Evening journal., 1921-02-26
Battle
Cruisers
Battleships.
BY II. B. HUNT.

WASHINGTON, Feb. z5.--Amer-
ica's foremost authority on battle
ship construction, Rear Admiral
David w. Taylor, takes issue with
Sir Percy Scott English naval auth
ority, who contends airplanes and
submarine have made battlsehips
obsolete.
1T should be OF interest that Sir
Percy Scott now the chief advocate
in England of scrapping capital
ships because OF their supposed vul-
nerability to aircraft attack" says
Taylor, ''is tho same man who de-
clared, following the invention OF the
self-propelling torpedo. that tho big
gun ship had been made obsolete. ."
isn't 1t true, however. that he or
someone has convinced English
naval authorities that the day of the
big fighting ship is past2" Taylor
was asked.
Not at ALL" came the quick, de-
cided answer.
England now leads in capital
ships. She will not lead, however,
in 1924, IL the United States carries
through her present building pro-
gram.
III by appearing TO discard the
capital ship she can influence this
country to quit work on the program
now under way, she will still be in
the lead in 1924 and indefinitely
thereafter.
she would thus be able TO hold
her capital ship supremacy without
the expenditure Of another dollar.
III we continue the program al
ready laid out and approved, how
ever, England must spend additional
large sums or surrener her leader
ship in capital ships. She doesn't
want to do either.
III she can assist in sidetracking
our program, she keeps her big bat
tleship supremacy and saves her
money. It's really a very clever
move. but one which this country
should fully understand.
Lets just analyze the suggestion
| that an immense fleet OF airplanes
carried on mother ships, be substi
tuted for first line battleships.
zone thousand planes. Brigadiei
General Mitchell says, can be bull
[ for the cost OF one superdread
nought. All right.
"The British found that for eacf
plane maintained for land fighting
as men were needed okeep Il ready
and in shape for service. But let'i
/ be conservativ and cut the British
| figure in two-say, "a men for eacf
plane. That means $4,000 men foi
each 200 planes. in addition I,
pilots.
"The biggest airplane carrier ye
designed provides accommodation
| for so planes. To accommodate LOOT
planes would require 10 carriers, an,
l2 complete airplane carriers woul'
cost as much as eight big-gun bat
tleships
"All the alleged saying that tn
airplane enthusiasts claim is thu
seen TO be quickly wiped out
1.-THE planes would be serviceabl
and modern for six months or prob
ably a year at most. Their life /
short. The life Of battleship. how
ever, is from 10. to 10 years in tn
first line.
THE alrplane undoubtedly Wi
assume place Of much greater i'm
portance in naval affairs than eve
before. But unless or until II reache
a development far beyond its pres
ent untility II cannot take the plac
OF the capital ship.
The answer to the heavy, com
paratively slow-fying bombing plan
or torpedo plane, is a squadron q
small, fast. lighting planes carrie
on airplane carriers as a supple
mental part of the fighting feet.
These fast-hghting planes coul
put down any bombing or torped
plane long before it was able {
launch a torpedo within strikin
range OF the capital ships OF tn
/ fleet, or before it could reach posi
ton from which to loose a bomb.
They would at the same tim
serve as scouts for the feet"
well, granting the big-gun shi
as the backbone Of the fleet. hasn
the fast battle cruiser. carrying IN
same size guns. but having muc
higher speed proved superior to tn
slower moving, heavily armore
dreadnought?'
Not at ALL" Taylor replied. 9Th
battle cruiser is auxiliary TO the bat
tleship, just as is the light cruiser
the destroyer and the submarine.
The battle cruisers speed gives
two advantages. First, 1t is bette
, qualified to run away. Second, IL
able to catch the other fellow whe
} he is running away.
"The battle cruiser can help roun
, up the enemy and force him TO fgh
J But its superior speed is Offset by 4
lighter armament. The English loi
} three OF nine battle cruisers engage
= in the battle Of Jutland. They didn
lose a single heavily armored capitl
ship"