The leading nations of the world have great fleets of war vessels to protect themselves from enemies. The most powerful fleet in the world is the British navy. Great Britain is an island country with many colonies in distant seas. The country, therefore, depends on her battle fleet to protect her possessions, and to keep enemies from molesting her shipping, or from invading the country. The United States is in a somewhat similar position. Our country is not an island country. But we expect no serious difficulties with either of our two neighbors, Canada and Mexico. If the United States has war with a power as strong as itself, this war will be with a nation across the seas. For that reason we have built, and are building, powerful ships of war. The backbone of a fighting fleet is its battleships. These ships are armed with heavy guns that have a fighting range of 10 to 15 miles. Battle cruisers are the speedy vessels especially fitted to prey upon enemy commerce. Destroyers make it their business to watch for submarines, and to protect the battleships from submarine attacks. The submarine is the most recent, and in many ways, the most remarkable vessel afloat. It can travel long distances under the water, can come to the surface at will, and can submerge in a very brief time. It is equipped with a periscope (pr´ -skp), through which observations on the surface of the water can be taken, without the submarine coming entirely to surface. Many submarines are equipped with guns, but their chief weapon is the torpedo. In the Great European War, Germany used submarines to attack enemy fleets and to destroy commerce. Keystone ID: 16667 Note: All titles, descriptions, and location coordinates are from the original Keystone Slide documentation as supplied by the Keystone View Company. No text has been edited or changed.