Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-12-12
SAYS2OO A|RSH|PS
ARE NAW'S NEED
Chief Bristol of United States
Aeronautical Bureau
Presents Plans.
GIVES HOUSE COMMITTEE
OTHER RECOMMENDATIONS
Declares That Aircraft Equipment Is
an Essential Part of the Ma
tional Defense.

Two hundred naval aircraft-100 for
active service and 100 to be held In
reserve-are urgently needed by the
United States Navy in it's plans for
national defense. as outlined in recon-
mendations of Capt. Mark L. Bristol.
chief of the aeronautical bureau of
the Navy Department, to the House
naval committee, made public today
Capt BristoTs lamentations are
contained in supplemental statement
laid before the committee. Other testl-
mony of Capt Bristol already has been
made public.
II would require an appropriation OF
100000 to bring the aeronautlcal
branch of the navy up TO the proper
standard of efficiency. Capt Br1stoi
told the committee Its purposes he
described as follows:
THE air navy of the United States
must consist of aeroplanes, semi-rigtd
or noD-rigid airships-the destroyer.
cruiser and battleships of the arr. re-
spectively. The aeroplane VIII pc useo
for scouting to discover the enemy
feet especially submarines ana mines,
and to attack the -dirigibles and aero
planes of the enemy.
Torpedo Boat of the Air.
TT is the torpedo boat of the air
against the airship cruisers and bat
tleships Having discovered the sub
marines and mines. it directs the air
cruisers TO attack these craft and to
countermne, and at the same time pro-
tects the cruisers from the enemy's
aircraft. The. air cruisers also will lay
mines. probably will be used to drop
aerial torpedoes on the surface ships
of the enemy and be utilized over land
for reconna iSsance and dropping bonn BIS.
"
put in war will be better known after
the European war. 1t seems that the
air navy will be just as essential a
the battleships and submarines. The
front of our feet in action has now be-
come a vertical plant. with submarines
and mines beneath the surface, battle
ships, cruisers and destroyers on the
surface and aircraft in the air. To be
successful against any enemy the
country must have command of the air
'he same as command of the sea.
Airship to Detect Submarines.
Any nation that has suitable air
c-aft could detect submarines" he
added. The aeroplane can see sub
marines and mines very plainly. guide
the dirigible to them, which can de-
scend close to the water. drop high ex-
plosives to countermine the mines or
destroy the submarines. We can pick
UP the mines at their usual depth,
even follow the anchor line of the mine
down to considerable depth below
the mine. The subma rine, If 1T comes
to the surface. would be attacked by
the surface craft. The submarine could
dive deep only for limited time, but
must come up and show the perfscope
to get its bearings.
"A bomb dropped upon it should not
be arranged to explode until beneath
the water. If, say, 200 pounds of high
II ay1h
marine not submerged more than thirty
or forty feet, even to the extent of dis
ablins it. or it might destroy the
periscope. The periscope is often dis
covered by the wash 1T makes. One
could see a submarine so to 100 feet
in clear water"