In travelling over Argentina one sees very few soldiers. A man in a navy uniform will be encountered much more frequently. The standing army only numbers twenty thousand men, while the active naval force is not less than twenty-five thousand, most of whom are young men of twenty and twenty-one years of age. This force is kept recruited by conscription. All citizens are registered at birth and a number placed opposite the names on the register. Numbers are drawn each year of the young men who have reached the age of eighteen. The higher numbers pass into the navy for two years, and the lower numbers enter into the army for one year. Then after their discharge from active service these men pass into the reserves, where they are kept enrolled until they are thirty years of age. This keeps a large reserve force ready for duty in both army and navy. The Escuela Naval Militar, a naval college, is maintained where young men are trained to take positions as officers in the navy, similar to our own naval school at Annapolis. In nearly all the public schools the boys are given a military training under the direction of retired naval and military officers, and are allowed the gratuitous use of firearms and ammunition. Nearly every city and town has a shooting range where target practice is carried on under the direction of officials. The tactics are German, but the uniforms in both army and navy are of French design.
The Argentinians are very proud of their navy. There is a great jealousy between that republic and Brazil, and a consequent rivalry in building up a navy. A few years ago Brazil ordered three Dreadnaughts from English builders, the first two of which have just been received, and the other one will be delivered very soon. These boats were supposed to be the most powerful representatives of this style of war vessels ever constructed, but the Argentine naval experts believe that their new marine monsters will be still more effective. They considered the proposition for a long time, and maintained a committee in Europe for a year in order to peruse plans and keep in touch with the very latest developments in naval construction. The plans finally adopted were the result of this careful and painstaking study. The boats will be seventy feet longer than the Brazilian Dreadnaughts, twenty-five hundred tons greater displacement and will have a guaranteed speed of one additional knot.
A twenty-two million order for battleships was not a bad thing for American ship builders. And yet that was the contract given them by the Argentine Republic, after a fierce competition in which twenty-five firms from five of the leading nations of the world were engaged. The Eagle may well scream a little, for it is the first time that the United States has been considered a serious competitor in the building of battleships. The European nations used every influence, including that of their diplomatic representatives and a “knocking” of American manufacturers, to secure the order, but all to no avail. The American builders were the lowest bidders; they promised the boats in a shorter time; and the visit of the fleet a few years ago showed the Argentinos that we could build first class battleships. The writer was in Buenos Aires when the contract was let, and it awakened the people of that section of the world to the fact that the United States has become an active competitor in all lines of business.
These “Dreadnaughts,” which will be known as the “Rivadavia” and “Moreno,” will be 604 feet long, with a displacement of 20,500 tons, and a speed of 22½ knots will be generated by engines of 40,000 horsepower, and the normal draught will be 27 feet. The height of the turret above the water will be 26½ feet and at the poop it will be 17 feet. The armour will extend for 250 feet in the centre, 4¾ feet above and 3⅓ feet below the normal water line with a uniform thickness of one foot. The total weight of the armour will be 7,000 tons. The outward appearance of these two leviathans will be very similar to the “Arkansas” and “Wyoming,” of our own navy. The armour both above and below the water line will be heavier than has heretofore been in use, while the bottom will be well protected against submarines by nickel steel. The armament will consist of twelve thirteen-inch guns in six turrets, twelve six-inch guns in the central casement and an equal number of four-inch guns well located. The coal bunkers will have a capacity of four thousand tons, besides several hundred tons of petroleum. Both of these leviathans of the deep will be delivered early in the year 1912.
THE ARMOURED CRUISER, “PUEYRREDON”
The navy of Argentina aggregates over thirty vessels, and some of them are very good boats. Among these are four armoured cruisers, all of which are 328 feet in length. Two of these, the “General San Martin” and “Pueyrredon,” are twin ships of 6,773 tons displacement; the “Garibaldi” and “General Belgrano” have a displacement of 6,732 and 7,069 tons respectively. The oldest one, the “Garibaldi,” was launched in 1896, and the newest one, the “Pueyrredon,” in 1901, all of them being built in Italian yards. They develop 13,000 horsepower with a speed of twenty knots, and have a daily coal consumption of one thousand tons. All carry a crew of five hundred men, except the “Garibaldi,” which carries only three hundred and fifty men. The cost of these vessels averaged about $3,500,000 each. The “Almirante Brown,” named after the famous English-Argentine admiral, an older boat, is what is generally known as a central battery ship, and is a considerably smaller and less effective boat. There are also four cruisers. Three of these, the “Buenos Aires,” “Nueve de Julio” (Ninth of July), and the “25th of May,” have a speed exceeding twenty-two knots; the “Patagonia” is a smaller vessel with a speed of only thirteen knots. The coast defence vessels number two, the “Independencia” and “Libertad.” The “Espera” (hope), “Patria” (fatherland) and “Rosario” are torpedo boats with a speed of twenty knots. The “Sarmiento” is a training ship which has twice visited the United States in recent years. Fifteen new torpedo boat destroyers have also been ordered which, with the new battleships, will place the Argentine navy in a very effective condition.
The entire fleet is mobilized for four months each year. An annual review, which is held about the first of June, is made the occasion of great display. The President boards one of the vessels, which is then made the flagship, and the other vessels pass in review before it and manœuvres take place. Target practice is held and mimic engagements are “fought.”
What to do with these big monsters now building is a problem which is seriously engaging the minds of the naval department. At the present time there is only one port in the republic which they can enter, and that is the Puerto Militar, at Bahia Blanca. They will not be able to reach Buenos Aires, because the waters of the La Plata are too shallow. The same is true of the other naval bases. It looks as though they will be obliged to stay near Bahia Blanca, or else anchor out on the broad Atlantic the most of the time.
In the writer’s opinion Argentina has little use for a big navy. It cannot be placed on a par with European navies, and it is a big burden of expense. She has only one city on that coast, Bahia Blanca, and has not many vessels engaged in commerce, except on the La Plata and its affluents. Buenos Aires is protected from the Dreadnaughts of other nations because of its shallow harbour. One great item of cost is coal, of which great quantities are consumed, and all of which is imported either from Europe or Australia, the cost per ton being very high. The new Dreadnaughts will have a coal-consuming capacity of sixteen thousand tons per day. The annual expense at the present time of the navy is $7,500,000, and the new ships will increase this by at least $4,000,000. This will make a per capita cost of nearly two dollars for each man, woman and child in the republic. It simply resolves itself into a jealousy of and rivalry with Brazil. If the United States builders will construct Dreadnaughts that will have better armour, greater speed, and more powerful guns than the new Brazilian boats, then American manufacturers can get anything they want in Argentina.