_Kent_, six
of the same class as the _Antrim_, six like the _Black Prince_,
three of the same class as the _Shannon_, together with seventeen
heavily protected cruisers, of which the _Edgar_ was the prototype.
The rest of the British navy needs no detailed consideration. It
consisted at the outbreak of the war of 70 protected light cruisers,
134 destroyers, and a number of merchant ships convertible into
war vessels, together with submarines and other small ships.

The navy of France stood fourth in the list of those of the world
powers at the time the war started. There were eighteen old vessels,
built between 1894 and 1909, including the _Carnot_ class (corresponding
to the British ship _Magnificent_), the _Charlemagne, Bouvet, Suffren,
Republique_, and _Democratie_ classes. The most modern of these
types displaced no more than 14,000 tons, made no more than 18
knots, and carried primary batteries of 12-inch guns.

Some improvement was made in the six ships of the _Danton_ class
which were built in 1911 and 1912. They displaced 18,000 tons,
had armor from 9 to 12 inches thick and carried guns of 12-inch
caliber. They correspond to the British ship _Temeraire_. In 1913
and 1914 were launched the _Jean Bart, Courbet, Paris_, and _France_
of the dreadnought type, but much slower and not so heavily armed
as the British ships of the same class. In eight ships which were
incomplete when war was declared the matter of speed received greater
attention, and they are consequently faster than the older vessels of
the same type. It is in the nineteen French armored cruisers--France
has no battle cruisers--that the French showed better efforts as
builders of speedy ships, for they made 23 knots or more. In the
list of French fighting ships there are in addition two protected
cruisers, the _D'Entrecasteaux_ and the _Guichen_, together with
ten light cruisers. But the French "mosquito fleet," consisting of
destroyers, torpedo boats and submarines, is comparatively large.
Of these she had 84, 135, and 78, respectively.

After the Russo-Japanese War the battle fleets of Russia were entirely
dissipated, so that when the present conflict came she had no ships
which might have been accounted worthy aids to the navies of England
and France. In so far as is known, her heaviest ships were the
_Andrei Pervozvannyi_ and the _Imperator Pavel I_, each displacing
only 17,200 tons, and of the design of 1911.

Against these fighting naval for