Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1921-07-23
Bomb Tests Shift
World Diplomacy

ceranued from PAGE One
sions which seem obvious from the
sinking.
Their reasoning runs like this: De-
lenses against air attack may be dis
covered. III they should be, then at
once YOU return to the condition which
existed before air bombing was de-
veloped and the nation which has the
strongest lot of capital ships will have
centrol of the seas as always in the
past. Moreover. even IL defcnsea
against air attack nrc not perfected,
then u nation having adequate cap
ital ships can maintain ascendency In
the air. her predominance on the sur
face Of the sea will t. just as valuable
as IL has been in the last.
Triple Naval Policy
Naval policy in view of the bombing
will have three general aims. ascendcncy
In the air. the development Of dcfcnses
against air attack and the continuance
Of control upon the surface of the water
through capital ships.
Another argument for the capital
ship Is that the airplane is ineffective
at night and in bad weather. and thus
the capital ship becomes the last line
of defense.
Therefore. though revolutionary
thing has probably happened. the rev.
olution will proceed slowly. The cap
ital ship will continue TO be advocated
as something which Is likely in the end
to prove indispensable. But nations
will be slow to add to their present
supply Of heavily armored vessels. and
In this way the bombing will aid dis
armament. An agreement restricting
h,,,l ,,.;ll Hn 81 .knr
what II is proposed to build is Of doubt
ful utility.
II one turns away from naval opin-
Ion as too conservative and short
sighted to appraise at once the extent
OF the revolution effected. the best guess
At the future Is that the capital ship
Is as surely doomed as the man in
armor was when gunpowdcr and a rife
made the otherwise unarmcd peasant
his superior in war.
Must Control Air
Control Of the seas will depend upon
control of the air primarily. Bombing
planes Of wide radius will prey upon
enemy commerce and with fighting
planes keep the sea lanes open for
friendly commerce. Cruising subma-
rines OF wide radius. capable Of taking
to the depths on the approach of hostile
planes. will replace present cruisers
in the protection and destruction Of
commerce.
Control of the seas will be much more
difficult than it is today. And the
rules of war affecting commerce. espe-
cially of neutrals trading with the
enemy, may have to be modified
This is a long look ahead. one that
naval opinion will not take. but one
that nevertheless seems justified by the
fact bombing from the air is n it's in
fancy and is capable of vast develop
ment. The capital ship is developed
TO the point where no one can see what
more can be done to make her safe
from air attack.
Huge Bombers Planned
The bombers used in sinking the Ost :
friesland were small. They carry one
ton Of explosives. Glenn Martin. their
designer. already has perfected plans
for bombers which will carry seven tons
Of TNp for purposes of coast defense
with radius Of 100 miles. For offense
the plane will carry 1900 pounds OF
INT. with a radius of 800 miles. That
Is. il the men operating it are sacri
feed, ii may go 1000 miles with more
than three tons in bombs and drop them
on the enemy.
When naval officers talk of armorine
ships against air bombs they have to