It will be seen from the foregoing statement that the Italian navy is one of much importance, capable of working great destruction upon an enemy’s fleet of ordinary ships, able to cope with no inconsiderable number of modern vessels, and such as would enable the Italian people and government to speak with a voice that would have to be attentively heeded by any possible ally or any probable enemy in the event of European complications arising, or of a European war becoming imminent. This does great credit to successive Italian political administrations.
Of late the German government has been very active in promoting commercial ship-building and ocean enterprise, but it has been very slack in the development of its imperial navy, and for this reason the Russian navy next claims our notice. Russia, with the continent of Europe interposed between its northern and its southern ports, is compelled to divide its naval strength into two, concentrating one part upon the Baltic and the other upon the Black Sea; and both these divisions of its navy are under restrictions which approach pretty nearly to the conditions of blockades. With winter comes the natural blockade of Cronstadt and St. Petersburg on the Baltic, and this sometimes lasts so long that I have myself seen the first merchant-vessel of the year approach Cronstadt on the 29th of May, or within a very few weeks of midsummer. In the South, Sebastopol and Nikolaiev are under the permanent domination of the Bosporus forts and fleets, and of European treaties, which are stronger still. The disasters of the war of 1854 and the political engagements which ensued have also borne heavily upon the naval spirit of Russia, and it says much for the greatness of that country that again, in spite of all these hinderances, it is raising its navy into a position of European importance.
THE “CATHERINE II.”
Considering the Black Sea fleet first, the entire interest excited by its armor-clads centres in the three new 16-knot ships, the Catherine II., Sinope, and Tchesme. These three ships are belted throughout with 18-inch armor, and are armed with six guns of forty tons and seven of four tons, this battery being fought en barbette in towers plated with armor fourteen inches thick. The Universal Register and the French Carnet agree in assigning to the Catherine II. a length of 320 feet and a tonnage of 10,000, and to the other two ships a length of 314 feet and a tonnage of about 8600. They also agree in describing the horse-power of each of the three ships as 9000 indicated, and the speed as 16 knots. The Admiralty Return previously quoted gives them a speed of 15 knots, and equal tonnages of 10,800 tons.[34] I am unable to give the tonnage decisively, but I know that the tonnage originally intended for these ships was 9990, and I am in possession of the details of the corresponding weights. The discrepancies as to steam-power and speed are matters of great moment. I believe that both the Universal Register and the French Carnet are wrong in associating a power of only 9000 horses with a speed of sixteen knots, the fifteen knots given by the Admiralty being the speed expected with 9000 indicated horse-power; but this power is to be obtained with natural draught, while with forced draught the power is to be increased to 11,400, and the speed increased to sixteen knots. The formidable character of these ships needs no comment, although I cannot regard them as nearly equivalent to or as well designed as the somewhat larger Nile and Trafalgar of the British navy. The only other Black Sea armored vessels are the slow and small, but somewhat powerful, circular ships Novgorod and Vice-admiral Popoff, of which the latter is surrounded by 18-inch armor, and carries two guns of forty tons. A torpedo-vessel of the 600 ton class, developing 3500 horse-power, and 20 knots speed has been built at Nikolaiev.
The Baltic fleet of Russia contains only one finished iron-clad of much importance, the Peter the Great, of 9340 tons and 14 knots speed, carrying four guns of 40 tons; but two other ships, the Emperor Alexander II. and the Nicholas I., of 8400 tons, are now under construction at St. Petersburg. No interest attaches to the Pojarsky, the four Admirals, and several other old, weak, and slow armor-clads of the Baltic navy. This fleet comprises, however, eight belted cruisers, of which five are important. These are as follows:
| Name of Ship. | Displacement. | Indicated Horse-power. | Speed. | Armor. | Principal Armament. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tons. | Knots. | Guns | |||
| Vladimir Monomach | 5800 | 7000 | 15.4 | 7-inch. | 4 of 9 tons. |
| Dmitri Donsköi | 5800 | 7000 | 16.25 | 7-inch. | 3 ” 29 ”[35] |
| Admiral Nachimoff | 7780 | 8000 | 16 | 10-inch. | 8 ” 9 ” |
| Alexander Nevsky | 7572 | 8000 | 16 | 10-inch. | 8 ” 9 ” |
| Emperor Nicholas | 8000 | 8000 | 16 | 10-inch. | 2 ” 40 ” |
The only fast armored cruisers of the Baltic fleet are the Rynda and Vitias, of 2950 tons, 3500 horse-power, and 15 knots speed; and another, the Admiral Korniloff, now being completed at Nantes, to be much larger and faster. Among torpedo-vessels there is the twin-screw steel Iljin, of 600 tons, which has steamed 20 knots, and carries 19 machine guns; another, of only 140 tons, but to steam 20 knots, has been built at Glasgow; and a third, of like size, but of 17 knots, at St. Petersburg. The torpedo-boats of the Russian navy are given in the Parliamentary Return as below:
Baltic Torpedo-boats.
Completed: 4 over 100 feet in length; 74 over 70 feet in length; 20 under 70 feet in length. Completed and building: 6 over 100 feet in length, of which 4 are over 150 feet long—total, 104.