Evening star., 1921-08-21
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Movvlov,l o,,SI Vs,~Snio
All Other States
Battleships and Airplanes.


lete by the airplane. That is the yer.
dict Of the JOINT Army and Navy board
that has studied the tests recently
made In the bombing Of former Ger
man warships of the Virginia capes.
1t 10 true that the ships were sunk
submarine. destroyer, cruiser and bat
tleship. But they were fair targets,
without any means Of defense. They
were merely marks upon the surface Of
the sea. The tests proved that bombs
could be dropped upon or near them
with destructive effect, but they did
not prove that in actual combat planes
could be maneuvered with their deadly
freight within sufficient range to as.
sure results.
The board reports that certain
points are established by the tests, no
tably that the aircraft carrier IL essen.
tial to successful offensive use Of the
plane as weapon against the major
naval craft. The radius Of the plane
is necessarily limited. It has not yet
been launched at sea from carrier
while laden with bombs big enough to
destroy battleship. Aircraft must in
action be protected. furthermore. by
battleships If used against enemy
ships. In short, the airplane as a
weapon at sea Is but an auxiliary Of
the major craft.
For observation and scouting pur-
poses the plane II an efficient agency,
the usefulness Of which cannot be
doubted. These recent tests did not
touch upon the value Of the heavier
than-air machines as gatherers Of in
Anrmation. which had already been
established. But in conjunction with
their offensive uses, the tests demon
strate, at least by negation. that until
the plane is carried out to sea by q
specially designed craft and until with
its heavy bombs It can be safely
launched from and returned, with
bombs, to an unstable landing stage
borne by q vessel, 1t must remain q
weapon Of defense from the land,
which limits its range to q relatively
narrow compass.
OF course. the battleship cannot
equal at its greatest offensive power
the seagoing range Of q plane. But
the battleship In effective action Is
mainly mid.sea weapon. It may
take part in bombardments, but its
primary function is in the destruction
Of enemy commerce and enemy naval
forces. The side that maintains the
greatest offensive power on the sea
controls the lanes Of commerce in war
time. Given two fleets Of equal bat
tleship and cruiser force. that one will
be superior in action. assuming equal
skill in operation, which possesses the
greatest destructive capacity. The
fleet with an auxiliary force Of air.
planes. borne by carriers and capable
of dropping bombs effectively from
greater heights than the range Of anti
aircraft guns, will possess that su-
periority Of destructive power. Hence
the ultimate lesson Of the tests is that
aircraft carriers are essential to the
employment Of the bombing plane as
a weapon against the major ships.
Regardless Of the outcome Of the
disarmament conference. it is now the
duty Of the designers Of naval craft to
produce such a carrier. of high speed
and maneuvering ability, with some
means Of defense Of its own against
small craft and submarines and air.
planes. and capable Of launching and
receiving safely planes laden with the
heaviest bombs required for destruc.
tion. The conference may cause a
limit to be put upon the number of
ships, but 1t is idle to believe that It's
outcome will be the scrapping Of all
the navies Of the major powers. and II
navies are to be maintained they
should be Of the highest possible eff
cheney.