New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-11-28

signal back to the transmitting station 10
steer il to the right or the left, or else to
steer II directly By transmitting apparatus
Oh the aeroplane itself.
A great deal Of complexity of various KINDS
was encountered when an attempt was made
to work out the plan in detail, especially
when it was realized that the problem was
not to steer one vessel, but to steer great
MANY. and that not only would all the vessels
e moving and all the targets be moving, but
that all the aeroplanes also would be NOV
ing. In the midst of these perplexitles IL
suddenly occurred TO me that it would be
much better to devise an apparatus whereby
regular submarine torpedces, which are
thoroughly accurate and reliable weapons
should be launched directly from the aero
pIanes. and that not only would it be simpler
Electrically and mechanically, but that, also,
II would be simpler tactically, for the rea-
son that dcstroyers had already worked OUT
the problem of launching torpedoes from n
feet of destroyers and that aeroplanes could
operate and discharge their torpedoes ac-
cordng TO the same principles.
Basic Patent Awarded
did not apply for a patent on this scheme
for a wear or more, supposing that so obvi-
Gus a scheme must already have been pat
ented. Finally applied in April, 1872.
had no difficulty with the Patent ofhce' pc
cause no one had anticipated my idea, and
was able to secure the basic patent IN 'uiy'
1912, to my intense amazement
As YOU doubtless know, the invention at
tracted good deal of attention from the
papers and magazines here and in Europe.
The British began experimenting with IT IN
the autumn of 1913, and they have been pro-
crossing with it ever since. In August, 1915,
a British navy lieutenant made several
flights from the Mediterranean into the Sea
of Marmora, carrying torpedoes weighing
about 73O pounds each, and he sank four
Turkish ships. Many reports have been re-
ceived that the British have been using
torpedo- planes in considerable numbers ever
since, but exactly how much is not stated
The Italians, under the leadership Of Captain
Alessandro Guidoni, of the Italian navy.
made many successful experiments with
torpedo- planes in 1914, but how much they
have used them in the present war is not
definitely known. The Germans sank the
British steamer Gena near the English coast
on May 1, 1917, but we do not know of any
further use they have made Of torpedo
planes, except that on one occasion, q Ger
man torpedo-plane discharged torpedo into
the mouth of an English harbor. The tor
pedo did no harm. however, because it ran
into sandbank. This ssndbank had recent
" been formed there through the foresight
and prompt action Of the inhabitants, by the
simple expedient of dumping several barge
loads of sand
II is my hone that the United States gov
eminent will also develop the torpedo-pane
II seems to have two fields of usefulness
one for operations from the water and the
other for operations from the land.
Advantage of water-Borne Planes
For operating from the water the condi-
tons are more difficult than from the land,
for the reasons that the pontoons needed for
resting on the water weigh more than do
the wheels used for resting on the land, and
also oppose more friction to forward motion,
so that the difficulty of rising is increased
Water borne torpedo-planes have the ad-
vantage, however, that if the enemy is at
considerable distance from our shores, and
f water sufficiently smooth can be found to
rest on, the torpedo-planes can take on sup
plies of fuel nearer to the target. Further
more, they can return to the water, just "a
a seabird does, and get new supplies of fuel
with which to reprosecute their flight
The original idea in inventing the torpedo
plane and its predecessor, the wireless-con-
trolled torpedo, was to supplement the work
of our feet in defending our own coast It
was clear that in case we became involved
in war with any great foreign naval power
which could send its feet to our coast, our
feet could not be at all parts Of the coast az
the same time. and that, by reason of the
treat length Of our coast, extending on the
Atlantic from Maine 20 Texas. and on the
Pacific from Lower California to Alaska, and
including also, the Panama Canal, our feet
might not be near the point at which the
enemy feet would strike. It seemed that
nothing could be more effective for coast de-
fence in the absence Of the feet, or for as
sisting the feet IL It we're present, than some
means of firing torpedoes at the enemy's