New Britain herald. [microfilm reel] (New Britain, Conn.) 1890-1976, 1919-02-15

hs ions 81 sscfetal Aker and
the b6ard that has been studying the
Hammond inventions, recomm ended a
further appropriation of $4,000 for
continued experiments.
Mr.. Hammond testified that a COM
p1ete system of radio-dynamic con-
troll could handle whatever type Of
explosive the government might see
fit to build, on the surface or sub
merged.
LAS an actual matter of record,
what we have done is this" Mr.. Ham
mond said. 1--WE have taken an aero
maui who was detailed to my labora-
tory and given to him about three or
four hours actual training in steering
this boat by wireless from shore, and
then this same pilot has gone up in
a seaplane to an altitude of 5000 feet
and has taken up the control of this
high-speed boat running on the sur
face of the water, which demon
strated the principles involved.
Easy to Hit a BattlcsEiD.
1--WE found that within a few days,
while he was controlling the airplane
with his left hand and with his right
hand pressing the control key he
was able from a height of 5000 feet
and a distance of six or seven miles
in a horizontal plane to exercise alb
solute control over this high speed
boat, so as to take it in and out Of
Gloucester Harbor through all the
shipping, around the buoys and aim
ing at a, rapidly moving target, which
had in the form of a high-speed
motor boat. with such precision he
could practically strike it eight times
out of ten.
"This was only a forty foot target
moving at over twenty miles an hour,
so a battleship would obviously be
easy to strike. Outside Of exercising
the control of the steering functions,
he controlled the engines so as to
make the boat accelerate or slow
down.
zone of the trips which we were
taking under aerOplane control start
ed at Gloucester and went down off
the coast of Marblehead, a distance of
ten miles, and return, showing that
we could have travelled ad irfnitum If
the gasoline supply had lasted. Many
of our control trips lasted for hours
and they were often conducted in
rough water exposed to the large seas
which are found in this part of the
Atlantic.''
A crew was on the boat operated,
because of maritime laws, but it was
unnecessary.
Ideal for Coast Defense.
Mr.. Hammond said it would be
possible, by airplanes, to SOW a field
of mines in the course of a fleet of
warships by carrying such a boat
across their path. This has been
done during the experiments. A tor
pedo, invisible to the enemy, after
being fired from a vessel submerged
ten or fifteen feet, itself controlled by
the plane, can be directed at will by
the f1ier.
The "signal impulses from the fier
travel through the water at 400 feet
81 second.
For coast defense such equipment
is described as most perfect. y
fleet $1,000 fet out could be attacked
from a submarine 10000 feet out.
The airman would have to fly 5000
feet from shore or less and control
the torpedoes fired from the subma-
rine to the vessels to be destroyed.
Mr.. Hammond proposes to put gas
engines inside the torpedoes to con-
troll them, and these engines will send
the torpedo along at thirty eight
mlIeS Oh IoI'l, DIS lo7I 0o ally ue-
stroyer. Telling about another ex-
pertinent, he says:
I'VE went through the congested
shipping at Fortress Monroe at a
speed of twenty three or twenty-four
miles an hour. We were controlled
through all that shipping by this air.
plane, which was 5000 feet in the air
and at times two miles away, and at
other times five miles away. 1t
showed that the man in the airplane
had as definite and as secure CON
troll as a quartermaster on board
would have
The vessel controlled was a 500
horsepower craft, capable of twenty
five or twenty-six miles an hour.