The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1901-04-14
FOURTH IN NAVAL POWER
UNITED STATES STRONGER ON THE
SEA THAN GERMANY.

Three World POwers-GrOwth of
Our Navy.
From the Philadelphia Record
Washington, March S1.-Great Britain is
still far in the lead in naval tonnage of
the great nations of the world The rela-
tive strength of the six naval Powers
appears in a most comprehensive state
ment, isused by the office of naval intel
ligence, of the existing and future fight
ing forces of the leading nations. in ac-
cordance with present programmes Of in
crease.
The mighty naval tonnage OF these
Powers is far in excess of the entire
commercial tonnage of some and for at
least two Powers the number OF war;
ships now building exceeds the total
strength Of those navies ten years ago.
An approximate estimate of the sums
of money being spent alone on the in
crease plans by these six Powers is plac-
ed at nearly half a billion dollars, and
the amount represented in ships already
built could scarcely be calculated.
EngIand's Enormous Navy.
Built and building. the naval tonnage
of Great Britain exceeds that of France
Germany and Russia combined, but by a
very narrow margin, and that of France
the United States and Germany by even
less AS now ranked, Great Britain
maintains the lead over all nations by a
large limit, both in the existing strength
of her navy and in number of tons build
ing with France next in rank.
Then comes Russia, and behind her the
United States, which has displaced Ger
many and leads her by 5000 tons dis
placement of her ships. Japan is the sixth
naval Power, and Italy is supposed to be
about the same strength, although 1t lies
more in vessels built than building, for
the finances Of Italy for some years have
not admitted Of any liberal provisions for
charging her naval establishment.
Italy was drained for years under her
agreement with Germany and Austria to
maintain a strong army and navy, and
went almost to the limit of her resources
to keep the pace required by her neigh
bors. Her vessels were at one time the
best in Europe, and while her naval pow
er has remained almost at a standstill
for the last five years, she has still most
effective navy of great heavy fighting
ships.
Growth of Our Own Navy.
Before the Spanish war the American
navy was probably below even that OF
Japan in strength, but with the increase
due to the hurried completion of a large
number of vessels since 1897 the total ma
val tonnage has greatly advanced and
places this country only a few thousand
ons behind Russia.
Had Congress at the last session grant
ed liberal appropriations for continuing
the increase instead of refusing 10 au-
thorize single additional ship the United
States would be reckoned In the state
ment as standing next to France in
amount of tonnage built and building
and ahead of Russia by a good margin.
AS compiled by the Intelligence Bureau,
under Capt. Sigsbee's direction, the naval
strength of this country is stated as fol-
lows:
ships That Fly Old Glory.
First-class battleships above 5000 tons,
built, 8; building, s; second-class battle
ships and coast defense vessels below g.
600 tons, built, 8; building, 4; armored
cruisers, built and building; protects ed
cruisers and unprotected cruisers. not
armored, built, 49, building, O.; smaller
cruisers, 26 built; four destroyers are com
pleted and l6 are building; torpedo boats
built, %; building, II; eight training yes
sells are also built. This gives a total
of 9S vessels butt, representing a tonnage
of 302, $50; So building, representing ton
mage of 247, 420, or total of 1853 vessels
with a tonnage of 55O,O7O tons. This does
not include, however, large number of
smaller ships that cannot be classed as
fighting ships.
England Has Three Times Our Tom
mage.
While this statement is most promising
for future navy Of great strength, ii
looks small when compared TO that of
Great Britain, set forth in equal detail by
Capt. Sigsbee.
Great Britains total naval tonnage is
1.795,410, which represents 646 warships,
over three times the tonnage ofthe United
States and four times the number of war
ships. She has 45 first-class battleships
built, with a greater tonnage than the
total of the entire American navy. In ad-
dition, she has II first-lass battleships
building Of more than half the total
naval tonnage of Japan. There are 25 Sec
ond-class and armored coast defense YES
sells built.
She has II armored cruisers in service
and IA are building. In the cruiser class
she has II vessels built, or more ships in
tons than the entire strength of Germa-
ny. OF the smaller cruisers, between
1000 and 1900 tons, she has Y built and
eight building. OF the little gunboats
and cruisers there are So. Her destroy
ers built number 1OS greater than the
whole torpedo-boat tonnage Of the Unit
ed States built and building. She has,
in addition. AZ building. Her torpedo
boats number 167, with two building Her
training vessels number nine. giving
Great Britain $50 vessels built and n
building.
The tonnage Of vessels building now
exceeds the total tonnage of the Italian
than the total naval tonnage of Japan.
The French Navy Second.
France, with a total tonnage Of 714,1eo,
represented by 428 vessels built and build
ing, is the second ranking Power Her
strength is composed of 10 frst-rate bat
tlesnips built and one building. This is
exclusive, however, Of several hattleships
she Is expected to authorize during this
year. She has % second-class battleships
and coast defense vessels built and 10 ar
mored cruisers built and II building.
OF the larger cruiser type, unprotected,
she has % built and two building. The
smaller cruisers number II, and the gum
boats and cruisers below 1000 tons num-
Der Is. She has So destroyers and 22s tor
pedo boats, and in this respect is close
to Great Britain. In addition there are
a large number Of submarine boats build
ing and training ships. Her strength
built is 400 ships, and vessels building
number g. 1t will be seen, therefore,
that the increase programme OF the
United States is larger than that Of
France.