The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1919-03-03
ADMIRAL MAYO
: DEFENDS PLEA
FOR AIR FUNDS
EXPLAINS TO HOUSE NECESSITY
= OF $4,000, 900 APPROPRIATION
TO DEVELOP LIGHT AIR CRAFT.

In his report, Admiral Henry T.
Mayo. U. S. N, tells the secretary Of
the navy of the use of airships during
the war and of the developments OF
the lighter than air section of naval
aviation. Secretary Daniels han led
the report to the house committee on
naval affairs. and pointed out why
the $25,000.000 appropriation for avia-
tiori had been asked to develop the
lighter than air crafts.
Admiral Mayo brought out the facts
about the use of dirigibles and where
they had proved their value to the
operation of the navy. He also incor-
porated in his reports is the reason ior
the failure Of the Zeppelins to meas
ure Up to the standard expected or
them.
Admiral Mayo's Report
Admiral Mayo begins his report,
which is dated November 3. 1918, with
the statement that "the failure of the
Zeppelins in the raids over Great
Britain and the destruction of several
Zeppelins over the North Sea ny
planes carried on CT Gisers, and on one
occasion by a large american hyn'g
boat. has induced the belief In the
minds of many officers that the lighter
than air ship has been definitely dis
placed by the heavier than air
machines
He then points out that officers who
: have had most to do with the lighter
than air type contend that the types
of Zeppelins used in the air raids were
unsuitable for the purpose and con-
tinues: "The Improvement in the
lighter than air ship design have been
such that the latest German rigid air
ship has a speed of about seventy To
eighty miles per hour. ceiling OF
"a 600 feet. and a rate of climb sLpe-
rior to sny plane With these charact-
eristics rigid is comparatively safe
against attack from anti-aircraft guns
or heavier-than- air machines Aidi-
tional safety has been assured to the
Nl;ghter-than air ship by the develop
nent of non -infiammable gas (heli"mI
OF which the United States possesses
xralmost limitless natural resources.
Observation and Scouts.
The airships value in naval war
fare. Admiral Mayo states, is in scout
q ing and in keeping large areas of tie
a sea under observation. He considers
the rigid type of airship essential. to-
the highest efficiency in the above
{ two classes of utility and states that
the latest type of these ships develo2ed
nv the British CRIBS CLASSY has 2.I2O,-
600 cubic feet capacity and an esti-
mated cruising endurance of forty
five miles per hour of IL hours. thirty
fol;r hours greater that the German
L-10 class.
Germany's Airship Program.
THE results already attained have
justified the confidence felt by the,
Grman navy in it's airships when used
i'm their proper sphere as the eyes OF
the fleet Their Zeppelins did much
10 save the high seas fleet at the bat
tie of Jutland, to save their cruiser
squadron on the Yarmouth raid, and
!, were instrumental in sinking the Not
tingham and Falmouth. Had the posi-
tion been reversed in the Jutland bat
tie andh ad the British had rigids to
enable them to locate 1t, they would
probably have annihilated the German
high seas fleet. At the present tirae
Germany possesses apparently nifty
cient rigid airships built since 1913.
i'm addition to a few non-rigids which
she uses only for training purposes
Iii nB,r$4sia lZZjosnine shrdl hrd h n
British Rigid Airships.
@ While no other nation has done as
we'll as the Germans in rigid airships,
the British, alive to the need of main
tanning sea Supremacy are closely
competing A few days ago they held
accordance trials of 100000 cubic
foot ship (the R-3D, which made over
fifty-five knots and could lift eighteen
tons COR say 200 persons). This ship
turned in a complete circle of OF mile
diameter in thre minutes
Rigid Type Pushed.
THE development of the non-rigid
y airship is practically at standstill.
while the development of the rigid
type is being pushed by Germany.
France and Great Britain. The future
of the rigid airship depends upon the
ability of it's designers to secure for
!. it superiority, relative to heavier
than-air chaft, in radius. ceiling.
climbing ability and an approximation
to the speed of the fighting planes"
G