PORTUGESE ARMY AND NAVY.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 1527, 25 March 1916, Page 4

PORTUGESE ARMY AND NAVY.

The latest to join the allies, Portugal, is not a great naval or military nation. As far as her warships are concerned they are all out of date, and as a fighting force need not be reckoned with. The navy consists of the battleship Vasco di Gama, 3030 tons ; four protected cruisers, Almirante Reis 4253 tons ; Sao Gabriel, 1840 tons; Adamastor. 1757 tons: and Republica, 1656 tons; several old gunboats, four very old torpedoboats, some transports, three training ships, turee destroyers, four torpedo-boats, three submarines, of an old pattern, and one steamer for torpedo and mine service. On the East Coast of Africa, guarding their province of Mozambique, the Portiguese generally keep a small fleet of warships. The Adamastor, the flagship, was originally a private yacht. Only a year or two ago she visited Australia. Another boat of their East Coast fleet was the Alphonse D’Albuquerque, a brigantine-rigged, auxiliary steam vessel. Another gunboat in the Portugues East Coast fleet is the Cbimete, originally a paddlewheel tugboat, which was transformed into a gunboat with fighting tops. , The Portuguese army is purely a militia one, raised by conscription. It has three stages —the -active army, the reserve, and the territorial. All males from the age of 17 to 45 may be called up, but practically service does not start until a man’s 20th year. He has to serve 10 years in the active army, ten in the reserve, and five in the territorial. The country is divided into three territorial -districts, each supposed to provide a division. The active army consists of 35 regiments each ot three battalions; eleven cavalry regiments of six squadrons; eight field artillery regiments, comprising 63 batteries; two horse batteries, nine mountain batteries, 20 garrison batteries, and the usual units of engineers, army service, and medical corps. The batteries are only armed with 4in guns. The war footing of the army is 150,000 men, There is also the Republican Guard and the Fiscal Guard. These are civil corps, which in war time are incorporated with the regular army. The former is 8000 strong and the latter 5300 strong. The infantry is armed with tbe Mauser-Verguciro magazine rifle with a calibre of 6.5 mm. Two regiments of infantry are permanently stationed at the Azores and one at Madeira, with Funchal as Us headquarters. The Portuguese also maintain a colonial army, made up partly of Portuguese and natives in East Africa, West Africa, and India.