The Democratic banner. (Mt. Vernon, Ohio) 1898-192?, 1917-05-08
AIRCRAFT SCOUTS.
Their Value In Naval Warfare In
Locating Submarines.
NOT GOOD AT SINKING THEM.

While They Are Clever at "Spottinp"
the Submerged Boats, II is Only by
Great Skill and Good Luck That q
Bomb Can Be Dropped to Its Mark.
In some ways an aeroplane Is more
effective In locating a submarine than
destroyer or patrol boat. and 1t
may even be able In exceptional cir
cumstances to destroy the undersea
vessel, says @. G. Grey, editor Of the
London AerOplane.
There Is popular Illusion. which is
not exactly delusion, that the OBJ
server in an aeroplane can see as far
down into the water as a submarine
is likely to dive. Up to point this is
true. for If the water is clear it is pos
sible to see some twenty or thirty feet
into 1t from a point vertically above,
and II such water N only forty or fifty
feet deep submarine is not likely to
dive beyond the visibility point
1t Is quite another matter. however,
where the water is kind OF leaden
gray in color and where ten feet Of
water over the periscope Is enough to
hide submarine as effectually as II
she were twenty fathOms down.
Therefore it is fairly obvious that the
scouting air craft have to depend Oh
surface vision quite as much as the
patrol boats Where the difference
does come in is in the angle of vision
from which that surface view Is OBJ
tanned.
For instance. a patrol boat might
well miss seeing periscope half a
mile away, especially If the periscope
were between the boat and the sun,
so that the reflection of the sun off
the water was dazzling the lookout
men, The aircraft observer on the
other hand. perched up aloft. would
have a far better chance The peri
scope, cutting through the water.
makes very distinct wake which
spreads out on each side so that 1t
makes light but quite distinct broad
arrow" of foam.
When the periscope is above water
the top of the coming tower is not
far below, so that this also is visible
unless there Is heavy breaking sea.
And probably the bubbles from the ex-
hausting air can also be seen.
Thus an escort of seaplanes should
have far better chance of spOtting
the presence of submarines than could
any escort of surface ships. At the
same time it is well to remember that
an escort of destroyers or some similar
type of armed ship is necessary, be-
cause the aeroplane or airship Of today
! Is not capable of carrying guns big
enough to sink submarines with cer-
tainty. and the art of bomb dropping
! from aircraft has not become suft-
ciently science to make the certainty
of the bombs reaching their mark as
great as is the certainty of shell
from a four inch gun doing SO.
Therefore the aircraft by them
selves can only hope to keep subma-
rines submerged by dropping bombs at
them, though they may sink one here
and there by combination Of personal
skill and good luck. whereas by acting
as "spotters' for the highly trained
gunners of destroyer flotillas they can
cooperate very materially in the ac-
tual destruction of enemy submarines.
| Where the naval air craft really do
come in is In the immense surface Of
sea which they can cover in a very
short time and their ability to take
enemy submarines by surprise while
| lying on the surface airing them
selves and charging up their batteries.
A small fast scouting aeroplane does
/ anything between eighty and a hun
dred miles an hour, and at height of
| 1000 or 5000 feet 1t is fairly hard to
see. On land one is generally warned
of an aerOplane's arrival by the sound
of its engines, but at sea the tapping
of the water and the whistling of the
wind through rigging or around super
! structure browns the sound of the aero
/ engine till it is fairly close. Conse-
quently seaplane has more than
! sporting chance of getting within
| mile or so of n submarine before it Is
seen. and if it gets within that dis
tance it should be able to make things
very unpleasant for the submarine,
even if it has not the luck to sink it
outright.
Even at night in moderately fair
weather. which is naturally the best
for submarine operations. big seaplanes
with searchlights could do much to
keep submarines under water and so
add to their troubles by preventing
them from stopping ON the surface
long enough to air their interiors and
to charge their storage batteries.-New
York World.
Resistance of the Wind.