NAVIES OF EUROPE. 



571 



Great Britain has also a large fleet of unarmored vessels of various classes, some of them quite 

 swift and powerful. The following list is compiled from official reports of steam trials : 



a Estimated. 



THE FRENCH NAVY. The French Govern- 

 ment has been paying renewed attention to 

 the building up of its naval strength, which 

 has somewhat declined since 1870. Its efforts, 

 indeed, began soon after the report of Admiral 

 de Montaignac, in 1875, on the inefficient con- 

 dition of the naval defenses. Since that time 

 the dock-yards at Brest,Oherbourg,Lorient, and 

 Toulon have been busy, but the navy has not 

 yet attained the strength it had in 1867-'68, 

 when the Marquis de Ohasseloup-Laubat had 

 brought it to the highest state of efficiency. 

 At the beginning of this year it consisted of 

 twenty-three ironclads of the first class (Mti- 

 ments de combat}, ten of the second class, avail- 

 able only for defensive warfare, and six of the 

 third class, or gardes-cotes cuirasses, for the de- 

 fense of the seaboard. There were also 264 

 unarmored screw-steamers, 62 paddle-steamers, 

 and 113 sailing-vessels. Many of these ships, 

 however, were only effective on paper. Thus, 

 of the unarmored screw-steamers, more than 

 half were not on active service, being either 



stripped of their guns or on the reserve list. 

 Only two of the 29 ships-of-the-line of this 

 class, the Louis XIV, 480 horse-power, with 

 116 guns, and the Jean Bart, 400 horse-power, 

 with 66 guns, were afloat last year. Again, 

 16 out of the 23 first-class ironclads are of an- 

 tiquated construction, with plates not exceed- 

 ing 7i inches in thickness at the water-line, 

 and most of them are to be withdrawn from 

 the active list in 1885. 



Six new ironclads of the first class, five of 

 the second, and one of the third have been 

 completed during the year, and six others of 

 different sizes are in process of construction. 

 Of these the two most remarkable are the For- 

 midable, at Lorient, and the Amiral Baudin, 

 at Brest, monster ironclads of 11,300 tons, 

 and armored at the sides with plates of 18 to 

 25 inches thickness. The three most powerful 

 of the completed ironclads of the French 

 navy are the turret-ships Devastation and 

 Foudroyante, and the Amiral Duperre. They 

 were designed nearly on the same lines, are 312 



