This sort of information has been available on the Royal Navy throughout the period I'm interested in. There were several ways of obtaining such information. The simplest was to buy one of the many almanacs of combat ships. These started to become available in the 1890s. At first, these were created by enthusiasts - the premier English language one, Jane's Fighting Ships, was set up by an artist and enthusiastic wargamer, who wanted a catalogue of ships to aid his gaming. Brassey's Naval Annual, more prevalent in the early 1900s, was set up in 1887 by an industrialist and avid sailor, who wanted to collate information on naval subjects for his own interest. Someone with more time on their hands could go to the sources used by these books - Parliamentary naval estimates, official Admiralty publications and the like. There were also relatively frequent fleet reviews, where ships would gather for inspection by a significant figure. In the UK, fleet reviews were carried out at Spithead, by the reigning monarch. These were well-attended occasions, almost tourist attractions. They were full of pomp and pageantry, and were well-reported in the press. From the late 1920s, they would be broadcast live on radio (with an unfortunate incident in 1937, where the BBC reporter giving the commentary, an ex-naval officer, was rather drunk).