The Washington herald., 1917-03-05
Army and Navy New.
snest Service Calumn o. 1Cffy.


The War Department IL confronted by
the problem Of distributing to the best
advantage the frst instaliment OF anti
aircraft gums being acquired under con-
tract. The Department has called upon
department commanders In this country
and officers on the Canal Zone. IN Ha-
wall and In the Philippines for reports
Btating. for each locality. what tar
gets probably would exist there for the
aircraft. and the relative Importance Of
such targets. -
It Is contemplated to install 1so Of
these guns in continental limits, and there
will be eight guns for the Canal Zone,
II for the insular Possessions. It has
been decided by the board of review
that there shall be two types of these
guns, one on fixed and the other on
movable mounts, and It is In this con-
nection that the department command
ers have been Informed. OF the princi-
pies that should govern the selection Of
the type and the grouping Of guns, and
have been called upon for recommenda-
tions.
1t is appreciated that there will be
some difficulty in reaching a conclusion
In many instances, especially in the Ca
nal Zone. where it: may be a serious
question whether the anti-aircraft guns
should be used for the protection Of the
tihcadons. In some places, It may be
necessary to construct parapets. There
would be no parapets required for any
guns for the protection of the locks;
the plan there provides simply for con-
cealment. For the protection Of the bat
teries on Toro Point. for example. the
land is very rugged and broken. and
the guns would be hidden in the jungle.
So far as Is known now, the only in
sta Dha ha -,
build q parapet is at Fort Delaware.
where there is no point on Peapatch
Island that would not be likely to be
hit by an attacking fleet
The Navy Department has spent about
10000 in experiments and a full inquiry
into the problem OF defense against un-
derwater attack. The result has been
the adoption for the new battleships and
battle cruisers OF some novel forms Of
protection which, for the most part, will
be regarded as confidential
Only one important feature has become
known and that became known through
the controversy that has been conducted
In the hope Of getting the Navy Depart
ment to reject the electric drive and adopt
| the reduction gear as the type Of ma
| chinery on the battle cruisers. This re-
lated to the location of some Of the
boilers above the protective deck.
This arrangement would not have be-
come known generally so early in the
stage Of development had not some one
who had access to the plans impaired
the secret and made it the subject OF
public discussion. In the course of expert
ments that have been held, It appeared
that the former disposition Of the boil
ers would not give SO good an all-around
defense against underwater attack as
placing a part OF the boilers above the
protective deck. 1t was concluded by
the naval general board that these fea-
lures must be taken care Of since the
ship would be practically helpless with
out electricity. 1t is considered by the
experts that this and the installation OF
heavy bulkheads would afford all possible
means OF surviving torpedo attack, with
the result that a great deal Of damage
could be wrought and the cruiser would
still be capable OF proceeding on its way.
No report yet has been made by the
board of army officers appointed last
summer to submit a new plan for the