New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-05-10
following Congress voted resolution OF thahks
to the Naval commander.
TILE GERMAN NATY.

| IHE VEhmtN Nh'f'
The German Emperor's unique appeal to the
rCople for the new warshps which the Reichs-
tag would not give him calls renewed atten-
ton to the German Navy, which its imperious
| War Lord hopes one day 10 make to rival mat
| of Great Britain. From such rivalry 1t is yet a
| lcpg way off, and is relatively making no prog
ress toward It, Nevertheless. for the youngest
of all the important navies of Europe, 1t must
| be said to make a good showing. 1t displays
probably more originality Of design than any
other, and is constantly kept In such perfect
trim as no other can surpass and not all can
| equal.
| Nominally. the German Navy is only twenty
| five years DID, it having originated In the pur-
chase Of the old North German Confederation's
feet by the new empire in 1872. Really 1t Gates
back to 1SiS, when Prussia began TO build navy
with which to fight Denmark. When the first
Danish war came Oh Prussia had one corvette
two side-wheel steamers and twenty-six small
gunboats and got handsomely thrashed by the
superior Danish fleet She was very little bet
ter off for ships In the second Danish war, and
got beaten again on the sea. though she crushed
Denmark on land Having in that war ac-
CURED, by robbery from Denmark some good
naval ports, she began the formation Of a more
powerful feet She had number Of irOnclads
built for her in England and in France, nclud
irg the K6nig Wilhelm, which Is still an eff
fective vessel Her navy was not, however
able to meet that of France in 1870, although
the K3nig Wilhelm was more powerful than
any one ship in the French fleet. Consequently
the German coast was closely blockadcd, to the
great loss of German commerce. Some authori-
how tod hat nj 81 n
day. That is doubtless too high n figure. But
the actual loss was enormous, end the EN-
perors reminder of it to the German CONNER
cal world at this time is about the most eff
fective argument he could use for securing n
bigger naval appropriation.
Since the establishment Of the German I'm
perial Navy in 1872 considerable progress has
been made, and several great ship-bullding
yards have been opened in Germany itself The
first notable addition to the navy consisted OF
number Of cOast-dcfence vessels of great power.
-Four Of these were completed before 1881 each
having sixteen inches Of armOr and six 1O.2-
inch guns. Attention next paid 10 armed
cruisers and then to small battle-ships for ser
vice in the Baltic. Eight Of the latter were built
two of them using petroleum for fuel Finally
the building Of big batte-ships was undertaken.
Four of these were completed between 1889 and
1892, and they are remarkable ships in their
way. They have fifteen and n half inches of
steel armor. Each has no less than six 11nch
guns so arranged that all six can be fired on
either side Of the ship. Each has also seven tor
pedO tubes and a number Of small guns. These
ships draw less than twenty-five feet Of water,
and are justly considered to be most formidable,
especially for service on the German coast,
where the water is in many places too shallow
for the larger battle-ships Of the British Navy.
Since 1899 many vessels of various classes
have been laid down. Two batte-ships of H.
600 tons each will be unique, and probably Of
singular efficiency. They will be armed eXclu-
Svely with Quick-iring guns, each having four
Of "a inches and eighteen Of 6 inches Calibre.
Though the weight of metal in one broadsdc
will not be as great as that Of many other ships,
the rapidity of fire will enable one of them to
throw greater weight of metal in given time
than any other ship afoat. All told, the Ger
man Navy, ahoat or building comprises
nineteen modern batte-ships, five old ironclads,
thirteen coast-defence ships armored
cruiser, twenty-five cruisers, nine dispatch and
torpedo gunboats eleven torpedo division boats
and 1870 torpedo-boats. With the exception of
one torpedogunboat, these are all of less speed
than the corresponding ships of the British,
French and American navics. Nevertheless,
they present credltable array and entitle Ger
many to rank at least the sixth naval power
of the world. But the Emperor's motto is "Aut
Caesar aut nullus." and so we may expect to
see his best energies devoted to an attempt 10
make his navy the greatest in the world-in this
day and generation n hopeless task.