The Salt Lake herald-Republican. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1909-1918, 1910-08-07
AERIAL CRAFT NOT
DANGEROUS IN WAR
As at Present Built Cannot Be
Used by Either Army
or Navy.
VIEW OF NAVAL OFFICER
rs NECESSARY, HOWEVER, TO
KEEP ON EXPERIMENTING.
- sIDNEY ESPEY-

e. kinds of aerial craft. as at present
built. are OF absolutely no practical
use TO either the army or the navy Of
the United States"
This is q direct quotation of one Of
the highest naval officers OF the line
at present on duty IN Washington. Al
though a keen enthusiast over aerial
navigation, as applied 70 the military
branches Of the government his prac-
teal ideas have led him 10 make an
unofficial statement which, il IS stated,
is the consensus OF opinion OF both
army and naval officials For obvious
reasons he viii not allow his name 10
be mentioned. AS the United states
cannot afford TO drop behind other ma
tons in experimenting with various
means of Offense and defense, expert
Inents VIII continue 10 be made IN both
branches OF the service. 1t is the hope
that the aerial craft Will ultimately
become Of great value to these
branches, as il is pointed out that both
the army and the navy need an ef-
ictent scouting corps, capable of OBJ
tanning advance information OF an
enemy's movements. For this pur-
nose, il is said, airships would be of
great advantage and experiments so
Tar conducted have been made along
these lines.
Bomb-thrOwing from craft that sail
IN the air, has il is said been rather
more spectacular than practical Quick
starts, high flying and long distance
lying have not demonstrated the eff |
nciency Of the craft from a military
standpoint. The only lessons drawn /
from the airships' maneuYers, it is !
said, is that in some instances they |
might be used as scouts. This is par
ucularly true in the army, for here.
Is ha al D. in
have a much wider scope Of duty and |
efficiency. In the navy, however, the /
alrshlp as Well as the balloon has a |
restricted use and viii not be adopted /
into general use for years TO come, or /
until some other inventions are pat /
ented which viii revOlutiOniZe the art /
Damage Would Not Be Vital.
one OF the experiments upon which /
naval officers have based their opin-
Ions Is the one conducted some time /
ago by various aViatOrs Of throwing /
bombs from the air upon naval yes
sells. Usually, IL is said, that the air
craft sailed at about 500 feet from the
obJectand dropped the bombs. AT 800
feet the heaviest gun carried by any
Warship could put flying machine out
OF business. Taken Tor granted that
bombs could be thrown with some ae-
curaey OF aim, the damage inflicted
upon a modern Warship, or even 4 lit
tie torpedo boat, il is said would only
amount 10 local matter. But pur-
suing their line of reasoning just a bit
further, officers say that an airship, to
DE of any value in war, would have to-
Ty at least 1900 feet above the sea
level, to get out of the range Of guns
If they wanted TO inflict any damage on
an enemy AT this altitude bomb
dropping would be the merest Of guess
an MI
alrshlps would not be able TO find the
range of an enemy.
In the navy gunnery is, to a certain
extent, guesswOrk. Range finding is
obtained by firing preliminary she'll
The splash that necessarily follows in
dlcate 10 the officers the distance of
the object and the second shot is usual
ly placed where it is intended
Accuracy Impossible.
With airships. however, sailing at
a height of $500 feet, and firing or
dropping small bomb, its mark could
not be distinguished by the aviator.
and he consequently would have moth
ing 10 Indicate 10 him where his mis-
slle has fallen. Hence his accuracy
would necessarily suffer. In the army.
however. IL Is said, his craftsmanship
would be better, but the damage in
uicted would be very little.
4 % AA--lAt A44E a4AHlllD "a tELLHr means
or defense, range instruments would s
have 70 be carried by the aviator and. | /
besides, an extra passenger for the
purpose OF determining exactly what I
damage the airship could nhict. ,
IL is also pointed out that men 4
skilled In the art OF navigating a shin
ana or gunneryr or rather bomb throw 1 fl
Ing. would have to be employed. Even S
with an efficient crew the results as
Obtained hgr | 7
would De approximately small either =
III the army or the navy. A
IN the army Few men would be
Killed every once in q while" one OF D
the oId-Ine officers remarked. A gun
would be smashed here or there. or a
perhaps a part of a defense would be "
torn apart but do you think cor one =,
minute that any atrship with a ship Il
iun or small explosive bombs could
seriously cripple an army? / think not. IT
but we can't AFFORD To do away with d
these experiments. as they might lead
TO other valuable things necessary 10 a
an army's equipment" ~
Some Enthusiasts.
on the other hand, officers of both =
the army and the navy, who have been "
actual participants in the demon 1.
STATIONS that have been conducted.
are very enthusiastic over the newt
means Of carrying on warfare Theyl
point out that the air craft Will mean
The reVOlutionizing OF the art Of war. n
War hereafter, il is expected, will be l.
carried on largely between aerial NJ
fleets, and the effectiveness OF the ei
navy and the army will depend largely -,
IN what is accomplished between rival
iirships. These officers say that air "
ships can travel way out OF range OF 81
my OF the guns nov supplied to either us
branch of the military arm OF the gov ".
.rnmenL carry sufficient ammunition OF
md FIRE straight enough 10 wreck III
.ither a warship or a fort Whether m
viii be possible 10 so cripple an army "
Orps or not is a fact, they say that
an only be demonstrated by actual sa
lOstilities. Notwithstanding the d. "
'ersified opinion that exists between ,"
Xperts OF both the navy and thei en-
rmy, experiments viii continue to be to
Onducted by the respective branches.
nd in time it may be the intention OF nc
20 a a. ! "