England's New Fleet in the North Sea.
NEXT year, 1909, there will be passed into commission in the English "Home Fleet," the "Bellerophon," "Temeraire," and "Superb," improved "Dreadnaughts," the cruiser battle-ship "Indomitable," with her two sisters, the "Invincible" and the "Inflexible," with an armored cruiser of the type immediately preceding the "Indomitable," the "Defense," and the "Lord Nelson," a sister ship of the "Agamemnon." This will mean a complete reorganization of the fleet, which will then consist of twelve absolutely modern units, only two of which, the "Lord Nelson" and the "Agamemnon," will have a speed of less than twenty-one knots. It will be further notable as the only fleet in the world in which no fighting gun of less than six-inch caliber will be mounted. What will be Germany's answer to this?