THE 7" NAVAL TRACTOR MOUNT FIRING AT 30° ELEVATION. SEE PROFESSIONAL NOTES UNDER ORDNANCE AND GUNNERY. A NEW FRENCH CRUISER.-Reports from Paris indicate that the LamottePiquet, the nameship of a new class of light cruisers, is either completed or approaching completion. It is nearly 20 years since France launched a vessel of this type, preference having been given to large and expensive armored cruisers, which have proved very wasteful to run, and much too slow to be of value as scouts. The Lamotte-Piquet is a distinctive design, and appears to possess several points of advantage over her foreign contemporaries. She is 453 ft. in length, 454 ft. in beam, draws 161⁄2 ft., and displaces either 4100 or 4500 tons. She is fitted with Parsons turbines, driving four shafts, and has twelve Du Temple-Guyot boilers, of which eight are oil-fired. The turbines are expected to develop 42,000 horsepower, giving a speed of 32 knots. The armament comprises eight 5-inch Q. F. guns of a new model, 55 calibers in length, using an 81-lb. projectile, and so disposed as to give a broadside of six and an end-on fire of four guns, all of which have excellent arcs of fire. Unusually good protection to the gun crews is afforded by 6-inch shields, while four of the weapons are mounted in broadside casemates of the same thickness. The hull for two-thirds of its length is protected by a 2-inch belt, associated with a 34-inch deck. The Lamotte-Piquet was built at Toulon, and her two sisters at private yards. They are officially styled "conveyeurs d'escadrilles."-The Engineer 13/12. FRENCH FLEET BOUND FOR GERMAN PORTS.-Announcement was made at the Ministry of Marine to-day that a French naval division, composed of five units, of which the armored cruiser Montcalm is the flagship, is on its way to the Baltic Sea, having received orders to survey the carrying out by the Germans of the clauses of the armistice. The vessels also will visit German ports where French prisoners are assembled in order to insure their repatriation under the best possible conditions.-N. Y. Times, 23/12. FRANCE TO DOUBLE ITS MERCHANT FLEET.-According to the Paris Matin, Fernand Bouisson, Under Secretary of State for the Merchant Marine, has announced that within five years France will have merchant ships with a total capacity of 6,000,000 tons, which is double its pre-war tonnage. It is said that the greater part of the fleet will be composed of new vessels.Nautical Gazette, 11/30. FRENCH CASUALTIES AND COSTS.-The French High Commission authorizes publication of the following: [Of which 700,000 crippled and pensioned. To this figure must be added a great number of the 435,000 Frenchmen war prisoners henceforth unfit to work.] Grand total of French casualties COST OF WAR TO FRANCE 1,385.300 3,000,000 4,385,300 Expenses-$23,500,000,000 (up to December 31, 1918) GERMANY -U. S. Bulletin, 14/1. CAPTAIN PERSIUS ON GERMAN SUBMARINES.-The naval critic, Captain Persius, recently stated in the Berlin press that in 1917 only 83 submarines were constructed, while 66 were destroyed. He tells us that in April, 1917, Germany had 126 submarines and in October, 146. In February, 1918, she had 136 and in June of this year, 113. He verifies the statement of Admiral Sims that very few submarines operated at one time. In January, 1917, only 12 per cent were active, while 30 per cent were in harbor, 38 per cent under repairs and 20 per cent incapacitated. Submarine crews were insufficiently trained and distrusted the submarine, while experienced seamen looked upon the submarine warfare as a “political stupidity.”—Scientific American, 21/12. FINDS 170 U-BOATS BEING BUILT.-One hundred and seventy submarines, all under construction, were found when the Interallied Naval Commission visited Germany to make arrangements for the carrying out of the terms of the armistice, according to newspapers here. These U-boats, it is said, will be turned over to the Allies.-Wash. Evening Star, 4/1. ALLIES WILL DESTROY PARTLY BUILT U-BOATS.-New Armistice Terms Penalize German Trick-Our Commissioners go to Treves.-The four American armistice representatives left Paris to-day for Treves, where Marshal Foch is presenting the new terms to the German commission. The party consisted of Admiral William Shepherd Benson, Chief of Operations of the United States Navy; Norman H. Davis, representing the United States Treasury; Edward N. Hurley, Chairman of the American Shipping Board, and Louis P Sheldon, who will represent Herbert C. Hoover, the American Food Administrator. A report presented to the council having charge of the carrying out of the naval items of the armistice stated, according to the morning newspapers, that the Interallied Commission which visited Kiel and Wilhelmshaven discovered submarines under construction in slips, which the enemy thought would be overlooked. The report adds that the Germans contended that they were entitled to regain possession of the underwater craft. According to the report, the discoveries at Kiel and Wilhelmshaven led to the finding of other vessels, and consequently the new terms of the armistice will require the surrender of all submarines already built and the destruction of those on the ways. It is also understood that the terms for the extension of the armistice provide for the turning over of the German commerical fleet to transport troops, in exchange for food, for the restitution of material taken from France and Belgium and for full compliance with the terms of the original armistice. The economic terms approved by yesterday's session of the Supreme War Council require that Germany shall hand over to the Allies all her cargo steamers in German and other ports to enable the Allies to revictual Germany and such adjacent countries as may be decided upon. The terms also require the restitution of all manufacturing machinery, etc., taken from the invaded regions, which it is possible to identify. This was decided upon in the view that it would bring about a quicker revival of economic life than the payment of an equivalent in money.-N. Y. Times, 15/1. A REMARKABLE ZEPPELIN FLIGHT.-From Germany now comes a startling story of the trip of a Zeppelin in November, 1917, which is of considerable interest despite the fact that it is over a year old. It appears that a Zeppelin started from Bulgaria for East Africa with 22 tons of munitions and medicines and a crew of 22. It had arrived over Khartoum, in the Sudan, when it was ordered by wireless to return because it was learned that the bulk of the forces of General von Lettow Vorbeck, the German commander in East Africa, had surrendered. It returned to its starting point four days after it had left. The Germans claim that this airship could have made a round trip between Berlin and New York, without stopping. It is also learned that the Zeppelin factory at Friedrichshafen is building an airship for transatlantic traffic, capable of carrying 100 passengers. It has nine engines and eight propellers. If the international situation clears up by next summer, the first flight will probably be made in July. The flight is expected to be made in 40 hours.-Scientific American, 28/12. TO GET BATTLESHIP "BADEN."-Allies Will Receive New German Craft at British Port.-Germany's newest battleship, the Baden, will be surrendered at a British port within a few days, in accordance with the terms of the armistice, according to announcement here. The Baden has a displacement of 28,000 tons. Owing to the fact that this ship was completed after the war began, little is known as to its armament. It has been reported that ships of this class had been armed with 16.5- or 17-inch guns, but information on this point has been meager and unreliable.-N. Y. Times, 4/1. WHY THEY GAVE UP THE "-U-9."-German Crew Cared More for $125 Bonus Than for "Glorious Record."-Although Admiral Beatty, Commander of the British Grand Fleet, refrained from requiring the delivery |