eral years, and that the special attention that has been paid to the development of submarine boats is due to the hope of obtaining a defensive naval weapon which, at little expense, would enable the French coasts to be adequately protected. The French Navy Department is presided over by a Minister of Marine, a civil officer who is a member of the governmental Cabinet. Until 1902 the executive head was the chief of the naval general staff, but this was changed, and the chiefs of bureaus are directly subordinate to the Minister of Marine, the chief of the staff sinking to the level of a bureau officer. The sections or bureaus of the department are: (a) General Staff; (b) Office of the Minister of Marine; (c) Personnel; (d) Material; (c) Ordnance; (f) Submarine Defenses; (g) Hydrography; (h) Central Control (financial inspection); (i) Accounts; (j) Pensions. There are in addition six consultation or advisory boards: (a) Superior Naval Council; (b) Board of General Inspectors; (c) Council of Works; (d) Commission on Equipment; (e) Commission on Machinery and Plant; (f) Board to Classify Officers for Promotion. The principal naval arsenals (see Arsenal) are located at Cherbourg. Lorient, Brest, Rochefort, and Toulon, but there are others at Saigon (Cochin-China), Bizerta (Africa), Fort de France (West Indies), etc. By far the greater part of the executive officers are graduates of the Naval Academy at Brest, but many are now obtained from other schools, especially those promoted from the enlisted force. The men are enlisted voluntarily or drafted from the conscription maritime. The strength of the fleet is shown in the statistical table later in this article.
Germany. The navy of Germany is of comparatively recent origin. The Prussian navy and that of the North German Confederation were both weak. After the formation of the Empire a number of armored ships of importance were built, but it is only within the last dozen years that Germany began to take rank as a great naval power. From 1890 to the present the building of powerful new ships has proceeded steadily. After completing the vessels of several small building programmes, the Government in 1898 prepared a ‘sexennate’ programme, which was approved by the Reichstag. This provided for the constrtiction of 7 new battleships, 2 armored cruisers, and 5 small cruisers, besides replacing vessels which had become antiquated. The bill laid down the principle that the life of a battleship and of a coast-defense ship should be considered as twenty-five years, that of a large cruiser as twenty years, and of a small cruiser as fifteen years; after which times the vessels are to be considered as antiquated and replaced. In 1900 a much more comprehensive law was passed. This provided that not later than 1916 the German fleet should consist of 38 battleships, 20 large cruisers, 45 small cruisers, and 16 divisions of torpedo boats. Should the finances of the Government permit, the programme will be completed earlier than 1916, and it now seems probable that this will be the case. In 1902 the Government also proposed to ask legislative authority to construct two battleships, five cruisers, and a torpedo division (six boats) in excess of the programme provisions. In 1889 the administration of the German navy was reorganized; all matters connected with personnel, command of the fleet, mobilization, strategy, tactics, etc., were placed under the Oberkommando, and all matters connected with construction, dockyards, and materiel were put under the Reichsmarineamt. The Oberkommando was presided over by the commanding admiral of the navy, and the Reichsmarineamt by a vice-admiral acting as Naval Secretary of State under the Chancellor of the Empire. The two sections were wholly disconnected and were brought into harmony with each other by the Marine Cabinet acting advisory to the Emperor. In 1899 this organization was changed. The title of Oberkommando was changed to Admiralstab, and the office of Oberkommandant or commanding ollicer of the navy, abolished. Additional authority was given the Reichsmarineamt, and the Emperor and his advisers in the Naval Cabinet exercised direct control of naval affairs.
The Imperial naval arsenals are at Kiel, Wilhelmshavn, and Danzig; the Naval School and Naval Academy are at Kiel. The composition of the fleet is given in the comparative tables further on.
Great Britain. The British navy has been the most powerful navy in the world for three centuries, and it is to-day more than equal to the combined forces of any two Powers—probably equal to any four in actual warfare, as allied forces never can develop their full strength from lack of one supreme directing authority. The Naval Department is administered by the Board of Admiralty of six persons, consisting of the first lord, first sea lord, second sea lord, junior sea lord, controller, and civil lord. Theoretically, the members of the board are equal in authority; practically, the first lord is supreme. He has supervision over all departments, prepares the naval budget and programme, and is responsible to Parliament for the affairs of the navy; he is therefore necessarily a member of Parliament. The first sea lord (a flag officer) has charge of movements of the fleet, detail of executive officers, discipline, naval intelligence, deputy adjutant-general of marines, gunnery training establishments, naval reserves, hydrographic office, etc. The second sea lord (a flag officer) has charge of the intelligence department as far as it affects mobilization, manning the navy, training schools for boys, engineer officers, personnel of naval reserves, etc. The junior sea lord (usually a flag officer) has charge of transports, medical department, coal for the fleet, certain officers' allowances, chaplains, and naval instructors, and the intelligence department as regards mobilization so far as it affects the preceding. The controller (a flag officer) has charge of naval construction, dockyards, ordnance material, stores (except coal for fleet), and expense accounts. The civil lord has charge of naval works, general accounts, Greenwich Hospital, civil personnel. The first lord is assisted by the financial secretary and the permanent secretary. The former deals with all financial questions, assisted by the accountant-general and the director of navy contracts, the latter being also under the superintending lords as regards purchases made for their several departments. The financial secretary is a member of Parliament and of the party in power, and through him all Parliamentary statements are made in the House of Commons, unless the first lord be a member of that House. The permanent secretary superintends all correspondence in the
