Arizona republican., 1921-08-04
OVERSEAS WARFARE |S ANCIENT H|SS I ORY
Perfection Of Aerial And Submarine Craft Renders Battleship Useless Naval Officer Declares
SEES END OF WAR
With Overseas Warfare Impossible Harding Dis armament Conference May Bring Peace Era
By Herbert Corey

By Herbert corey
 WASHINGTON. Aug. s--"There win not be any more wars.
 Disarmament is coming.
 Fighting has been made impos- sible."
 The man who said 1t Is naval officer He stood on the bridge deck of the Henderson and watched General Bill Mitchelrs bombers sink the German battleship Osefriesland. After that affair was over he ex- banded his thought.
 "A period has been put to battle ship building" said he. You can not escape that conclusion. Glenn Martin. who built the Martin bomb CTS which carried the ton bombs that smashed the Ostfreisland. is building a larger plane that will carry a four ton bomb. He says that the carry ing of a ten-ton bomb is only a mat ter of building larger planes. His new four-ton bomber can go five hundred miles at sea and return.
 Pacific Coast Tests Lesson
 Such a bomber, the officer said. can sink any ship that floats today. Our Pennsylvania. our Tennessee, any of our magnificent, new dread noughts. would be as easy for it as ducklinx is for a chicken hawk. The bombing experiments on the Pacific coast not long ago proved that. Captain Mostyn dropped a smoke screen down over the Pacific bat tleship fleet and then went in safely with his borrbers- Theoretically he Eot the flagship His attack was hidden behind the screen.
 No battIeship fleet" said the sneaker. could approach within five ~.fIr~ If orrr coa StS under such conditions. even if protected by d fleet of aircraft carried on ships. Such a fleet might-MIGHT-be able 10 keen the shore fleet of aircraft away from the invaders Not likely of course, for more aircraft can be stahied on a shore than can be car ried on a fleet. But such fleet might keep the air clear above its battleships during the day. It coulo not at night The experience of the late war is conclusive there. Air craft can find towns or ships bs night but cannot find other aircraft Planes can be heard at night but not seen. The planes could fint and bomb the fleet while covered bl darkness
 Battlesl,ips Hampered
 If it is impossible for an invading fleet to get within five hundred mile. of our coast, reasoned the officer, i is equally impossible for our fleet t' get within five hundred miles of th' enemy's coast Battieships, then must either stay at home to b. bombed in their harbors or veQtur' trembling out to sea to be exposes to the submarines which will b. lying in wait at the harbor gates For submarines now have cruisini radius of four months. Battleship may still be built at a cost Of lift, to sixty million dollars each
 But they do not mean anythin; any more" said the officer. .Whel they have been protected by 'blisters against underwater torpedoes an mines and the aerial bombs that fal alongside, and heavy enough armo to withstand the twenty-inch shell that will be hurled at them from tn , new guns, and a topside protectio against aircraft, they will be immov able. There will not be room i such a hulk for engines if the shi is kept within the external limit prescribed by the depth and widt of the sea canals.
 Attitude of Congress
 He believes that the congressme who witnessed this last experimer will so reason He does not thin they VIII apprOpTldte HioHey lor iiioi battIeships. He even thinks that tn construction of the battleships now per cent completed may be halte' IT is at least likely that careful cor sideration will'be given to the ne problem before congress will gra1 money to finish them.
 If the other fellows battleslir the other fellow with battleships, WI cannot reach us. and we cannot reac build battleships?'
 Fast cruisers may be built. .-ourse. for use as commerce destro, CTS. But the speaker thought th' thev would be unlikely to come with 500 miles of an enemy shore for the thev could be destroyed by the ali craft which would patrol every in' of coastline By withdrawing con merce from the seas, except along u coasts. a country would only suffer loss of business. Such conditit would be inconvenient, but certain not fatal Especially it would not