut IN - 1855 the Works ,ss
became more liberal; till, on the l7th OF June,
! 1869, the new harbor was opened In form by
Wilhelm, then King OF Prussia, now Emperor
OF Germany. The opening was In form In
every sense. 1t le true the basin, canal and
moles were constructed, but the harbor was
yet dry land, or, at the most, mud, when thus
| formally opened. A British ship OF war, the
Meteor, was present st the opening. Not be-
Ing gifted with the capacity OF vaultlng over
earthen dykes and progressing on dry land,
i she Law outside in the bay. The works con-
tinued to progress until the declaration oil
war between France and Germany In July OF
last year.. At that date Wllhelmshaven was
but O naval port in name. No German ship
of-war had ever steamed into Its basin. 1t
existed indeed, and the port had been opened,
but only by the nod Of King. An earthen
dyke still extended ACROSS Its mouth between
the moles, excluding the sea water wholly
from the new port.
Shortly before the declaration OF war,
North German squadron, consisting OF the ko-
mig Wilhelm, the Kronprinz, and the Prince
Friedrich Carl, had come to England, on its
way professedly to voyage TO the Azores.
The konig Wilhelm had nine inches OF foul
ness on Its bottom, for there was no dry.dock
in German waters where the monster ship
could be berthed and cleaned. Its speed was
thus reduced from IA to 81 knots. Its cyin-
ders were on an old and obsolete principle.
In coming through the Kattegat the Prince
Friedrich Carl had broken of two of the four
fans of Its screw. But the squadron quilted
Plymouth In July, nominally on the way to
the Azores, yet with Iorewarnlng Of what
was coming, with secret orders not to pass tne
Land's-End, and with o rendezvous given at
the Start An duiSo from the flagship put into
Dartmouth without hoistng the North Ger
man flag. An officer ran up TO London, saw
Count Bernstorf, and came down again with
dispatches. On the 18th OF July the German
squadron was in the mouth OF the Jade,
while the French and most of the
ly jogging across the Atlantic to the
Azores. There were but three ships, not In
the best condition for offensive operations,
and, looking at the strength OF the other side,
not calculated 10 Inspire great confidence as
regards defensive capabilities. The three ships
lay acress the mouth of the Bay. Of Jade, op-
posite to the Island of Wangeroog, at the point
/ ~. RoI tc ,oof o16A Ahofr frttNf
ed with banks. The protection OF the Weser
was tardily confded to fifteen torpedo-boats,
that Of tie Elbe to six ttrpedo-boats lsteam
lannchesI Tee position seemed critical In the
extreme. It'll we'll authenticated fact that,
up to the month of August last, there was not
single gun In position OH the German coast
Of the North Sea for defensive purposes. Ii
the French feet, as might reasonably nave
been expected, had driven In the deienceS con-
stituted by the three iron-ciads at the mouth OF
the Jade, the works Of Wilhemshaven lay at
their mercy, and there was no retreat for the
German iron-clads, ior the earthen dyke still
stood across the throat of the harbor Of Will
helmshaven; and even II this had not been the
case IL was n an utterly defenceleSs condition.
/ How the French never came is now matter
of history Meanwhile, extraordinary ex-
ertions were made TO remedy the detenceless
condition of the northern coast Yet the bat
teries protecting tile Elbe were not finished
| Till October. ana mounted Will 6UU-pOuuQeT
guns. Some little time before this O battery
Of 3O0-pounder guns was got into position at
WiIhelmshaven. Now, there are two batteries
OF gums of this callbre on either side OF the en-
trance to the harbor. At Heppensertrif o
large fort is In course OF construction on O
slight proIectioninto the bay. It's casemates
are now about to be arched In, and It's scarp
| is about finished. 1t will mount when finish
ed--and no time is to be lost in its completion
l-about 40 ll-lnch guns, which will command
the faIr-Wayleading 10 the mouth of the har-
bor. Another fort on the opposite side OF the
bay-here about six miles across-is building,
and an iron-clad fort Is to be erected In the
| centre of the channel. It Is reckoned, and
Justly so, that these defences. combined with
torpedoes and obstructlsns to be laid down In
the fair.igay In case of need, will render Will
helmshaven impregnable on the sea side,
while Chain of earthWork redoubts on the
landward side effectually meet the minor dam
ger in that direction.
One of The defects of tile place-that of want
of good drinking Observation-Disclosures has
overcome. Springs have been discovered,
and water is now obtained, so that the tanks
of the largest ship can be filed at once with
good water. Another apprehensi0n-riz: that
The channel aud harbor mouth were liable to
become silted-is contradicted; and it seems
probable that any tendency thereto may be
ayer,ed by the steady use OF dredgers, which
certainly are not spared. In december last,
taking advantage OF high tide. the Konig
Wilhelm came in, drawing about thirty feet oil
water. Bul WilhelmshaVen Is surely, In the