Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1921-05-20
WILL, NEXT GREAT WAR
BE FOUGHT IN THE AIR
OR UNDER THE SEA?
Continued from page Il

f,cer who essays To qualify as naval
expert, has advised congress to spend
ali the money at It's disposal on big
fight-ships of the air.
But no responsible naval ofhcers
charged with maintaining naval effi-
Cheney. have shared these extreme views.
An important question which must De
answered before there can be nnai
settlement of the dispute concerns the
rrohable effectiveness of the airship In
attack upon a dreadnaught? What
chance has a dreadnaught of being sunk
hv bombs dropped from above? ON TINS
point as yet we have no reliable data.
Fail TO Sink BattIeship.
Last year the navy tried some ex-
periments in order to test the effect OF
bombs upon a battleship. We used the
Indian. an atequated craft without
value except for some such demon
stration purpose. Bombs were dropped
upon her from an airplane. They were
loaded with heavy explosives, and they
did. in some cases, pretty serious dam
age. But they did not sink her. sne
took the punishment and remained
af,oat until other bombs. placed under
water. exploded with such force that
several seams in the ships bottom were
ripped loose.
This however. was no test of what
would actually happen in a fight be-
tween an airplane and dreadnaught.
The Indiana was anchored, and had no
anti-aircraft guns. She made neither an
attempt to escape nor to return the
iire OF her attackers. She merely lay
there while aviators eircled above her
and practiced dropping bombs on her
at their leisure.
In actual warfare the dreadnaught
would be steaming fun speed, with PROB
ably a zig-zag course. She would be
turning anti-aircraft guns on the at
lacking plane. 1t is open 70 question
whether the bomb droppers would make
many hitS-or any. Even in the case OF
The stationary and nonresisting Indiana
the percentage of hits was small.
Result May BE Startling.
II is this point of what would happen
~ actual warfare that will be tried out
al Hampton roads sometime before next
.tuiv. 1t may prove to be an epoch
making event. and Hampton roads may
establish certain facts which will revolu-
tiopizc naval warfare as the fight of the
Nfonitor and the Merrimac on that same
stretch Of. water reVolutionized X IN
1862.
one Of my last acts as secretary OF
tho navy was to direct that certain OF
+he German ships which were turned
over to us. and which, under the agreed
terms must be destroyed, should be
used in a series Of experiments in which
airrncn should attempt to destroy them.
The secretary of war Joined me in
asking the joint board Of the army and
navy 10 work out plans by which the
experiment should be conducted in
yyav to truly test whether the aeroplane
has nut the dreadnaught out of bust
ness. The plans were perfected, and
1he test will be made.
When l had given the order for TINS
test. the newspaper men asked me II
there would be any sailors on the dread
naughts when the tests were made. l
answered by saying that in fair test
between the surface craft and the air
craft. / would volunteer myself and
guarantee to put crew on board the
shin. II do not think those who fought
ne bomber would be doomed 10 de-
struction,' I said. They at least would
have a sporting chance"
Nobody can predict what the ship of
tomorrow will be. We can not forsee
the developments OF fight or the fun
possibilities of the submersible. Every