Los Angeles herald., 1909-08-22
GERMANY SEEKS
AIR VESSELS TO
REPLACE NAVY
WHEN FOUND THE BUILDING OF
DREADNAUGHTS WILL END
GREAT STRIDES ALREADY TAKEN
AND MUCH MONEY EXPENDED
Three Huge Docks Are Being Erected
at FriederichshaVen and Fourth
Is to Be Under Way
Soon

LONDON, Aug 21-The Daily
Chronicles Berlin correspondent says:
1.-THE day on which Germany discov-
ers an efficient type of aerial cruiser
the naval rivalry between herself and
England will cease. She will abandon
the building of Dreadnaughts and will
concentrate on the construction of
aerial battleshfps At the present no
ment however neither the Zeppelin,
Gross nor Parseval has attained that
degree of perfection which would per-
NIT of its type being multiplied indef-
initely. Whether the Schultz airship
the latest on the stocks and the most
formidable rival of the Zeppelin, will
fulfil the expectations of its designer
and builder and triumphantly surpass
all others is a question for the future
to decide.
To-day the chief problem confront
ing German aerial students is to find
a dlrigible airship that will be able to
render effective military service-that
is to say, to be able to attack and de-
fend itself against an enemy. To send
a ship into the air unarmed and pro-
vided with no suitable means of offense
is simply to invite the destruction of
a valuable national asset.
Rumors Declared Absurd
One hears all sorts of absurd rumors
about armored Zeppelin cruisers.
whose "decks" are said to be bristling
with guns which can be fired not alone
horizontally, but perpendicularly. Some
writers in this respect have allowed
their imagination to run riot, over
looking the fact that guns and shells
are at present made of steel, and not
of aluminus like the hull of Zeppelin 5
ships. What would happen to an aerial
cruiser with guns mounted on her
-1r,AE
case of the Zeppelin for observation
purposes? 1t does not need much sci
entific knowledge to see that she would
be top-heavy and would in all likeli-
hood turn turtle in the air.
1.-The Zeppelin, until something bet
ter is found to replace her, stands for
the accepted model of an aerial war
ship. 1t belongs to the nation and is
guarded jealously. Unlike the Par
seval, no Zeppelin has as yet been sold
to a foreign power.
Headquarters on Lake Constance
"The Zeppelin company, in the pros
perity of which every German feels
himself directly interested, has it's
working headquarters at Manzell, on
Lake Constance half a mile or so from
the floating dock which invariably
shelters one of the completed cruisers.
At Friedrichshaven, itself under the
direction of the German government, a
large area of land has been reserved
for aerial experiments. 1t is eminent
ly adapted for the purpose, for on the
water side a thick wood screens it
alike from hostile wind and prying OBJ
servation This is one of the training
schools for the German corps of aero
stats and one of the old Zeppelins is
used as a school ship.
Three huge docks are being erected
here and n fourth ie ia follow tho
new construction, two are approaching
completion. These two give an i'm
preston of immense strength, soldity
and hugeness. one of them is large
enough to hold two Zeppelins of the
No. l type. The framework is of steel
superimposed upon a massive stone
foundation. AS in the case of the new
halo" or airship dock built at Metz
these have fireproof cellars where is
stored the reserve hydrogen and an ap-
paratus for its generation.
Docks for Housing
These docks are intended for the
housing primarily Of the new Zeppelin
model, which marks a very great ad-
vance on the counts earlier efforts in
airship building. In 1898, only eleven
years ago, he constructed his first diri-
gible. This differed little in length
from the type of today. 1t had an
aluminium framework, and was divid-
ed into compartments not unlike those
of a sea-going ship, Each of these
contained a balloon filled with hydro
gen gas The envelope was of linen and
silk mixed, covered with a chemical
preparation to render it air and water
tight over all ii measured 42O feet
with a diameter OF 38 feet.
ut was propelled by two sets of
motors acting independently of each
other Between the outer envelope and
the balloonists there circulated a cur
rent of air which served to minimize
the effect of a sudden change of tenn
perature. Zeppelin's great problem was
to lift his ship into the air and when
there to bring her down. For this
purpose he had recourse to a huge
sliding weight which he used to dis
place the center of gravity, elevating
or depressing at will the how of his
ship These are the main features
which the count has preserved in his
airships ever since, but the sliding
weight has long since disappeared, and
has been replaced by the Denard planes
or fins, the invention of a French Of
ficer
Great improvements Made
There are two sets Of these on either
side Of the Zeppelin hull, one forward,
the other aft The importance Of this
discovery can hardly be estimated.
Adapted to Zeppelins ships, it decided
the question of facile dirigibility. Since
then Zeppelin has devoted himself TO
the increasing speed and Weght-ilt-
ing power. His newest ship is 445 feet
long with a diameter Of 43 feet. 1t
has a capacity of 5000 cubic metres,
with two motors Of 220 horsepower
capable i'm an average wind Of driving
the ship at thrty-dve miles an hour.
"EXperiments have been made with 4
view Of fitting the newest dirigible with
light, quick~fring Krupp guns, but it
has hardly been success, for the ad-
ditiOnal weight Of guns and ammuni-
tion at the moment can only be COM
pensated for ty the lessening of crew
or fuel or both diminishing in either
ease her usefulness ds an engine of war.
Experts arc greatly interested in
the possibilities of an aerial torpedo
charged with ndammable gas, which
can be discharged from an airshtp
against a land force or from land
station against aerial vessels. When il
explodes the Concussiod Us terrible An
immense sheet of flame is emitted The
effect Of this in the vicinity of gas
filed envelope may be imagined,
Actual Impact Not Essential
zone Of the advantageS claimed for
this torpedo, which is the invention 0f
a German officer is that it can be 6X-
plodcd other than by impact. TO do
strOy an airship it need not necessarily
nit it. The radius of action or the
deadly engine is a wide one. For an
aerial vessel coming within its range
there would be no escape. Experiments