The largest ships in the German navy which were launched, fitted, and manned at the time that the war began, were those which were built in 1914 and which had a displacement of 26,575 tons. These ships were the _Koenig, Grosser Kurfuerst_, and the _Markgraf_. The corresponding type in the British navy was that of the _Iron Duke_, built in the same year. The British ships of this class were 1,000 tons lighter in displacement, a bit faster--making 22.5 knots to the 22 knots made by the German ships--and their armament was not so strong as that of the German type, for the German ships carried ten 14-inch guns, whereas the English carried ten 13.5-inch guns. In addition to these first-class battleships, Germany had certain others, individual in type, such as the _Von der Tann, Moltke, Goeben, Seydlitz, Derfflinger, Fuerst Bismarck, Prinz Heinrich, Prinz Adalbert, Roon_ and _Yorck, Scharnhorst_ and _Gneisenau, Bluecher, Magdeburg, Strassburg, Breslau, Stralsund, Rostock_, and _Karlsruhe_. These may be reckoned as scout cruisers, for they showed much speed, the fastest making 30 knots and the slowest 19 knots. The oldest dates from 1900, and the newest from 1914. Germany had, also, thirty-nine more fast protected cruisers which were designed for scout duty. In destroyers she was well equipped, having 143 ready for service when war was declared. Her twenty-seven submarines were of the most improved type, and much about their construction and armament she was able to keep secret from the rest of the world. It is probable that even their number was greater than the intelligence departments of foreign navies suspected. The best type had a speed on the surface of 18 knots and could travel at 12 knots when submerged. The type known as _E-21_, of the design of 1914, measured 213 feet 8 inches in length and had a beam of 20 feet. Austria, though not renowned for her naval strength, had certain units which brought up the power of the Teutonic powers considerably. She had nine first-class battleships, the _Erzherzog Karl, Erzherzog Ferdinand Max, Erzherzog Friedrich, Zrinyi, Radetzky, Erzherzog Franz Ferdinand, Teggethoff, Prinz Eugen_, and _Viribus Unitis_. These, at the time Austria went to war, ranged in age from nine years to one year, and varied in displacement from 10,000 tons to 20,000 tons. The largest guns carried by any of them measured 12 inches, and the fastest, the _Prinz Eugen_, made 20 knots. Of secondary importance were the battleships _Kaiserin Maria Theresia, Kaiser Karl VI_, and _St. Georg_. The register of battleships was supplemented with ten light cruisers of exceptionally light displacement, the highest being only 3,966 tons. Scouting was their chief function. Austria had, also, 18 destroyers, 63 torpedo boats, and 6 submarines.