5-inch guns mounted on sponsons—two on the forecastle, two on the poop, and two in the waist. The _America_ is 441 feet 8 inches in length over all, 51 feet 3 inches in beam, 38 feet 5 inches in depth, draws 26 feet aft, displaces 6500 tons, has a coal capacity of 1550 tons, and develops 9000 horse-power and a maximum speed of 17 knots on a consumption of 216 tons of coal per day. She is built of steel, was launched in 1884, purchased in January, 1887, and when refitted is to do duty as a torpedo-depot and transport-vessel. Two iron cruising gun-vessels, the _Miseno_ and _Palinuro_, of 548 tons displacement, 430 horse-power, and 10 knots speed, have lately been added to the fleet. RUSSIA. Russia has shown a marked independence in policy and design. Penned in the Black Sea by treaties, and blockaded in the Baltic for nearly half the year by ice, she has sought in coast-defence vessels, fast commerce-destroyers and torpedo-vessels, the fleet best suited to her necessities. In 1864 a number of monitors, built mainly upon Ericsson’s system, were launched, and later four vessels, sea-going, ten-knot turret-ships, were constructed. These are known as the _Admiral_ class, and range in displacement from 3754 in the _Lazareff_ to 3693 in the _Tchitchachoff_. About 1871 a radical departure was made by the adoption for the Crimean defence of the _circular_ or _Popoffka_ type. As the shallow waters of this coast forbade the employment of anything normal in design except light, unarmored gun-boats, recourse was had to a structure of circular form, which with heavy weights could carry a great displacement upon a relatively small draught. Two of these batteries, the _Novgorod_ and the _Admiral Popoff_, were laid down, the dimensions of the latter being as follows: extreme diameter 121 feet, diameter of bottom 96 feet, depth of hold at centre 14 feet, extreme draught 14 feet, and displacement 3550 tons. The nominal horse-power was 640, and the number of screws six; the armament consisted of two 41-ton breech-loading guns mounted _en barbette_ 13 feet 3 inches above the water-load line, and of four smaller pieces in an unarmored breastwork. The _Novgorod_ attained on her trial eight and a half knots, and the _Popoff_ had a mean speed of eight knots.