ces of the allied powers were ranged
the navies of Germany and Austria-Hungary. The former had, at the
outbreak of hostilities, 36 battleships, 5 battle cruisers, 9 armored
cruisers, and 43 cruisers. Instead of giving attention to torpedo boats
she gave it to destroyers, of which she had 130. And of submarines
she had 27.

In detail her naval forces consisted, first, of the _Kaiser Friedrich
III, Kaiser Karl der Grosse, Kaiser Barbarossa, Kaiser Wilhelm
II_, and _Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse_, all built as a result of
the first agitation of Von Tirpitz, between the years 1898 and
1901. They each displaced 10,614 tons, had a speed of 18 knots,
required 13,000 horsepower, were protected with from 10 to 12 inches
of armor, and carried four 9.4-inch guns, fourteen of 5.9 inches,
twelve of 3.4-inches, and twenty of smaller measurement. Roughly
they corresponded to the British ships of the _Canopus_ class,
both in design and time of launching.

Following this class came that of the _Wittelsbach_, including
also the _Wettin, Zaehringen, Mecklenburg_, and _Schwaben_, built
between 1901 and 1903, displacing 11,643 tons, making 18 knots,
protected with from 9 to 10 inches of armor and carrying a primary
battery of four 9.4-inch guns, eighteen 5.9-inch guns, and a large
secondary battery. The similar type in the British navy was the
_Canopus_--for England was far ahead of Germany, both in the matter
of displacement and primary battery. During the same years England
had launched ships of the type of the _Implacable_.

In 1904 came the German ships _Hessen, Elsass_, and _Braunschweig_,
and in 1905 and 1906 the _Preussen_ and _Lothringen_. They were
well behind the English ships of the same years, for they displaced
only 12,097 tons, made 18 knots, carried armor of from 9 to 10
inches in thickness, and a primary battery of four 11-inch guns,
fourteen 6.7-inch guns, and twelve 3.4-inch guns, together with
rapid firers and other guns in a secondary battery. England at
this time was putting 12-inch guns in the primary battery of such
ships as the _King Edward VII_.

Still Germany kept up the race, and in 1906, 1907, and 1908 launched
the _Hannover, Deutschland, Schlesien, Schleswig-Holstein_, and
_Pommern_, with 12,997 tons displacement, 16,000 horsepower, a speed
of 18 knots, and only ll-inch guns in the primary batteries. Whereas
England, at the same time, was building ships of the dreadnought
type.

Next came four ships of the _