Russia has of late years considerably increased her fleet, spending her substance chiefly on large ironclads, which appear to be the fashion nowadays. Her biggest ironclads are those in the Black Sea. The Russian Navy should not be, all the same, considered as a very powerful one, for a great many of her ironclads and torpedo-boats are out of date, and not up to the requirements of modern naval warfare.
The Russian fleet numbers altogether—
| Men-of-war | 21 |
| Monitors and cruisers | 44 |
| Torpedo-vessels and gunboats | 21 |
| Torpedo-boats (old and new) | 140 |
| Sailing-vessels, etc. | 50 |
| Transports, etc. | 123 |
| Coast and harbour service | 50 |
| Boat-flotilla | 33 |
| Total | 482 |
ITALY.
The naval forces of Italy have increased very rapidly during the last twelve years. At present they number—
| Men-of-war | 19 |
| Corvettes | 19 |
| Torpedo-vessels and avisos | 26 |
| Gunboats | 10 |
| Torpedo-boats | 122 |
| Transports and survey-ships | 19 |
| Harbour and coast service | 92 |
| Auxiliary ocean steamers | 7 |
| Total | 314 |
AUSTRIA.
Austria also has considerably increased her fleet. It now consists of—