Evening star., 1921-06-28

tndt statement because, the Navy De.
ing apparently committed to the bat
tleship building program. some one
might be disciplined for permitting
! the figures to get into print. But
| they are too valuable and too signifi-
can to be censored away from tho
American people. who are paying for
battleships. Here they are:
RECORD OF BOMBING OPERATIONS.
| Target Altitude No.
Planes. size. (feet) shots. Hits. Pct:
n1Ttn O0mbers ssS17s S17 sss ss is! is! se
Combat ........ 10Ox25 200 800 26S 500
If that had not been a service rec
| ord. intended only for the eyes of the
| flyers themselves, I might have been
| incredulous. When last saw bomb
ers in action in France the bomb
| dropping was by no means as accu-
rate. At that tim the bomb-dropping
perfected to it's present pitch. Nor DO
bombers over the land care particu :
larly where they hit. If they do not
land a bomb on the railway station
These bombs were dropped from an
altitude Of 1000 feet at towed tar
get The target itself was not as
large as the battleship Of the future
or the present 1t was but $50 feet
long. whereas todays ships run more
| touch 700 or more. The target was
only being towed ten miles an hour.
too. whereas a battleship which is
being attacked by bombers may be
three or twenty-four knots an hour,
but to zigzag like an overweight
Eumming bird.
The speed of the target makes no
difference" insists Brig. Gen. William
Mitchell. second in command of the
/ mi a q
easier to hit a moving target than
stationary one"
Under Service Conditions.
The combat planes operated at
lower altitude and at smaller targets.
This is strictly in line with the serv-
ice that would be expected Of them
in time of war Their job would be
to get all over the enemy ship. knock
her upper works OF, drive her per-
Sonnel below, and leave the work OF
destruction to the heavies. The Mar
tin bombers can carry up to 1000
lighter bombers. can carry up to 600
pound of bomb. One hundrsed pounds
is the load for the combat flyers. But
a 10Opound bomb went through the
top deck Of the old battleship Indi-
ana in the recent tests.
But they could not safely fly at an
altitude of only 200 feet" protested.
Maybe not-safely." was the grim
reply. But they would fly there.
Not all of them would be hit"
Ten combat planes or more could
wisely be expended for one battle
ship: A plane Of that type costs.
bombs and all. at the very outside
$4,000. 1t would carry but one man.
lives against s5o.Ooo.oo0 or more in
the new battleships and 1900 lives.
Would Be Dimcult Target.
Our present combat planes are
E SIS. antiquated hold-overs from the
European war. Yet even these ma
chimes. which are utterly suicidally
unfit to meet a flying enemy in the
air. can get up a speed of 200 miles
an hour by diving down from an alti-
tude of $4,000 feet. Duck hunters who
know how hard it is to hit fast
flying duck. even when one has a
light and handy gun, can certify to
the difficulty of hitting one of a flock
of fast-fying planes with a slow and
unwieldy cannon.
Nowadays only four anti-aircraft
guns are mounted on battleships.
But if even one bomber plants a mis-
sile where it Is aimed the end Of that
battleship may be foreseen. Fifty per
bomb is INT A 1.000-pound bomb
carries 500 pounds of this highest ex-
plcsive. The United States Navy is
planning 4.o00-pound bombs. The
shell of a 16-inch Navy gun carries
but rs pounds OF INT. or there
abouts. Yet ships are smashed with
them.
The figures presented show but one
weeks bombing. They are not even
up to the average because so many
cadet fliers were engaged. Yet in
three days flying the combat planes
made a clean score. That is, each
plane hit the target with each bomb.
In scoring it is to be understood
that a bomb that hits within nifty
feet Of a ship is credited with a hit.
AS a matter Of fact the fliers would
rather hit alongside than on the deck.
The water hammer" Of such an ex-
plosion would be almost certain to
open the seams, whereas an explosion
on the deck, damaging as it would
certainly be. might not do a per-
manent injury to the vessel.
Can you do that sort of bombing
right along?" I asked.
"Day after day. was the confident
reply There is no battleship in the
world that can live against an air at
tack. Not even Great Britain's super
Hoods"