Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-08-04
BATTLES IN THE AIR
German Balloon Expert Talks
of the Future.
SOME WILD PREDICTIONS
That Won't Be Realized for Years,
He Says.
AIR ATTACKS ON VESSELS
Balloon Fleet Couldn't Possibly
Transport an Army Of Men.
Limitations of Field.
AIR ATTACKS ON VESSELS
Special Cablegram to The Star.

BERLIN August 4.-Maj. Gross the
officer of the German military airship de-
partment and the inventor of the semi
| rigid aerial vessel which bears his name.
| has given the following statement regard
| ing the practical uses of airships for pur-
poses of war. His exposition Of the part
airships may play in wars Of the future
reveals the great Importance which Ger
man military experts attach to the new
weapon. At the same time 1t serves to
explode certain exaggerated theories free
| ly eXpounded by alarmists since Count
| Zeppelin's vessel succeeded in flying over
the Alps. Discussing the question whether
arships can be employed for aggressive
| purposes in war at sea and on land or
only for scouting work. Maj. Gross said:
| Il am convinced that the airship will,
for the present. be primarily used for
| scouting and observing the enemy's posi-
ton or movements. and only secondarily
for attacking the enemy by dropping ex-
| plosives. 1T is true the French. from
the very beginning, have designed their
arships with the intention of dropping
| explosives from them. and 1t cannot be
| denied that experiments undertaken to
| test the possibility of using them for this
| purpose have been very successful.
Explosives have been dropped from
| French airships upon batteries which
| in cases in which airships can aim at
large objects, such as large bodies of
troops whole forts or big battleships. no
great difficulty will be experienced in hit
ting the object OF attack.
Hitting the Target.
I'm the case of smaller targets. such as
battery of artillery. 1t seems to me the
probability of hitting the mark is consid
erably less. though 1 do not deny that air
ships can be Unanswered in such a way
as to remain stationary over any given
object
"Airships cannot at present carry explo-
sives weighing more than $50 pounds. so
that the damage each aerial vessel could
inflict would be strictly limited.
Il do not think modern battleship
could be put hors de combat by explosives
which one airship would be able to carry:
Even II the aim from the airship should
the best it will be considerably more diff
cult to take aim from an airship than on
a warship or on land.
LAS soon as airships begin attacking
warships afioat," added Maj. Gross, bat
tleships will be built with decks sufficient
ly armored to protect them from such at
tacks. and armed with guns capable of
firing vertically or in any other direction
The idea that it would be possible to
destroy an entire fleet by flotilla of air
ships is pure imagination. At the same
time one must remember that attacks
from airships will demoralize those at
tackled. who at first will have the feeling
of being unable to protect themselves
| from the mysterious foe in the clouds.
Not Too Fast, Please.
Maj. Gross proceeded to discuss the
question whether the present development
of aerial navigation justities the theory
tina. Great Britain has already ceased to
be an island. He expressed the opinion
that this is not the case. saying: AT
pre- sent no airship has travelled continu-
ously more than go miles. and no airship
has proved that II can sail safely In
strong wind IT will be long time before
airships can face any weather and travel
with perfect security for long distances.
and they will not be used for oversee ex-
anteed. at present airships could be ef-
fectively used in attacking blockading
feet by sudden raids from land Airships
will be used in warfare on land before
they are used at sea-
Maj. Gross went on to say that the
German government would construct an
aeria, fleet containing different types of
airships. large and small. to be used for
different purposes just as navy consists
of battleships, cruisers and torpedo craft.
each with it's own functions. The large
Zeppelin airship is useful for some pur-
poses but useless for other work. which
could be better performed by the Parsival
| airship. Perhaps other new types of air
purposes as well.
Discussing the weight which airshps
will be able to carry. Maj. Gross pointed
out that the Zeppelin type bears the
heaviest load owing to its great size. but
is comparatively less favorable in this
respect than the unngid Parsival type.
The Zeppelin airship In its present size
only carries twelve persons besides the
|
sci and tend the motors. Maj. Gross
added:
Could Not Garry Army.
1T is thus evident that it is abso-
lutely impossible to transport large
bodies of troops from Germany to Eng
land by airships. for at present it ap-
pears impossible to build aerial vessels
larger than the Zeppelin type. True. it
is theoretically possible to construct
much larger airships on the same lines.
but 1t is doubtful whether they are
actually practical. 1t appears probable
that Count Zeppelin has already reach
ed the limit of size for airships which
can be used for practical purposes. So
far as we can see at present, airships
will never be able to compete with the
present means of transport" Maj Gross
explained that large airships like the
Zeppelin model are a disadvantage be-
transported by conveyance from place
to place. If Count Zeppelin lands any,
where he can only reach another des-
tination through the air. Smaller air
ships like the Parsival or Gross type,
can be transported from place to place
with facility.
Discussing the cost of modern air
ships Maj. Gross said:
THE French airship Patrie cost $780,
600. Count Zeppelin's new model cost
$3.50, 900. The Parsival airship of 1867
900 cubic feet cost $4,000 I cannot
divulge the cost of airships belonging
to the German war ONCE" Mai Gross
discussed another interesting question
regarding the height at which airships
would be compelled to operate in order
to escape hostile artillery He said:
I'VE assume that guns as they exist at
present cannot hit an airship sailing at
a height of 5000 feet. so that airships
must be able to reach this height in
order to avoid danger.