Arizona republican., 1897-11-27
STORY OF THE FLEET
The Annual Report Of Secretary
 Long Of the Navy
OUR NAVAL CONSTRUCTION
A Comparison with the Work
 in Foreign Countries
No Reference to the Projected Gov ernment Armor Plant-'Old lrOn- s.des'' to be Kept On the List as Training Ship.

ernment Armor Plant-"Old IrOn-
 s.des'' to be Kept on the List as
 Training Ship.
 Washington, Nov. 26.-(SpeciaL)- The report Of the secretary of the navy was made public today. It says:
 '.The present effective fighting forca of the navy consists of four ships of the first class, two battle ships of the second class, two armored cruis- CTS, sixteen cruisers, fifteen gunlbOats. six double turreted monitors, one ram. one dynamite gunboat, one dispatch boat, one transport steamer, and five torpedo boats. There are under con struction five battle ships of the first class, sixteen torpedo boats, and one submarine boat.
 vessels, including those used as train-- ing, receiving and navalD reserve ships, tugs, disused single turreted monitors, and some unserviceable craft.
 '"There is, further, the auxiliary fleet. This consists, first, of more than twenty subsidized steamers which comply with the requirements of the postal act of March 3, 1891, with regard to their adaptability to main and secondary batteries; sec ond, of very much greater number of large merchant marinel steamers, which can be availed of at any time of need.
 '"These auxiliaries, ranging from 2,OO0 to 12,OO0 tons, will, if occasion require, form a powerful fest of ocean cruisers, capable of swift and formidable attack upon an enemy's commerce. Their great ccal capacity will also enable them to remain a long time at sea in search of the whereabouts of hostile vessels.
 "The country is to be congratu- lated upon the results obtained in the rebuilding of the navy. While tfs ships are not as many-and it is not necessary they should be-as those Of some other great powers. they are, class for class, in power, speed, work manship, and offensive and defemslye qualities, the equal of vessels built anywhere else in the world
 Then follows a catalogue of :sbe ships finished or under construction in a table describing type, speed, dates of acceptance and commission foo "A ho sells now under construction except the battleships will be finished before the end of next year. They will be com pleted before the end of 1899.
 Regarding the vessels TOW building the report continues:
 ''The ships are so designed, however, and the contracts so drawn that this can be done without much other en- barrassment to the government than the delay in their final completion. But this, of course, is great embat- rassment, practically making these vessels useless meant ime to the navy. To prevent this, provision should a. once be made for obtaining the. armor necessary to their completion"
 The progress of naval construction abroad is shown in the following com parative statement:
 It is of interest to mote the naval programmes of the. principal foreign powers which show the great activ- ity among them in the matter of na- val construction.
 England leads Her naval approu riatiors for the year 1897-9S for thi purpose amount, in round numberl to s26,5OO,OO0. The programme em braces four battle ships, four armorsd cruisers, three third class cruisers, six light draft gunboats, six torpedo boat destroyers, one new royal yacht Including new work she will com plete or have under construction dur ing the year lifteen battle ships, twelve first class cruisers, nine second class curisers, ten third class cruis- CTS, six twin screw gunboats, fifty-six torpedo boat destroyers, eight light draft steamers, one royal yacht. The total number of her vessels of
 
 the year amount to 117, with an ag- gregate displacement of about 446, GOO tons, and with an aggregate indicated horse power of about 935,000. It is anticipated that during the next fiscal year sixty-six of these vessels will be completed for service, including fifty l torpedo boat destroyers. Naval construction in France is also 1 large The minister of marine has 1 been authorized to commence two ar mored cruisers of $500 tons displaee
 ment, two armored crmsers of 7,5UO tons displacement, four torpedo boat destroyers of 300 tons displacement, nine first class torpedo boats of eighty-five tons displacement-a total