Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-10-25
GOLFERS.
Korea, Kitai, Kniaz Gorcha Koy.
A Costly Fleet.


This is one of the largest fleets that ever
went to sea, and one of the most powerful.
1t is commanded by three rear admiraIs
RoJestvensky, Falkersen and Enkoist. and
an enormous amount OF money has been ex-
pended in its construction, armament ana
equipment. The money value of the fleet
is OF itself very large. Some idea of ito
cost may be obtained from the following
table: e
Seven battle ships. $4,000 900 each. . s45, 500 900
d armored cruisers s5.000.O00 each. 10 600 900
SIX =, .o protected 0t cruisers. averaging
Twelve destroyers, $3.50. 900 each. 2 COO coo
N IN 600 auxiliary nGo cruisers averaging
rs. iepnir shiPs SoOO,oOO each. 100O, 600
tiee cuineis' sooo'oVo each. 500 900
i-o'pi'ai SNIP. OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES. 100000
to.ai. 1870 SIS $50, 900
Men-of-war are expensive luxuries 1t
not only costs a great deal to build and
equip them, but they must be kept in per
1ect repair and the cost of maintenance is
very large Mr. Prettyman, British naval
expert, has recently given the following es-
inmate OF the cost of maintaining a battle
snip or 1000 tons for one year In time of
peace:
ray OF officers and Observation-Disclosures O1 S45
y c,uaiihg. OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES. I3,O20
Goal Goal: ...........-............ $4,000
S Su anu repairs Observation-Disclosures. 47,74O
ordnance stores Observation-Disclosures. 27,75O
Tot, Total ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. s4es, 1856
smaller vessels varies, of course. accord
ing to their tonnage and the size of their
crews, but, taking the Baltic fleet all to-
gether, 1t is probable that the average per
vessel will exceed $500 600 a year. at the
lowest estimate, in time of. peace while In
time or war the expense is naturally very
much greater.
Expense of Coaling.
1t will cost in the neighborhood of s6oO OOo
for coal to send the Baltic fleet around to
Port Arthur. Under the most favorable
circumstances the seven battle ships will
need at least 10000 tons. the cruisers 1000
tons, the auxiliaries 10000 tons, the repair
and hospital ships 1900 tons each, the
twelve destroyers 500 tons each, or a total
/. of from 1000 to 10000 TONS and IL is a
very serious problem to provide this fuel 1t
must be remembered that no coalng sta
lions are open. and 1t is necessary for the
fleet to carry its own supply. Every ship
will start out with full bunkers which will
be suff1cient to take them to some point on
the north African coast, where they can
find plenty of secluded bays and inlets in
which they can coal from the Golfers. The
second supply will carry them through the
Red sea, and they will have to find some
safe place down there to renew the supplies.
Then they can go to Sumatra, and there
take enough to carry them to the Philip
pines, where they can find plenty of har-
bors that are safe from storm, but are
scarcely safe from the Japanese fleet From
that time on 1t will be a matter of fighting.
The two Golfers in the list can carry
scarcely enough for one coaling, and relays
will have to be sent at frequent intervals
to overtake or meet the feet. 1t will be
necessary to have at least ten Golfers for
this service, because not less than $1,000
tons of coal will be needed, and the ordi-
nary collier cannot carry more than 5000
tons. Then when the feet reaches the scene
of war 1t must have plenty of fuel handy
mr. will hn Inc Ak
without coal any more than they can fight
without powder, and it does not need
naval expert to explain the difficulty of
keeping this vast fleet in fuel, ammunition
and other supplies 1t will have to receive
everything at sea. If 1t only had one har-
Dor to which it could retreat to renew sup
plies or make repairs the case would be diff
ferent, but after Singapore is passed 1t may
be expected that the Japanese will give the
Russians all they can attend to without al
lowing them to make repairs or take on
supplies. When Columbus started out from
Palos in search of a western passage to
India his problem was simple compared