The Anaconda standard., 1899-03-26
WAR DOGS SNARL|NG
Russia and Great Britain Build
ing New Ships.
ENGLAND'S PROGRAMME
Our London Correspondent Writes That
Over Hundred War Vessels
Are in Course ofHurried
Construction
ritten for the Sunday Standard,

VI,
London, March 12.-Attention is be
ing called to the very incongruous spec
tacle of leading men of Europe softly
cooling: Peace! Let us disarm.'
while the clang of hammers and the
thunder of machinery in the shipbulld-
ing yards of Great Britain and Russia
proclaim that both nations are fever
ishly adding big and little war vessels
to their navies. The number of war
vessels in process of construction is
astounding in view of the peace talk.
Great Britain will add to her navy the
gigantic total of over a hundred ves-
sells by March, 1908.
When the present naval year COM
menced, on April last, there were
under construction nine tirst-class bat
t1eships, II first-class cruisers. six
second-class cruisers, 10 third-class
cruisers, two sloops, four gunboats and
Al torpedo boat destroyers. Last March
the first-class battleship Goliath. of
1880 tons displacement. was launched
at Chatham. Within three weeks the
slip thus vacated was occupied by the
keel-plate of the battleship Irresistible.
A large number Of workmen were i'm
mediately concentrated on this new
ship, while satisfactory progress was
also being made with the completion of
the Goliath. On Dec. Is last the IRE
sistible, a battleship Of 5000 tons, was
launched, and cn Jan. of this year
the new battleship Venerable, also of
$4,000 tons, was laid down. Thus. this
one slip was occupied by three battle
ships within period of 10 months--an
achievement which has never been
equaled in this or any other country.
At Portsmouth and Chatham four
first-class battleships are now APP
| preaching completion, via, the Cano
pus and the Formidable at the former
yards, and the Goliath and the Jrre-
sstible at the latter. In addition, two
| other battleships, the London and the
Venerable, are now being hurried for
| ward and will be launched in few
| months. At Devonport. owing to the
! delays experienced in consequence of the
| engineering dispute, the launch of the
| battleship Ocean. of the Canopus class,
which should have taken place early in
| last year, was postponed until July S,
| with the result that the battleship I'M
| placable could not be laid down until
| after 10 days later. The latter vessel
| will be launched next month. and al
! ready about a thousand tons of mate
| rial for her successor. the BulWark,
| have been put together in an adjoining
| shed, in readiness to be bolted to-
gether as soon as the slip, the only one
suitable for the construction of YES
| sci of 500 feet length, is vacant. The
| private shipbuilding yards have been
| similarly active. At Birkenhead-Bar-
| row-in- Furhess, and on the Clyde. three
| first-class battleships, the Glory, Ven
| geance and Albion, have been under
| construction, and two of them Will
probably be completed early in 1900.
Recently the admiralty gave out or
ders for four new battleships of $4,000
tons displacement each, of speed of
| 10 knots, increasing the total num-
Der of battleships under construction
| to 16, with a total tonnage of ga, 100
| Two of these new mastodons will be
built by the Thames Shipbuilding COM
| pany at Blackwall and the other two
| will be laid down at Birkenhead and
| Jarrow- -on-Tyne.
| In the 1878 naval programme We're
| included four armored cruisers, the
only vessels of this type ordered since
| 1855. Swift cruisers strongly 'armored
are recognized by naval designers all
! the world over as the warships of the
| future, and the British admiralty have
not been slow to begin the construc-
| ton of modern fleet of these armored
| greyhounds. During 1888 six ships of
| this type, of $4,000 tons displacement
each, and a speed of 1912 knots, have
been under construction, four at Glas-
gow one at Birkenhead, and one at
| BarroW-in Furness. These ships have
been named Cressy, Aboukir, Hogue
Sutlej, Bacchante and Euryalus. The
| admiralty have now given out orders
| for three additional armored cruisers
monster ships of $4,000 tons and a speed
| of % knots. Two will be built on the
| Clyde and the other at Barrow-in-Fur-
| ness. A fourth vessel, of the armored
| cruiser type, of gigantic size. will in
a few days be laid down at Pembroke
| dock. yard. There will thus be under
| construction at one and the same time
| cruisers, six of which will be of T.
| 900 tons each, and four of 14,000 tons,
with an aggregate displacement of
| 10000 tons. Two additional vessels of
the same class will be commenced in
the present year at the Royal dock
yards.
The margin of distinction between
battleships and armored cruisers is so
narrow that it is difficult to know
where the hattleshp class and the
cruiser class begins, although the
| speed of the latter marks them out as
| the most effective and swift fighting
| ships in the whole world. That the
British navy is not falling below the
standard of armored ships necessary
| for the supremacy of the world may
| be understood from the fact that the
armored ships now under construction
| or projected number no less than Is,
with an aggregate displacement of no
| less than 100000 tons. This number eX-
ceeds by two ships the entire Russian
| feet of battleships, and Is nearly three
| times as many ships of the armored
| class as in the splendid little navy of
| the United States.
| There have also been under construc-
tion in the dockyards. and at various
| private shipbuilding establishments,
during the present fast-closing naval
| year, no less than - cruisers of the
| first class, six second-class cruisers, 10
| third-class cruisers. six sloops, four
gunboats and about 40 torpedo boat de-
stroyers. Since the naval programme
of 1867 the admiralty have confined
| their attention almost exclusively to
| battleships and armored CRUISERS, so
| that this great fleet or unarn,1rl | VS.
| sells may be regarded as Il legacy tf
| work inherited from the period preced-
| ing March, 1896, Many of laass vessels
| are in a completing state.
| The naval programme, viii, III is now
| occupying the great army Of sNovlnlrn