New-York tribune., 1921-02-05

tcoHtInucd from ene}
cussion when he asked Admiral Bad
ger "Do you know the reason why
Great Britain abandoned the building.
of battleships ?"
| Admiral Badger replied that he be-
hved the economic situation, together
with the fact that England now has q
navy vastly superior to that of any
| other nation, had placed that nation in
q position whore it could afford to wait
until its financial condition improved.
The battleship must remain the
| powerful unit, although the type must
be altered to meet the advancements
in science" Admiral Badger added
THE semi-submersible type of battle
ship may be the type of the future
| Representative Padgett. of Tennes-
see, interrupted the Admiral at this
point and suggested that the whole
| controversy on this subject had been
started by statements of the effective
ness of the experimental bombing Of
the old battleship Indiana. He said he
believed Admiral Sims had stated erro-
neously that bombs thrown from 5000
feet had made 40 per cent hits.
| Admiral Sims rushed to the com
mittee platform and exhibited chart
verifying his statement.
Admiral R. Z, Coontz, chief of naval
1 operations, lnterJected with:
The bombs were thrown from an
! elevation Of 1000 feet and had less
| than 10 per cent direct hits, but 40 per
cent including those falling within the
effective distance of sixty feet
How did this chart get out 2" asked
Chairman Butler.
/ 81 do not know. We do not usually
give out such matter. 1t is regarded
as secret" replied Admiral Coontz
The discussion returned to the rela-
tive merits of the airplane and battle
ship when Representative Hicks, Of
/ New York asked Admirals Fiske and
Badger how they assessed the value of
the plane as compared with the capi-
tai ship.
/ Admiral Fiske said he placed the
airplane above the ship.
"How much ahead?" persisted Mr..
Hicks.
"Wen,' replied Admiral Fiske, "if
two battleships and an airplane car
| rier were TO meet in battle at sea
would much prefer to be on the car
rier"
Fiske Opposes BattIeships
Admiral Badgers reply was:
We do not assess it very high. We
do not know what the future holds but
actual developments do not show it to
Dc IL 81. we IdIG LuS uduSSI OIL dlT-
plane attack only about 10 per cent"
III you were starting out fresh to-
morrow on the 1916 building program
what would you recommend" 2" asked
MI. Hicks, addressing Admiral Fiske.
II would recommend" replied the Ad-
miral, ten airplane carriers and six
cruisers"
AT the expense of all battleships ?"
continued Representative Hicks.
Yes" Admiral Fiske replied
When General Mitchell went to the
stand Chairman Butler reopened the
controversy over the results Of the
bombing of the Indiana. He said there
was wide difference of opinion among
naval men as to the effectiveness of
the bombs aud that the real facts were
OF the utmost Importance, as they in
volved the future of the capital ship.
In giving general review of the de-
velopment of the airplane General
Mitchell disclosed that the Germans at
the close of the war had built a diri-
gible especially designed to attack New
York. 1t was capable of flying around
the world, he said. The ship is the
Liz, now held by the French at Mar
seilles
4 81 believe it could have attacked New
4 York with complete success" said Gen
eral Mitchell. at was designed to fly
at an altitude of 10000 feet, and moth
ing could have stopped it. 1t was
/ equipped with electrical heating de-
vices for keeping its engines and per-
sonnel warm. The crew was to be sup
piled with oxygen from tanks. The big
ship could have carried twenty tons of
/ explosives"
United States Designing Dirigibles
The army air service is now design
! ing similar ships, he said.
General Mitchell urged the enact
nent of legislation providing fer the
construction at points in "the vulner-
| able section of the country" Of great
4 airplane terminals. This vulnerable
! section, he explained, is the 1T shaped
section of the country from Boston to
/ the Chesapeake and from New York to
4 Chicago" These terminals, he con-
! tended, would be profitable CONNER
| cially du1fng peace times and always
ready for imm ediatee use in time of
war.
| Discussing later the future possibili-
1 ties of airplane warfare, General
| Mitchell declared that by using gas
| bombs every eight days, small force
of planes could keep ten by ten miles
square area--"the size of greater New
York" "-uninhabitable,
The new planes being developed by
the nc TSVSdiShg CdH AIRY ana
shoot successfully small cannons. A
2.95 gun has been used in experiments
at Dayton, Ohio, and it is expected
that six-ineh-gun carrying plane will
be developed in the near future, he
said. The reeoil from these large
guns, he explained, is equally distrib-
uted over the entire machine wkile in
fight and consequently does no damE
age to the plane.
Returning again to the possibility of
airplane attack against bs+tleships,
General Mitchell said that ship NOV
ing at sea would make better target
than did the Indiana. A f,100-pound
bomb of INT, he said, exploded
within sixty feet of the stern u one
of the large modern super-dread-
noughts probably would bend its rud-
der post, injure the propeller shaft
and spring It's plates badly, ''probably
causing it to fall out of line and max
ing it easy prey
Melvin H. CouIston Promoted
WASHINGTON, Feb, President
Wilson to-daya sent to the Senate the
nomination of Melvin H. Coulston, of