artment, or captain of the fleet reserve, the directors of
ordnance, torpedoes, navigation, naval construction, engineering and
harbour works, with some other officers. The chiefs of the
constructive and engineering departments are responsible for the
building of ships and machinery, and for the maintenance of the hulls
and machinery of existing vessels; while the works department has
charge of all work on the quays, docks, &c., in the dockyard and port.
A great advance has been made in increasing the efficiency and
capabilities of the imperial dockyards by introducing a system of
continuous work in the building of new ships and effecting alterations
in others, and German material is exclusively used. The Schichau Works
at Elbing and Danzig, the Vulkan Yard at Bredow, near Stettin, the
Weser Company at Bremen, and the establishment of Blohm and Voss at
Hamburg, are important establishments which have built many vessels
for the German navy, as well as for foreign states.

_Italy._--The principal Italian state dockyards are Spezia, Naples and
Venice, the first named being by far the most important. It covers an
area, including the water spaces, of 629 acres, and there are five dry
docks, three being 433 ft. long and 105 ft. wide, and two 361 ft. long
and 98 ft. 6 in. wide. The dockyard is very completely equipped with
machinery of the best British, German and Italian makes, and it has
built several of the finest Italian ships. The number of hands
employed in the yard averages 4000. There are two building slips, and
for smaller vessels there are two in the neighbouring establishment of
San Bartolommeo (which is the headquarters for submarine mining), and
one at San Vito, where is a Government gun factory. Castellammare di
Stabia is subsidiary to Naples. A large dry dock has been built at
Taranto. There is a small naval establishment at Maddalena Island on
the Strait of Bonifacio. The Italian Government has no gun or torpedo
factories, nearly all the ordnance coming from the Armstrong factory
at Pozzuoli near Naples, and the torpedoes from the Schwarzkopf
factory at Venice, while armour-plates are produced at the important
works at Terni. Machinery is supplied by the firms of Ansaldo, Odero,
Orlando, Guppy & Hawthorn and Pattison. The three establishments
first named have important shipbuilding yards, and have constructed
vessels for the Italian and foreig