Great Falls tribune., 1921-06-27
PLANE VALUE OVER
MODERN BATTLESHhP
STILL MOOT QUESTION
Floating Fort Proves It's Worth at Jutland;
"Sea Louise" Advocates Doom Floating
Fortress; Swift Location Work Surprises.
~ w. ROBERT NAYLOR,
special Correspondent Of The Tribune

~ w. ROBERT NAYL0R,
Special Correspondent Of The Tribune.
Copyright, 1921, by The Tribune.)
Langley Field, Va, June 26.-Elab-
crate AZ are the experiments now IN
progress as to the value of air attack
on q naval fleet, no definite settlement
of the issue as to whether or not the
airplane has made the modern battle
ship obsolete is likely to be reached
this month or next. Despite the sweep
ing assertions Of the advocates OF the
underwater boat ever since the first
submersible took the sea. the battleship
has remained the unit Of strength IN
the navies of the world. 1t was the
battleship which won the greatest sea
struggle Of the ages at Jutland dur
ing the world war, when the high seas
fleet of Germany was sent scamperlng
back through the Kiel canal to appear
no more until surrender. So now with
the DEVELOPMENT Of air craft to high
state Of offensive effectively and pow
er, the battleship once more has been
doomed" BY the ''sea louise" advocates
Of the fast swirnming bomb carrying
plane.
Soovrue OF U-Boat.
Thus far the experiments have prov
en- beyond the shadow of doubt the
airplane is the scourge Of the U-boat
But this is a navy contingent and the
airplane instead Of wiping out the
battleship as q unit of strength mas IN
fact wiped out one Of the great enc
mics Of the battleship.
There is no question that where an
air craft can search out the under
water craft, the latter has but htte
chance for its life 50 long az II re-
mains near the surface Of the sea.
this week. with the condemned German
U-boats was the swiftness with when
a single SQUADRON of naval planes sent
\ submarine to its last resting place
Of 50 fathoms deep.
Wireless ManeuverIng.
The bigger and more interesting e1
periments yet to come VIII oe 'n,s Us
week. when dummy" bombs will be
dronned on battleship Iowa as she is
msneuverine at sea with wireless con-
nection. This wireless control is the
development Of invention Of John Rays
Hammond. Jr., and it is the first time
q hattleship has been brought under
This strange influence by which a yes
,el with no living soul on board can be
steered, started, stopped and held a.
a given speed. o+
the airplanes have had and the number
of direct hits they make in the tests
will be watched with extereme lnteIes..
Less than a month from now there
will be q supreme test as to the eI1ecl
of high explosive bombs on the decks
and armor of a modern man OF var.
On this occasion the target VII .x.aa .nen
land surrendered to the United States
and subject to destruction as were al
the German craft yielded to the allies.
Army and Navy Attack.
An impressive array Of the army ana
navy aircraft here for the experiments;
vii, he sent-against the Ostfriesland
h,,t there will be no such rushing.
oyerwhelmin9 attack made upon her as
would be the case in actual war IN
stead a SQUADRON of planes will be sent
over the German battle craft. dropping
f;rst of all the smaller bombs. When-
arer direct hits are obtained, "hostlll-.
ties, will be halted while group OF
eynerts goes aboard to observe ana
measure the amount OF damage IN
flicted. ~.
As the experiments proceed, the
bombs employed will be OF increasing
caliber.
The army fliers, who have been anx-
ious to demonstrate how compieteis
thew annihilate an attacking naval zee.
off the coast of the United States, are
rot altogether satisfied with the f"les
Of the game They would IKE TO at
tack the old German ship with one
grand salvo, and they claim II .hev
we're were allowed to use their largest
bombs-weighing 1000 pounds-they
would be able to break the battleshlp
hack in the first few minutes OF ac
tion. The army men claim many OF
these giant bombs dropped within ~
feet of the battleship and set to e1
plode underneath the weight wouio
crunple the thin shell OF the oattle-
ship below the water line and send ner
to the bottom with the same speed
that depth bombs often dlspatcned =
hoats in the war zone. The navy fllers
claim they are not likely to get real
chance to show the amount OF damage
they can inflict.
Navy to Study Damage.
The navy authorities are interested
in the experiments from different
and less spectacular angle. They want
TO study the exact amount of damage
each bomb inflicts and to determine
how best this damage can be achieved.
Again, the army fliers would hike to 60
in and smash the Ostfriesland to bits
in the least possible time. Enough
bombs have been concentrated here, IT
would seem, to wipe out all the nav'es
in the world The land abounds IN
T. N. T. The tests are not under
actual battle conditions and the fEers
have all the best of it in that they
are not being subject to anti aircraft
flying ships as they calmly 60 about
their work Of dropping the shrieking
missiles Of destruction. The airmen
claim, however. that no amount of anti
aircraft fire ever stopped a determined
aviator and action of the western front
ahundantly proves this theory.
Despite the lack Of actual battle
conditions, however. the casualties in
the preparation and carrying ou: of
the tests have been heavy. No less
than 21 deaths can be traced directly
and indirectly to them. These deaths
include seven at the arsenal grounds
at Aberdeen, Md, where tests were
being made, seven in the crash Of the
big eagle plane at Indian Head. made
while it was returning to Washington
from Langley field and eight deaths of
fliers here at the scene Of the actual