The Portland daily press., 1897-04-08
ENGLAND'S NAVAL PLANS.
Great Additions to Her Force of
Fighting Ships.

SIoops of War, Fonr. iGhnboats, and
Two Torpedo Boat Destroyers to b.
Begun in Addition to the Vessels Now
Under Construction.
Washington, April 1.-The Office Of
Naval Intelligence has received from the
American naval attaohe at ssLondon full
details of the new ship building plan Of
the British navy, recently agreed to by
the Admiralty Office. The amount OF
money involved in the programme is up
ward of So, 0e0 600 greater than the :, esti
mates in any previous year, and sh ows a
purpose on the part of Great Britain to
and preparing for an emergency. The
plan indicates that there is little DISPOSE
tion to hold ships in reserve, and that as
fast as ready for service they will be com.
mlssioned and assigned to squadrons. 1t
is further stated that, in view of the
recent action of the powers In greatly
strengthening their fleets in foreign
waters, the Admiralty will augment its
squadIons in the Mediterranean. on the
Chinese station, and in the Channel
waters. The Importance of the Chinese
station has become striklngly apparent,
and has called for higher ranking officers
on the ships and u Rear Admiral always
in charge. Four first class battle ships
are shortly to join the fleets near Greece,
and three others are to be assigned to the
Channel fleet. Two powerful ships are
to be sent out to Asia, and half a dozen
more will replace smaller VESSELS on the
North American and West Indian stations.
The amount CT money that England will
spend this year in increasing and sup
porting hsrfnaval establishment is slight
ly more than Sil5, 200. 600
Great Britain proposes to lay. down in
the next few months four first class bat
tleshlps of about Il, 800 tons, three third
class cruisers, two sloops of war. four
twin screw gunboats, ..and two torpedo
boat .destroyers. Besides this increase to
thssestablisnment. the Queen is to have
all elaborate yacht which will prOha bly,
take the place of the. Victoria and lberr,
the old side wheeler used by royalty for
years. The new yacht is to be laid down
at Pembroke, and will be the most sump-
tuous vessel OF. its kind Rfioat. Plans
have already been completed, and it Is
expected that the keel of the ship will BE-
in place BY the late spring. Of the
foregoing vessels, three battleships, the
three cruisers, and the two sleeps Will be
built in the government dock yards; the
remaining battleship, the four gunbCats.
and the two torpedo boat destroyers will
be built by contract. The propelling
machinery aud boilers for all the YES els
except the two cruisers and one OF TN.
sloops will be ordered. from private hrms
The battleships Campus Goliah, ano
Ocean are now on slips which are to b.
occupied by the three new Government
built vessels. and as soon as they take
the water. in few months, the construc-
tion of the latter will be. begun.
The present programme of Great
Britain for the building of war vessels is
one of the largest ever undertaken, and
comprises more classes Of ships than ever
before During this year and the early
months of next rear she will have COM
pleted or have in course of construction
fourteen first GLASS battleships, eight first
class cruisers, nine second class cruisers,
ten third class cruisers, two sloops OF
war, four twin screw gunboats, fifty two
torpedo boat destroyers, eight light draft
steamers for special service, and one
royal yacht. Thus the total number D
vessels of all classes under construction
during the year will reach the enormous
aggregate of 1870. Their aggregate dis
placemen will be about $50, 900 tons, ana
the aggregate indicated horse power SOC :.
600. 1t Is anticipated that du, ing the
next Financial year sixty-six of theRf
vessels will be completed for service, in
Guiding fifty torpedo boat destroyeFs. II
the last month large number of Britt y
ships have been armed with quick firing
guns to replaGe guns either obsolete or
inferior to the new designs.
To man her warships Great Britain last
year made appropriations for SO, 75e men,
includingsohicers, seamen, boys, coast
guards, and royal marines, or an increase
over the previous year of 1900. The
actual number borne on the rolls last
January, when q census was taken,
shows 90, 1922 of all classes. While tire
numbers Of men coming forward for most
OF the ratings have been most satisfao-
tory, some difficulty has been experienced
in obtaining the necessary number # en-
CINE room artificers and artisans owing
to the general revival of the shipbuilding
trade The Admiralty, owing to the
vast increase in the number of available
fighting ships in the rext year or two
has asked that the total number of men
be advanced to 100, $50. and this number
will probably be allowed. The proposed
additions are distributed among all
branches, and include IL officers, 24O sea-
men, 265 engine room artificers, 1000
stnkers 1000 marines. ana 5l4 artisans.
IL is noted, tne reports say, Gnat as the
navy grows there is greater necessity for
enlRrging the engine room force. The
expansion of the fleets has callen for fur
Their additions to various classes of
officers Forty more medical msn will
be added, thirty accounting officers or
payTastsrs and ten chRplains and naval
Instructors. Besides these there will be
large increase in the line force
Great britain has recently made new ar.
rangeme1ts as regards the training of
naval cadets which will go into force this
year. 1t has been decided to gradually
raise the entrance age for cadets by one
year and to shorten their course of in
struct1on in the training ships to about
sixteen months. The examinations of all
candidates for appointments are therefore
to be greatly modified to meet the new
requirements. Under the new system
about 100 cadets will be passed through
the Britannia yearly instead of 1876, as nj
present. 1t is mated that this viii!
ultimately produce ebout 40 sub lieuten-
ants each year, instead of lie. as 1t pres.
ent.
OF the 1000 additional mer f r the
marine corps, 500 will be for e i ,fantry
ard 500 for the artillery hri nch. The
service has been found wanting. in exec
utive officers, owing to the severe duties
imposed by the ne n vessels and the large