Thanks for your questions regarding the pre-dreadnought tactical system
in GREAT WHITE FLEET. 

You asked about how the French predreadnought fleet might be evaluated
for combat purposes. This is a good -- and tough -- question, because
(unlike the U.S, Spanish, Japanese and Russian navies) there is no
historical wartime performance to make this evaluation. 

This is my own personal view of how to make other navies should be
rated. First, the British at this time were the preeminent fleet in
terms of training, gunnery and overall operations. The U.S. consciously
emulated the British fleet and adopted many of its scientific gunnery
principles. I would have the British fire on the U.S. table, with the
following change. Treat column 4 as P*. 

As for the German fleet, I believe that it improved in quality during
the period 1890 to 1905, but I also believe that the German fleet of
1905 was nowhere near as good as the German fleet of 1915. I would have
the Germans fire on the "Japanese" table with the following changes.
Change column 1 to "Dud", and change column 3 to "S". 

The French fleet of the 1880s had a good reputation. I believe that it
declined during the predreadnought era. I would rate them like the
Germans in scenarios closer to 1890. In scenarios nearer to 1905, I
would change columns 1 and 2 to "Dud" and Column 3 to "S". I would rate
other European fleets (e.g. Italy and Austria) similarly: i.e. use the
Japanese table, but change columns 1 and 2 to "Dud" and Column 3 to "S".

As the designer, I tried to make the U.S., Spanish, Russian and Japanese
tables correlate closely to historical performance. Applying the system
to other fleets involves a considerable amount of guesswork, but I
figured you'd appreciate my own view. 

Best regards,
Karl Laskas