T

HE greatest naval demonstration in the world's

history, and the assembling of the biggest armada of warships ever seen on any sea, will take place when the 51 fighting ships of the Pacific fleet, now moving, meet off San Francisco. The great fleet that sailed the English Channel at the Jubilee of Queen Victoria could not stand up against it.

The fleet that dotted Oyster Bay when Roosevelt reviewed his fighting arm numbered but 35 ships. The rendezvous at Hampton Roads, when the great nations of the earth sent representative ships, numbered 38 American vessels and 12 foreign ships.

ugly, but fighting, monitors, will also rendezvous off the Golden Gate.

When all shall have come together off San Francisco there will be a fleet of 51 fighting machines. To this aggregation will be added a fleet of coal colliers, supply, repair and water vessels, making a total of about 70 defenders of the nation. The United States Navy now is the second naval power in the world. Only England has a greater fleet. Of necessity, the English ships must remain scattered among her dominions, on which the sun never sets.

Placed end to end, with bows and sterns touching, the ships would make a boulevard of steel along which one might walk four miles. Strung out at anchor in single file, the fleet would stretch away for 10 miles, which is nearly as far as the eye can reach at sea, and with the farthest ships hull down on the horizon. Anchored four abreast for a review, the four lines would stretch away for two and a half miles each.

In fact, the administration is sending its entire fighting strength to the Pacific. There will not be a battleship or an armored cruiser on the Atlantic Coast, nothing but gunboats and torpedo boats being left in the East. The sixteen battleships making the voyage cost over $99,000,000, and are manned by over 15,000 men and 725 officers.

Manning the Pacific fleet are 30,000 officers and seamen. Were they formed into a parade the line would require four hours' time to pass a given point. As militia they would make 30 regiments of

The publication of the fact that during target practice on the British Channel fleet, in the presence of King Edward, one gun made 19 hits in 21 shots, thereby earning a decoration from the King, naturally touched the pride of American naval officers. They

have looked into the records of the American gun pointers and have found no reason to fear a comparison with the gunners of any other navy.

Taking some of the six-inch guns in the Atlantic Fleet, one gunner on the armored cruiser Maryland made 11 shots and 11 hits in one minute. A gun on the battleship Ohio was fired with a perfect score at the rate of 10.81 a minute. A six-inch gun on the battleship Maine has a record of perfect

score at the rate of 10.41 a minute, and the battleship Missouri's best record was 10.30 shots a minute, each lodged in a target.

But in the way of small guns, these sixinch records become insignificant. A threepounder on the battleship Virginia made 20 shots and 20 hits in 75 seconds. Another gun made 10 shots and 10 hits in 22 seconds, a remarkable average of 26.67 shots and hits a minute.

The battleship Illinois, that holds the target record of the navy at the present writing, made a per cent. of 75.782 in using all guns. The crew of the after turret on the Alabama has made 11 straight hits with the 13-inch guns.

The voyage will cost Uncle Sam millions. It will take 253,000 tons of coal to get only the battleships and torpedo-boat destroyers around to the Golden Gate. The cruise will take four months' time and the coal bill will be $2,000,000. To this must be added the bill for four months' maneuvering of a fleet of 51 ships on the Pacific, which will mean $3,000,000 more. Then it will require $2,000,000 additional fuel and four months' time to get the fleet back into the Atlantic, making a total of $7,000,000 for fuel for the year to be devoted to the cruise and sea tactics. The navy department has contracted to have mountains of coal at these stopping places.

Trinidad, West Indies. Rio Janeiro, Brazil..

TONS

7,000

6,000

50,000

60,000

.80,000

Punta Arenas, near Cape Horn....40,000 Callao, Peru