Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 14.djvu/347

NAVIES. 7 second-class torpedo boats, 6 third-class torpedo boats, 2 submarine boats (Goubet type—Paris, 1895), 2 new submarines (projected), 6 armed merchant steamers, 16 small gunboats of 137 to 726 tons, 2 old armorclads of about 1500 tons used as floating batteries, 3 small transports, and several small vessels used for river service.

The navy of Bulgaria consists of one small gunboat and four royal yachts; the personnel is variable and uncertain.

Of the navies of South American countries, the navy of Chile is second in power, being exceeded only by that of Argentina. The naval school for officers is at Valparaiso. The principal dockyard is at Talcahuano, though there are naval stations at Valparaiso and Llica and smaller ones elsewhere. The fleet consists of 1 third-class battleship of 6900 tons (launched 1890), 1 fourth-class battleship of 3500 tons launched 1874, but rearmed about 1890), 1 old monitor of 1870 tons (launched 1865), 2 high-speed armored cruisers of 7000 and 8500 tons (launched 1890-97), 1 protected cruiser of 4500 tons (building in 1902), 4 protected cruisers of 3600, 4420, 2080, and 2080 tons (launched 1890-96), 1 new steel-sheathed cruising training ship of 2500 tons (launched 1898), 3 torpedo gunboats of 750 to 860 tons (launched 1890-96), 4 torpedo-boat destroyers of 300 tons (launched 1896), 6 torpedo boats of 130 tons, 13 smaller torpedo boats, several small vessels and old gunboats, and a number of merchant steamers which are held at the disposal of the Government in case of war. In 1902-03 negotiations were concluded with Argentina by the terms of which the war vessels under construction in Europe were not to be added to the fleet, and the reduction in vessels and armament was provided for.

The navy of China was never an organized force. The fleet was made up of squadrons supported, officered, and manned by different sections of the Empire, and the squadrons were called the Pe-chi-li squadron, Fu-chow squadron, and Canton squadron. The war with Japan swept away all the armored vessels and many of the unarmored ones and left the navy in a deplorable state, from which it has not yet recovered. There is not now, and there has not been at any time, any well-considered plan of supplying officers to the fleet, although there has been for many years a naval school at Nanking at which a few officers are educated by foreign instructors. What officialism and corruption failed to do in weakening the fleet, incompetency in the older officers accomplished. The principal dockyard is at Fu-chow, but there is a naval arsenal at Shanghai and small yards at Tien-tsin and Canton. The vessels possessed in 1902 in the different squadrons were 2 protected cruisers of 24 knots speed and 4300 tons (launched 1897-98), 5 protected cruisers of 2500 to 2950 tons (launched 1883-97), 3 cruisers of 2200 tons (launched 1883-90), 9 cruisers of 1200 to 2100 tons (launched 1875-87), 1 steel screw training ship of 1800 tons (launched 1895), 6 torpedo gun vessels of 850 to 1030 tons, 12 gunboats of 340 to 580 tons (launched 1869-95), 1 special service vessel (cruiser and cable ship) of 1400 tons, 1 armored gunboat of 200 tons (launched 1875), 6 small wooden floating batteries for river operations, 22 gunboats belonging to river and customs service of 120 to 850 tons, 4 dispatch vessels and training ships of 1200 to 1500 tons

(launched 1869-79), 3 armed transports, 1 sailing training vessel of 400 tons, and 21 torpedo boats of 27 to 120 tons (launched 1885-99). Four torpedo-boat destroyers built by Schichau in 1898-99 were captured by the allied forces at Taku in 1900 and added to the British, French, German, and Russian navies.

The navy of Colombia consists of 2 gunboats of about 400 tons, 2 armed yachts, 1 barque-rigged sailing vessel of 315 tons register, and 2 sailing cutters used in the revenue service.

The only war vessel possessed by Costa Rica is a small torpedo boat built by Yarrow in 1892.

Though necessarily small, the Danish navy has an excellent reputation as regards organization and efficiency. At the head of it is the Minister of Marine, who is assisted by a superior officer (usually a vice-admiral or rear-admiral) who has the title of ‘director-general.’ The Navy Department is divided into four principal sections: (1) Secretariat; (2) Admiralty; (3) Commissariat and Accounts; (4) Justice. The chief of the secretariat is the director-general; of the admiralty, a captain in the navy. The other two sections have civilian heads. The only dockyard is the royal arsenal, Copenhagen. The fleet consists of 2 armored vessels of 3470 tons (1 launched 1899, 1 building in 1902), 1 fourth-class battleship of 5370 tons (launched 1878, undergoing reconstruction), 6 armored vessels of 2080 to 3290 tons (launched 1868-96—older vessels rebuilt recently), 3 protected cruisers of 1290 tons (launched 1890-92), 2 protected cruisers of 2580 and 2900 tons (launched 1882-88), 4 small cruisers of 560 to 1570 tons (launched 1862-76), 6 gunboats of 215 to 360 tons, 4 surveying vessels of 95 to 145 tons, 1 torpedo mine boat of 389 tons, 1 royal yacht of 770 tons, about 20 special service vessels, receiving ships and hulks, 9 first-class torpedo boats of 90 to 143 tons, 4 second-class torpedo boats of 50 to 82 tons, 15 third-class torpedo boats of 15 to 44 tons.

The navy of Ecuador consists of one small cruiser of 811 tons (launched 1885, repaired 1900), two iron steamers lightly armed, and one torpedo boat of about 85 tons.

Egypt has no navy, properly speaking. The armed vessels possessed by the Government are sixteen steam and sailing vessels of the coast guard service of 10 to 450 tons, three dispatch vessels of 330 to 700 tons, one transport of 3700 tons, thirteen shallow-draught river gunboats, and three royal yachts, which carry small guns.

The success of the French navy in war has never been proportional to its strength. This has been due to disorganizing forces from without the service which have prevented efficiency. Since the fall of the Empire the navy has greatly improved, and seems to be at present highly efficient; certainly, the ships, armaments, and equipments are of the best, and the personnel of apparently equal excellence. At present the French navy is second to that of Great Britain only, but for financial reasons the number of new ships now in hand and proposed is insufficient to enable France to maintain her present relative lead, and it is likely that within the next decade her navy will be surpassed by those of both Germany and the United States. It seems likely that the French naval authorities have realized the drift of naval matters for