392 



GERMANY. 



The war effective, not including the Land- 

 sturm and special formations, was as follows: 



The navy in 1883 comprised 7 iron-clad 

 frigates, with 85 guns ranging from 12 to 26 

 tons, an aggregate displacement of 50,224 tons, 

 engines of 43, 100 horse-power, and armor of 

 10, 8|, and 5 inches thickness; 5 iron-clad 

 corvettes, with 32 guns, 22 tons on all except 

 one, 8 inches of armor, 25,400 horse-power, 

 and 33,210 tons displacement; 27 cruisers, 

 armed with 271 guns; 13 coast-guards, with 

 18 guns, besides 15 torpedo-boats; and 22 

 dispatch - boats, transports, and school - ships. 

 There were under construction 1 iron-clad and 

 3 other corvettes, a gunboat on the Albatross 

 system, and 2 armored gunboats. 



The plans for a German navy were adopted 

 in 1873, and the term of ten years was set for 

 the completion of the new fleet. A new type 

 of iron-clad corvettes was one of the first im- 

 provements carried out. This was the Sach- 

 sen class, intended for defending the coast and 

 offensive action in German waters and the 

 neighboring seas. They were designed to take 

 the place of the previously adopted Hansa 

 model, which was considered too weak for a 

 battle-ship and too slow for a cruiser. The 

 Sachsen corvettes are of shallow enough 

 draught to run into the other North Sea ports 

 as well as Kiel, and are exceedingly manage- 

 able and provided with rams and torpedoes. 

 On this model were built the Sachsen, Baden, 

 Bayern, and Wtirtemberg. A reform which 

 was taken up at about the same time was the 

 substitution of iron-clad gunboats for the pro- 

 jected monitors, which in view of the develop- 

 ment of torpedoes were deemed too uncon- 

 trollable and less valuable for local coast-de- 

 fense than smaller vessels which could pro- 

 tect the lines of sunken torpedoes and move 

 about in the shallow waters of the German 

 coast, firing upon approaching iron-clads from 

 a safe position, and, when these are obliged 

 to move slowly and cautiously in difficult chan- 

 nels, even assuming the offensive, which their 

 heavy guns enable them to do. Eleven of 



* Number of batteries, 341 ; of guns, 1,374. 



these gunboats were finished and two in pro- 

 cess of construction in the spring of 1883. 

 The new cruisers of the first class were de- 

 signed for a speed of 15 knots. Since wooden 

 vessels were not firm enough to stand the agi- 

 tation, they were made of iron and covered 

 with copper to keep the bottom clean, which 

 was separated from the iron hull, so that no 

 galvanic action could take place, by two layers 

 of teak. These vessels of the Leipsic class are 

 armed with ringed cannon of from 12 to 17 

 centimetres caliber, and provided with tackling 

 and equipments which would enable them to 

 remain at sea for months. The cruisers of the 

 second class, known as the Bismarck type, of 

 which the Bismarck, the Blticher, the Moltke, 

 the Stosch, the Gneisenau, and the Stein, are 

 the representatives, are like the others in de- 

 sign and armament, but of smaller size and of 

 a calculated speed of 13 knots an hour. 

 Among the cruisers of the third class the four 

 corvettes Carola, Olga, Marie, and Sophie 

 form a separate class. They have a speed of 

 14 knots and carry 10 guns. Their chief pur- 

 pose is to protect merchant- ships in distant 

 waters and guard remote portions of the coast. 

 The "Whitehcad fish-torpedo was adopted in 

 1876. It was at first intended to construct 28 

 torpedo-vessels ; then it was proposed to fit out 

 the regular war-ships with apparatus for firing 

 torpedoes; and finally, for the better economy 

 of these projectiles, costing about $2,500 each, 

 it was decided to employ also specially designed 

 torpedo-boats. It was also expected that a 

 flotilla of torpedo-boats would keep a hostile 

 fleet at a distance and oblige it to keep under 

 steam, and that it could dash into and cause 

 damage and consternation to a blockading 

 squadron. In 1881 the ships began to be armed 

 with torpedoes or provided with the appliances 

 for firing torpedoes either from the deck or 

 under water. In a short time 64 vessels were 

 thus equipped. The construction of torpedo- 

 boats was begun at the same time. Eight were 

 completed in 1883, and it was the intention of 

 the Government to add to this number as rap- 

 idly as possible, to keep pace with other coun- 

 tries which are rapidly building torpedo-boats. 



Finance. The budget of the empire for the 

 year 1883-'84, adopted March 2, 1883, calls for 

 537,297,305 marks for ordinary and 53,259,329 

 marks for extraordinary expenses. 



The budget of 1884-'85 was voted July 2, 

 1883. It estimates the produce of customs du- 

 ties at 196,450,000 marks ; excise duty on sugar, 

 46,865,000 marks ; on salt, 37,262,600 marks ; 

 on tobacco, 13,940,920 marks; on spirits, 35,- 

 925,900 marks; on malt, 15,791,000 marks; 

 the net receipts of posts and telegraphs, 25,- 

 832, 193 marks; of railroads, 16, 690, 600 marks; 

 stamp duties, 19,436,680 marks ; receipts of the 

 invalid funds, 28,665.120 marks ; surplus of the 

 budget of 1882-'83, 15,825,000 marks ; extraor- 

 dinary receipts (from construction fund for for- 

 tifications, 10,400,000; for Parliament-house, 

 2,000,000; from loan for extraordinary pur- 



