Evening capital and Maryland gazette. (Annapolis, Md.) 1910-1922, 1919-06-28
IsE. SHIPS or
THE ARaY AND NAVY
BE BUILT SIMILAR?
"A Fe0f Free Nayy And An EEieAeha
C0nsi Eaefense ATe Amexican
Ideals The AsrAhIp

During the development 81 the Coast
artillery equipment. the fact was I'M
pressed On the Army authorities that
sea atr and sea water we're very cor-
rosive agents For instance. gun car
riages having parts made of thin
sheets og steel on delicate rods would
soon beG pItted and the thin or deli
cate steel mechanism would be full Of
holes or would even lose complete see
lions Rust marta would form be-
tween moving surfaces, thus Jam
ming the operation. aluminium scales
and instruments would turn into the
inconsistency Of paper and break up on
rough handling Then there came an
era of ponaeroua bronze castings,
costly but durable. Then heavier
steel. etc, until the coast equipment
WAS no longer mobile. Artillery ON
GERS thought Of the sea, dreaded H.
ceaseless corrosion and the daily
drudgsry Of keeping the equipment 81
condition for use. Persons employed
on or near The sea will soon allow for
Ibis sea effect on material and Will not
hesitate u PIT on weight to guaran-
tee durability
In aeronautical construction, this
same trend of design Is already noted.
Ut viii always Be possible to use
cheaper and lighter material III the
dry. regions Of the Interior than along
tho coast ii will also be possible to-
gei longer service out of them Com
pare war relics exposed 10 the eie-
ments at inland places to those ex
posed near salt air. and the point Il.
apparent There viii be great diff
ferances 81 opinion on matters Of
weight and cost III therefore. would
appear that equipment built for use
near the ocean should follow naval
precepts and that equipment for use
inland or near fresh water should fol
low Army Drecepts.
me first airship built for the gov
ernment was tried out at Fort Meyer.
Also the first airplane. The alrship
as an army Institution soon fell into
siisuse. The threat of war revived the
subject In 19I6-19I7. The army wis
loaded down with the burden OF mo-
hiking great new army Tho cap
tive balloons seemed 10 be the only
thing to put on the battle line ii 8
hurry The Zeppelin rigid dirigibie
for short time In isI4-I5 was the
terror OF tho air ri bombed Belgian
troops and elites with irnpunity. Then
came aerial gunnery. and the flaming
Juliet Then the Zeppelin had 10
keep away from the Line Of battle and
low attitudes over hostile territory
The French did not try to nae Ilirigi-
bles as lighting weapons The air
ship seemed tliscrcdlted 1t dawned
on the British Admiralty that the Yep
peiIn, withdrawn from conspicuous
land warfare. became the soul of the
German Navy. English submarines
near Germany and Holland in the
North Sea and the Baltic became
aware of some constant and efficient
surveillance. We ceased to hear of
ihcn1 tfcn. why? Simply this. the
zeppeiins and other aircraft could
watch them effectively
Then the British non-rigid puller
alrshfp OF Blinip came into the game
Ii was made BY hanging an airplane
fuseiage under little StFeamlined
gapbag, with the rudders, etc, on the
bag. Then the onevengiT Cd pushor, 50
that the pilot wouldn't have oil and
wind III his face all the time Then
little more size and two engines, etc.
until the seagoing non-rigid became q
real large ship with sleeping quar-
iers, etc. that could escort eonvoys
hundreds of miles out 10 sea.
The Navy people brought the air
ship back into its own. II was it,
Tie branch comparatively speaking,
tlat acted secretly and efficiently The
world hardly appreciates vet what the
airship did 10 eliminate the submar
Inc menace. Consult the log books Of
tho surrendered submarines and III
them you will see constant references
to whole days submerged because of
slirigIbies In sight. Seventy dirigIbles
oF the British Navy have almost al
many Submarine attacks to their ere
dit aE the whole navy and seaplane
services together Add to this their
moral effect on submarines and the
reason for the rapid development of
sea going dirlgibles Will be apparent
As for Army airship development 4
seemed to stop In Italy alone this
was not So the ItalIans Developed
the sensi-rIgid type capable of fair.
speed and endurance even ct enor-
mous attitudes. These airships could
proceed over the Adriatic Sea or even
over the Alps Mountains by routes
where airpianes and antl-aircraft guns
we're source ard bomb Trieste or other
centers with impunity. or course
they were obliged tot beat hasty re-
treat each time and were even pnt
into leaky condition on occasions bnt
the fact remains that they saved their
ship These ships were operated b.
both Army and Navy ofFlcers From