ig_,
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 11-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 _Vanguard_ class--the _Westfaelen_, _Nassau_,
_Rheinland_, and _Posen_, built in 1909 and 1910. Their heaviest guns
measured 11 inches, while those of the English ships of the same class
measured 12 inches. The displacement of these German fighting ships was
18,600 tons. In point of speed they showed some improvement over the
older German ships, making 19.5 knots. Germany, like England, was now
committed to the building of larger and larger ships of the line. The
_Helgoland_, _Thueringen_, _Oldenburg_, and _Ostfriesland_, which were
put into the water in 1911 and 1912, were consequently of 22,400 tons
displacement, with a speed of 20.5 knots and carrying twelve 12-inch
guns, fourteen 5.9-inch rapid-fire guns, fourteen 3.9-inch rapid-fire
guns, a few smaller guns, and as many as six torpedo tubes.

While England was maintaining her "two to three" policy, and while the
United States stood committed to the building of two first-class
battleships a year, Germany, in 1913, put five of them into the water.
These were the _Koenig Albert_, _Prinz Regent Luitpold_, _Kaiserin_,
_Kaiser_, and _Friedrich der Grosse_, each capable of speeding through
the water at a rate of 21 knots, displacing 23,310 tons and carrying an
armament of ten 12-inch guns, fourteen 5.9-inch guns, and a large number
of rapid-fire guns of smaller measurement. Their armor was quite heavy,
being 13 inches thick on the side and 11 inches thick where protection
for the big guns was needed.

The largest ships in the German navy which were launched, fitted, and
manned at the time that the war began, were thos