The San Francisco call., 1896-10-12
NEWS OF FOREIGN NAVlEs.


Italy is about to lay down three battle-ships
of an improved Re Umberto type of $4,000 tons.
They will have somewhat thinner armor and
a much heavier secondary battery than the
Re Umberto. Their speed is to be twenty
knots under natural draught and twenty-five
knots with forced draught, which latter is six
knots more than the speed intended for the
three battle-ships about to be built for the
United States navy.
The British Admiralty is negotiating for the
construction OF q large drydock at Singapore.
The actual sea speed of some of the British
war vessels of recent construction has come
quite up to expectations. The Latona, 3400
tons, on her first cruise steamed twenty-four
hours between Gibraltar and Malta at seven
teen knots. The Sirius, OF the same class, but
wood and copper-sheethed, after three years
on the South American station, with no op-
portunity of docking or cleaning her bottom,
made 1872 knots on her passage to England.
The Royal Arthur made the trip from Co
quimbo to Calao, 1850 miles. in about three
days, at an average speed OF l91a knots.
Canet, the French gun manufacturer, is
turning out 9.4-inch quick-fring guns and
the Elswieks Naval Arm ment Company has
already placed several s-inch quick-fring
guns on South American cruisers. This is
equal TO quadrupling the batteries of vessels
which hitherto carried ordinary rifed guns of
"a ana S-inch caliber, and one important ad-
vantage gained is that it saves from forty to
sixty tons weight in ordnance on each ship.
The French naval maneuyers last July were
on the whole, a repetition of former expert
ences. The personnel was all that could be
desired, but several of the cruisers broke down
through machinery defects and the armored
ships lacked the speed and coal endurance
which had been claimed for them.
The British cruiser Talbot, 5000 tons, built
at the Devonport dockyards, has been COM
pleted at a cost of ST. 1868, $50, or $70,515 less
than the original estimate.
In trial of five French torpedo-b boats in the
Mediterranean to ascertain their comparative
Speeds only one, the Filibuster, reached 2111
knots, two did not come up to 20 knots, and
two were crippled through accidents to the
boilers. The Filibuster is credited with a trial
speed of 2315 and the others were rated at %
knots, from which it would appear that there
is a very wide margin between anticipation
and realization. In the first place, two out OF
the five are placed hors de combat, while the
other three boats made only 6113 knots coliec-
lively instead of 1853 knots, as was expected.
The war in Africa has caused a lack of
iuHuS III Ing ltdlihu NAVY DepdtsniChs ahu thO
sale of the new cruiser Garibaldi to Argentina
was almost necessity. 1t was contemplated
to sell another cruiser, but popular opposition
prevented the sale. Work in the government
yards remained almost suspended for three
months and it is only quite recently that
projects for new ships are seriously enter
tanned.
The five new battle-ships for the British
navy.of $4,000 tons displacement, upon which
work is ready TO begin, are to be named:
Canopus, Goliath, Albion, Glory and Ocean.
Each ship will carry sixteen boats, OF which
two are large ste am launches.