The San Francisco call., 1899-07-17
NEWS OF FOREIGN NAvIEs.

The japanese battleship building at
| Vickers, at Barrows, has been named MI
kasa. and the armored cruiser building at
! Elswick the Iwaka.
The naval policy of Japan, according to
the London Engineer, is crystalllzed un-
der five heads: Firstly, battlesh1ps very
powerful; second, ships very swift ana
suitable for most purposes; third, second
class cruisers for commerce duties;
fourth, third-class cruisers for scouting
etc.; fifth, destroyers.
dock basin is being built at Ham
burg which will cost $515O,OOO. This, with
the floating dock recently completed, gives
the German navy practically an addition
al fitting out and repair station. The hoat-
ing dock is 558 feet in length, "a feet woe
and will take in vessel drawing ~ Ieel.
| In the event of war this dock can %
! towed to Cuxhaven, at the mouth OF the
Elbe, and war vessels can then be docked
and overhauled there, instead Of going TO
either Wilhelmshafen or Kiel for that
purpose
The Foudre torpedo transport ship in
the French navy, built in 1895, is being
converted into a seagoing training ship,
not having proved success for the pur-
pose originally intended. The vessel was
built to follow the British plan of having
a torpedo depot ship for the storage and
repairs Of torpedoes to accompany a fleet
and distribute these missiles as required.
Her speed, however fell short, and on
account Of her narrow beam the ship did
not have the steadiness necessary for a
vessel of that class. Her prototype in
| the British navy, the Vulcan, of $500 tons,
built in 1889 at cost of 81 .S52 .235, has a
speed of 20 knots, whereas the Foudre, OF
only 6O9O tons, cost $2,038,560, and steams
about 19 knots.
The Bulwark, battleship of 1900 tons,
building at Devonport dockyard, was be-
gun March 20 last, and up to June 20 300
tons of material had been worked into the
hull This beats the best record of ship
building in any British dockyard, and
Devonport holds the credit for fast and
economical work AS an offset to this
phenomenally quick work, the case Of the
/ Gladiator. a cruiser of $500 tons, built at
the Portsmouth dockyard, is to be noted.
/ This ship was laid down in January, 1896,
| and was not completed for passing into
/ the first reserve until June 20 last, thus
! taking about three years and six months
! in its construction, or nearly twice as long
as the building of the battleship Majestic,
of IA 900 tons, also built at the Portsmouth
dockyard in 1895.
The Japanese torpedo boat destroyer
! Akebone. built by Yarrow, appears to be
the fastest of the six boats built by that
firm, and is reported to have made thirty
/ one knots. The vessel is 220 feet in length,
2O1b feet beam and $50 tons displacement.
! The hull is of galvanized steel with
| small proportion of nickel, and has ten
/ sile strength of forty tons to the square
inch. This material is very expensive and
has been used in only this instance. The
! Akebone's twin screw engines are triple
! expansion. with four cylinders to each OF
| 2O1b. 311b and two of 81 inches diameter,
! and a stroke of IS inches. Steam is gen.
| Grated in four straight tube" Yarrow
| boilers carrying 230 pounds. Each boiler
weighs eighteen tons with its water, ana
will give 1900 horse power, or 6400 collect
! lively. The vessel will stow 100 tons or
coal and the armament, besides two
eighteen-inch torpedo tubes, consists or
one twelve-pounder and five stx-pounder
rapid firing guns. Her complement is
ffty-six officers and crew.
Mr.. Lanesan. who succeeds Mr.. Lockroy
as Minister of Marine in France, was
born in 1S43 and was a surgeon in the navy
until 1870, when he resigned and followed
his profession in private life. He eVentu-
ally drifted into politics and has been
elected a Deputy several times. Mr..
Lockroy served in the last Cabinet less
than one year, but had been Minister Of
Marine for a brief period in 1S95-96. The
frequent changes in the French Ministry
of late years have been greatly detrt-
mental to the navy. Mr.. Lanesan is tho
sixth change in the head of the naval ad-
ministration since 1890, the successive
Ministers being: March, $780, Admiral
Barley succeeded by Admiral LefeYre in
December, 1898, until October, 1895, when
Mr. Lockroy came in and remained until
May, 1896, when Admiral Besnard took
office and was again supplanted by Mr..
Lockroy In October, 1898, who held the
office about eight months. Each one Of
these Ministers has had his hobby,
one believing entirely in large armored
ships another in cruisers and armored
vessels of moderate size. and lastly Mr..
Lockroy, who pinned his faith on sub
marine boats. Various and radical reform
atory measures were introduced by each
Minister regarding the personnel and the
education of officers and no time was
given to prove the value or defects of such
measures before a new Minister took Of
fee AS a natural result the navy has
always been in an unsettled condition and
its expenditures have been heavy with
out rendering satisfactory results.