, 1885-05-26
aRITAIN,s NAVAL STATIONS.
1hr fpint- Her Navy Would Hare 70 Took
After In the Event Of War
m4--

philadelphia Timesl
Notwithstanding all that has been said
In regard to tho weakness of the British
nay5, it is relatively more powerful
fhHn ever brfoTs, consisting esZit does
OF modern armored battle ships, as fol-
lows: Eleven of the turret type, carry
in each four guns of from 43 TO so tons;
ten OF tho broadside type, carrying from
8 TO IL guns Of from ~ TO Is tons each,
and fif~ty-three modern unarmored ships
above ] 100 tons, all armed with mod
ern rifles; besides, there are ten heavy
armored ships and twelve unarmored
ships building, In the event of war the
admiralty can also command the services
OF the auxiliary marine.
The Russian naval feet consists Of
only five armored ships fit for battle at
sea and thirteen modern unarmored
ships. Her mercantile marine consists
Of but 1877 steamers Of 1873, 29f tons, and
. ,155 sailing vessels Of 477,072 tons.
About one-fourth Of the vessels arc en-
gagged in trading to foreign countries,
principally Germany and England, and
the remainder are coasting vessels, many
OF them belonging to Greeks sailing
under the Russian flag. Not included
in the above arc about 400 steamers on
the lakes and rivers Of the empire,
mostly on the river Nolga and its afiu-
ents. None OF these ships possess the
speed required at the present day as
%privateers, which would be a strong
weapon in the hands of Russia, with
little shipping, against a power like
Great Britain, with u vast mercantile
marine, were il not that both England
and Russia are parties to the declara-
ton of Paris, made in 1866, by Which
privateering is abolished by consent Of
all European countries except Spain.
Yet, notwithstanding these facts, a
war between the two powers would be a
very serious matter for England, with
her great mercantile marine, consisting
of $500 steam and 10, 600 sailing yes
sells; Q ,626 steam vessels and BIS sail
ing vessels are employed in the foreign
trade, by which is carried the enormous
volume Of trade, amounting in the ag-
grogate to the estimated value of So
396, $50, 600, about 800, 600, 900 of which
goes by the Suez canal. This trade is
her life; il feeds her people, and these
ships bring to them the interest on
tho Is, 900, 900, 900 invested in foreign
countries. A declaration Of war would
be a signal for Alabamas to escape from
neutral ports for the purpose of capture
gnu d1rtA uCiiOn ~ LALtl lllo uuu 10
protect their coaling stations the Brit
ish navy must make an effective police
OF the seas in the shape of men-of-war
capable Of beating in speed and fighting
qualities the tfst that the enemy can
send against her.
A glance at n map of the world in any
atlas will siriw the important British oc-
equations to the extent that the sun
never sets on her flag. The admiralty
has divided the world into nine stations,
but they coal their ships at the follow.
ing points:
MEDITERRANEAN - Gibraltar, Malta
and Port Said.
NoRrH AMERIcA-St. Johns, Halifax.
WEsr INDiEs-Jamaica, st. Lucia,
Antigua, Barbados, Nassau.
SourH AMERIoA-Rio Janeiro, Rio de
Ia Plata
TaE CAPE-Sierra Leone, Cape Coast
Castle, Ascension, st. Helena, Cape Of
Good Hope, Cape de Verde Islands, Fer
nandg Pc, Congo, st. Louis.
lNDfA-Aden, Bombay, Tricomalee,
Mauritius, Zanzibar.
AusrRALEA-Sidney, Melbourne, Well
ington.
CaINA-singapOre, Hong Kong, shang-
hal, Annoy.
JAPAS-Nagasaki, Yokohama.
PAcrFIc-Vancouyer, Tobago.