It is the heavy armament that has conditioned the size of the ships, for they have few other advantages than the ability to carry the extra weight, and they have increased the cost of navies enormously. The appropriations of eight great powers for 1914–1915 come to not far from three billion five hundred million marks, England leading with more than one billion. And the expenses do not cease with the building of the ships, for docks, dry docks, canals, etc., have to be enlarged accordingly. The Kaiser Wilhelm canal, built between the years 1887 and 1895, at a cost of one hundred fifty-six million marks, had already outgrown its usefulness ten years after its opening. Its widening, which will not be fully completed until 1915, is to cost two hundred twenty-three millions in addition.
We have thus far spoken only of ships of the line, and, although we shall have to return to them in a moment, a few words must first be said as to the use of the other categories of ships in actual warfare. Armored cruisers in themselves are nothing new. England has forty-four of them, France nineteen, Japan fifteen and Germany and the United States each fourteen. But great armored battle-cruisers have existed only since 1907 and are possessed as yet by only three powers: England has ten; Germany has, or had, five (for the Goeben is out of the running), and Japan has two.
H. M. Cruiser Goeben [5]
The big battle-cruiser is as long as a battle-ship, or even longer; it, also, is called a dreadnaught. It has guns as large, but fewer of them; eight instead of ten. Where, then, is the difference? The difference is in the lines, which are long and slender, like those of a yacht, and in the speed, which is from twenty-eight to thirty knots instead of twenty-two or twenty-three. The cruiser has been described as a sort of naval cavalry that can fly to any weak point of the enemy, can chase a single ship or can outflank a line of ships, bring them between two fires, thus deciding the battle. The cruisers can also fight each other. A new instrument of war has thus been introduced that may, after all, once more make naval contests thrilling and dramatic instead of being mere pounding competitions.
The small cruiser, in contradistinction to the large armored one, has but a light iron belt and carries only light guns and deck torpedo tubes. Its purpose is not to engage in battle, unless it be with a torpedo-boat, but rather to avoid it. It combines the qualities of scout and of torpedo-boat-destroyer, which latter type is altogether lacking in the German navy. Its chief quality is swiftness, and a swarm of small cruisers accompanies the fleet when it puts to sea, darting here and there to make sure that none of the much-dreaded little enemies is approaching.
Of large torpedo-boats the German fleet has one hundred fifty-four, all of its own special type. The value of the type has at times been overestimated, at times underestimated, but the recent gains in speed and in seaworthiness have made it no contemptible adversary. Practically its only weapon is the torpedo, for projecting which it carries four tubes on deck; its small guns are merely for use against other torpedo-boats. Its chief defense is its extreme swiftness, for some of the boats have a speed of thirty-eight miles an hour. It can turn, too, incredibly quickly, for it has a rudder in the bow as well as in the stern. It is unarmored, but is painted black for its protection. For it is a creature of the night, stealing up in the darkness with its deadly weapon and scarcely ever exposing itself to the enemy’s guns by the light of day. It has one enemy, to be dreaded above all others, the search-light.
Submarine Fleet in Harbor at Kiel
There are hundreds of the little black devils in the navy, and they have every sort of trick for concealment and escape. By running very swiftly they can keep the smoke from rising vertically from their funnels and thus betraying their presence. They often go forth in flotillas and if an enemy start to chase them they scatter, having previously arranged where they are to meet again. They come bow on to the ship they mean to injure, for the distance between them will then increase more rapidly. If brought to bay a torpedo-boat turns its own search-light on the commander of the other vessel and tries to blind him with its glare. It is a risky business, that of torpedo-boat commander, and requires men of the very highest training and courage. The reason there are such numbers of the little craft is that many are sure to go to the bottom in the course of a campaign. Germany expects that her flotilla will be of great help in a war with England, for when a torpedo hits the damage is apt to be severe. Dynamite is mild compared to the new melanite and lyddite that are used in charging.