4 6 THE WORLD'S NAVIES 



for aeroplanes ; and so far it had proved beyond the power of mechanics and metallurgists 

 to produce this type outside France. 



Tactical reach is involved in the increased range of guns and torpedoes. In 1908 and 

 onwards, the Germans, abandoning their principle of arming their ships with the lightest 

 heavy gun which would be effective against armour, adopted a weapon corresponding 

 to the i2-inch which was for years the standard heavy weapon in other navies. The 

 details of this weapon are as follows: 



Calibre. Weight. Length in Weight of Muzzle 



calibres. projectile. velocity. 



12.01 in. 51^ tons 50 981 Ibs. 2,838 f. s. 



But the following year saw a general advance in the size of primary artillery. Great 

 Britain led the way with a 13.5 inch gun, of which the following are the particulars: 



Calibre. Weight. Length in Weight of Muzzle 



calibres projectile. velocity. 



13.5 in. 76 tons. 45 1,250 2,821 f. s. 



This weapon is mounted in the " Orion " and " Lion " classes, but it has been 

 followed by another of identical calibre but slightly increased weight, firing a projectile 

 of 1,400 Ibs. This is mounted in the " King George V," " Queen Mary" and subse- 

 quent classes. It is likely that the new ships will mount a weapon of 15, or some prob- 

 ably of 16.25, inch calibre, weighing 122 tons, and firing a projectile of 2,200 Ibs. 



Other nations which have adopted a gun above 1 2 inch calibre, so far as is known, 

 are the following: 



Country. Calibre. Weight. Weight of projectile. 



Chile 14 inch 83 tons 1,700 Ibs. 



France 

 Germany 

 Italy . 



apan 



13. 4 inch 66.3 tons 1,332 Ibs. 



15 inch 90. 7 tons 1,653 Ibs. 



15 inch 1 02 tons 1.653 Ibs. 



15 inch 96 tons 1,900 Ibs. 



U.S.A. . 14 inch 70.3 tons 1,400 Ibs. 



In regard to some of these countries, the information must be accepted with reserve. 

 The guns have certainly been built and tested; but there is no official information that 

 they have been adopted for naval use. Notably is this the case with Germany. 



As regards the torpedo, all the naval nations have now adopted a 2i-inch weapon, 

 which, with hot air, has an extreme range of 10,000 yards and an initial speed of 33 knots. 



Armour. Krupp cemented continues to be the standard armour of the world, at 

 any rate for heavy plates. The American Bethlehem plate is a modification thereof. 

 The Richardson armour, which is an alloy of molybdenum, has given excellent results 

 on the testing ground, but has not at present been adopted, owing to the reluctance of 

 the great manufacturing firms to incur the expenditure involved in laying down the 

 necessary plant. For lighter plates, a vanadium compound has been adopted by the 

 British Admiralty, which proposes to employ it for the light-armoured cruisers ordered 

 under the programme of 1912-13. 



There is a distinct tendency noticeable towards an increase both in the prolongation 

 and in the thickness of the armour belt. The n inches of the " Dreadnought " have 

 become 13 inches in later vessels, while, in the American " Oklahoma " class, the belt 

 is to extend over 400 feet of the 575 which is the total length of the ship. 



In British battleships the main armour-belt, which was n inches thick in the 

 " Dreadnought " and the " Bellerophon " classes, was reduced to 9^ inches in the "St. 

 Vincent "class, rose to 12 inches in the " Neptune " and " Orion " classes, and has been 

 further increased to 13 \ inches in the " King George V " and subsequent classes. For 

 battle cruisers, it has risen steadily from 7 inches in the " Invincible " to 9 inches in the 

 " Lion." The latest classes are to have special armoured gratings over the funnels as a 

 protection against attack by aeroplane, and also an armoured upper deck. 



In German battleships, the main belt has progressed from 9! inches in the " Nassau " 



