New-York tribune., 1899-04-07
THE FRENCH NAVY.
ALI, IDEA OF COMPETING WITH ENG
LAND IN BATTLE-SHIPS
ABANDONED.
THE DELAY IN BUILDING SOURCE OF WEAK
Nrss-THE LATEST TYPE OF FRENCH
CRUISER THE GUNNERY
SCHOOL OF ToULoN.


The French naval programme for the next 'WeNe
vnonths is as vet only "projet de loi. but as IL
has been framed in accordance with the coholu-
sions presented by NJ. dc Ia Porte reporter Vi 'i
Naval Budget Commission. and as the leaueis vi
the parliamentary groups have expressed IN gen
eraI terms their approval OF 1t. 1t Is now consul
.r.d chat ,,s Anal adopton without material atera
,,on will follow as a matter OF course. The totai
amount Of tho budget Is 20 0TS,4o francs or l'i-l
44 francs in excess Of the previous es'iiha'es'
The salient feature of the new naval programme
is that France Is slackening In ouiiolhs o"',
.hins and has decided TO abandon competition VIII"
rr,ard IN this respect This means that In the
even, Of a war with England the French navy
would conHne itself TO defensive operations an"
avoid as far as possible general engagements y.
tween battle-ships. About half OF the increase IA
The naval estimates is absorbed by expehuituie ""
material The other half is attributed TO additiohs
to the number Of vessels in commission 10 INC
increase Of the effective strength OF the crews ana
marines and 10 a corresponding Increase III the
number OF officers. There are e250DoW francs ueNoU
TO the building of new ships ana ~ "o'VVV i'"' -,
10 ornaments Before next January FRANCE "'i'
have ninety-one war vessels on the stocks ana
OF these sxty-eight have already oeen oesu'
The renort Of the Budget Committee thoroughly
,rnroves the decision Of NJ. Lockroy. Minister OF
Marine TO suspend for 1899 the ordering OF a ne"
battle-ship. so to concentrate all aVaiiao'e re-
sources on cruisers torpedo-boats ana suo"i"i "''
vessels The main and apparently insurmouh'aofe
difficulty that French naval constructors nave 10
co,,end with is the great length of time required
N con,plete ship whether laid down In the GOV
ernrent or in private yards. A oat'e-shP 0"'
he built in England Scotland within TWO years.
but twice that time Is required in france Inc re-
nor,er of the French Budget Commission bitterly
complains Of this.
The Jeanne dare a irst-class cruiser OF over
=, ooo tons was ordered IN 1895 She put on the
slip In October. 1896 but cannot possibly oe COM
pleted until the end of 1901. when she VIII hd'o
been more than FIVE years under construction Inc
Dunleix which was ordered in December, 1891 was
not laid down until March. 1899 and will not DO
finished before 1892 In the case Of the Desaix tho
contractor asked for three years and four months
IN the case Of the Kleher three years ana SIX
months and IN the case of the Chateau Henaui'
three years and nine months. In the case OF 'he
D'Entrecasteaux four years were asked for and
Il was understood that five would he needed neforc
she could he ready for trials. In regard TO the
hattle-ships the Charlemagne. begun in Septem-
ber 1883 had her gunnery trials on octooer To-
1897 hut she cannot he completed before six months
at least The Gaulos Is not yet finished althoush
she was begun on January %. 1885. the SAINT
Iou,s laid down In 1891 will begin her trials in
ApriI but must await delivery Of her turrets I'LL
June 1870 NJ de la Porte dwells at length upon
the excessive sowness Of shipbuildinG IN France
which prevents the French Navy from having any
thoroughly un-tO-0ate pdltt-sHlp VI NANiSNi' A'o
land or the United States could. in case OF emer-
Sency give France two years start. and by be-
ginning building late as prudent turn out snip
by the same date but two years in advance OF the
French ship in all that regards modern inventions
and Improvements
ALTERATIONS CAUSE DELAY.
NJ Iockroy attributes large part Of the delay
IN French shpbuildng to the alterations or de-
sign and plan during the construction. This has
ted mi a o
advantage Of the latest scientific inventions. but
the results are admitted TO be most disap-
pointing. AS a partial remedy, Ministerial de-
cree has lust been issued holding the chiet ot
the technical section responsible that no altera-
tions admitted when once the construction
mans have been approved by the Minister.
The French are making extraordinary efforts TO
keep the personnel OF their navy as FAR as possloe
up 20 war requirements Hitherto the French
Navy, although only half the size OF that OF Great
Britain. has maintained about the same number
of neutenants as there to-day on the Royal
NAVY list and special bill is now under consid-
GRAFTON by the Chamber OF Deputies for increas-
inr the number Of naval officers by one vice-ad-
mirsl five captains. twenty-five commanders. sew
enty-hve lieutenants and eighty midshipmen
The French authorities have come 10 the con-
oluson that the submarine boats-of which six are
10 be constructed during the present year-have
now passed the experimental stage. and instead OF
being as II were. instruments Of the laboratory.
have become powerful and necessary auxiliaries 10
the fighting units Of a well-equipped fleet. The
Budget Committee favors them. but does not go so
far as 10 think that these mysterious craft will
accomplish immediate revolution in naval war
fare as Is popularity predicted. II the Narval'
which is being built at Cherbourg. realizes ex-
pectstions she will be able to steam for twenty
four hours at twelve knots seventy eight hours
NJ eight knots on the surface OF the water. and
when submerged can still be propelled by cleo
frcity and cover TWENTY-FIVE miles at eight Knots
or seventy miles at FIVE knots The zone OF action
OF the Nerva is therefore Of a much more extended
character than that Of the famous Gustave Zede,
which covered without completely discharging It's
accumulstors the forty-one miles between Touon
and Marseiiles. II should be remembered that the
distance across the British Channel is only twenty
odd miles, and II the experiments OF the Narval-
which is the latest type Of French submarine boat
--prove successful the ports Of Dover Folkestone
and others will be exposed to the incursions Of the
proposed French submarine fotilla putting out
from Boulogne Calais.
The latest type Of French armored cruiser Is La
Glore which was laid down at Lorient on Sep
tember H. 1895 The only ship at all approaching
La Glolre in the United States Navy is the New
York or the Brooklyn. The dimensions and qualities
OF La Clore follows
Length between perpendicglars iSs 90 metres
Maximum width water-ine 2o2o metres.
Tonnage lool4 tons
sPtea N bon
Radius OF cosIinr distance at p knots. isso miles.
Radius Of cosiins distance at 10 knots. loioo miles
The armament Of La Glore will consist Of two
guns OF ie4 milmetres' calibre. mounted in turrets
fore and aft: four rapid-hring guns of ls47 milli
metres in turrets the upper deck; four other
guns OF is4 miilmetres calibre. the lower deck;
six rapid-hring guns Of 10o millimetres' cabre.
eighteen rspid-hring Of q millimetres caibre
and six pidhrlng guns Of 100 millimetres calibre;
altogether forty guns besides two submarine tor
pedo tubes OF $50 mimetres each.
The armor OF La Gloire is TO be Of Harveyized
steel plates OF a minimum thickness Of 30 milli-
metres.
THE BOILER QUESTION
The boiler question is which is being
carefully studied by the French naval authorities.
The Belle,ille boiler I'm the opinion OF experts has
a ~ hnilo md