Paul DISLÈRE (1840-1928) naval engineer. L.A.S., Stockholm September 21, 1876, to an admiral; 4pages in-8 filled with small, tight handwriting. Long letter about his mission in the ports of northern Europe."So far everything has succeeded far beyond my expectations and I have been able to gather documents which I believe to be interesting". After Berlin, he visited Stettin, Wilhelmshaven, Bremen, Bremerhaven, Hamburg and Kiel: "I was, since the war, the first French officer to enter a German arsenal"... He gives details of "their new battleships under construction": corvettes which "are only shallow-draught coastguards for the Baltic, carrying 5 26-cm cannons firing barbette"; and "battleships built in place of coastguards [...] They have a full battleship belt and a semi-circular shield on the bow, behind which 1 305-cm Krupp gun moves on a rotating platform. [...] 5 of these gunboats are being built in Bremen [...] The characteristic point to be observed on all the warships I meet is their armament, which is stronger than ours [...] I have also seen some interesting new weapons: machine guns and regulation magazine rifles in Scandinavian navies"... Etc. He was well received in Denmark, Sweden and Norway, where he saw "some very interesting types of small ships for the coasts and fjords", and witnessed torpedo experiments... Etc.