The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1914-08-04
GREAT BR|TA|N'S
MIGHTY FLEET
HER sEAFIGHTERs ARE Equal TO
ALL THOSE OF THE TRIPLE
ALLIANCE.
FRANCEHAS GOOD NAVY
RussIA's FLEET Is NOT TO he
TAKEN sERIoUsLY-GERM
NAVY WONDERFULLY
EFFICIENT.
FRANCEHAS GOOD NAVY

! The Danube river. which forms the
boundary between Servia and Austria
affords room for maneuvrfng re
spectacle fleet, but Servia has never
put an armed vessel on the river.
Austria. on the other hand, has Ions
maintained fotilia on the Upper
| Danube, and within the last two years
since the last two Balkan wars re-
yealed Seryia's military strength-sht
{ has increased her naval forces on the
river.
She has on commission on the Dan
I uhe six little monitors and two more
building None OF them amount Il
much in Aghting value as against
against shore batteries or field ar
tillery they will prove formidable
Austria also has eight motor patro
launches, with G machine gun In each
on the Danube.
AS Belgrade is situated directly or
, the river and has no batteries that
could effectively resist even this lit
tie navy. the tiotilla would be ample
to capture Belgrade single handed
The fotilla. moreover. would have nc
difficulty In covering landing for an
invading army.
When 1t comes to a comparison of
the navies of the Triple Alliance and
the Triple Entente. the figures come
much nearer to a balance.
In the Triple Alliance the most
formidable naval power Is Germany.
The German feet has been making
rapid strides In the last few years
tleships or battle cruisers of the
into action with modern dread
more on the way. but not now avail
able.
Her Second Line.
Besides this frs, fleet, Germany can
still show Il second line, in reserve,
of twenty other battleships, all built
in the last twenty years. Many OF
these. however. need not be taken
seriously. In the first place, they are
not all. by any means, in full COM
mission. and there is no doubt that
it would take weeks of hard work,
at least, to get them all ready for
sea.
In the second place. until less than
ten years ago Germany maintained the
remarkable policy of arming none of
her ships with guns Of more than
nine-inch caliber, and all these ships
belong to that period. Sending them
into action with modern Dread
noughts, with IL and 1875 inch rifles
would be pure slaughter.
The second naval power OF the
Triple Alliance Is Italy. She can send
out a powerful and Homogeneous
squadron OF four dreadnaughts. which,
designed as they were by the man who
Is conceded to be the ablest warship
designer now living. will have to be
reckoned With in any sea fight She
has two more fine ships on the ways,
but not within months Of commission
ing.
with this ono contribution. how
ever. Italy's bolt is shot. She has
eight old battleships. which. although
probably. gun for gun. better chips
than Germany's twenty old ships. are
open to much the same criticism.
Austria, numerically. Is stronger
than Italy in lighting ships. but their
quality Is not comparable. She can
bring into action two ships OF the
dreadnaughts class and three others,
which, although older. smaller and
slower. wouldn't compare unfavor-
ably with the United States Connecti-
cut class. Besides these.N she has
three more which class with Ger
manys and Italys secondary line. All
her deet is in full commission.
England's Mighty Fleet.
Against these three fleets, for the
Triple Entente the backbone, IL not
practically the entire opposing force,
Is In Englands great war fleet. Eng
land has now AT sea and ready for
action, thirty battleships Of tho dread
nought or superdreadnought type, be-
sides ten others which. like the Lord
Nelson and Agmemnon class. but lit
tie below the dreadnought rating
The ships carry four 12-inch guns;
therefore they are classcd below the
But they carry no less
than ten 8.2-inch, which make them
ehr superior to any other batticshlp
me ~ Ira 4 m /, whf rafinR nor = mat