, 1921-08-04
TIE AIRCRAFT RosIRING TEST

WASHINGTON, Aug. :. - The
most unique experiments in the his
tory of the science Of coast defense
came to an end with the sinking by
acr0plane bombs of the former Ger
man battleship Ostfriesland so miles
off the Virginia capes," says the Re-
publican Publicity Association.
through It's President, Hon. Jonathan
Bourne, l.. Extending over q
month. and involving attacks from
the air upon submarines, d~estroyers.
cruiser and b%attleship. the exercises
were most instructive. To suggest
II carry them out so effectively re-
fleets great credit upon the naval
II military branches of the Gov
eminent. The experiments wee in
no sense a contest between air and
water forces, despite the tendency of
various press reports to convey that
impression. The purpose OF this last
:Eercise.' read the official memoran-
DUN issued preceding the Ostfries-
land test. is to obtain material in
formation concerning the effect of
hits by bombs OF various sizes That
purpose was fully realized, and COM
plete data collected.
Ever since certain ill-advised en-
thusiasts in the United States and in
England proclaimed the doom of the
capital ship because OF the
of bombs from the air. a controversy
has waged between the advocates
and opponents of that theory. The
Ostfriesland experiment was the only
one in which a capital ship was at
tackled with live bombs and the facts
il revealed are highly significant al
though not conclusive. 1t was DEM
onstrated that 1000 and 2.0O0-pound
bombs, in their present state of de-
velopment. will not penetrate the
protective deck of a .battleship and
that their explosive effect is limited
to the immediate vicinity of their
impact. The Ostfriesland was direct
ly hit three times by bombs of 1000
pounds and once by a 2,O0O-pounder.
Large holes were torn in the upper
decks and the forced draft system OF
the boilers was put out of commits
sion. but the protective deck was not
penetrated, % vas any vital part of
the ship affected.
"Ou the other hand it apparently
vas proven that half a ton of high
explosive d~etonated below the water
line fifty feet or less from a battle
nh WIZ SlNS HtI d ldldl
wound. In the first days bombing
the hull OF the Ostfriesland was
badly racked by a number of small
Ter bombs that had exploded near her
>.des. When on the second day a
,O0o-pound bomb, carrying half that
weight OF II. y. T.. burst close to the
weakened hull the effect was imme-
diate. and in twenty minutes the
ship had sunk
But now as to the probability of
such a hit in actual combat with an
enemy ship. The planes operating
against the Osfriesland in the final
attack flew at a height of only LOO
feet: their line of flight was directed
from stem to stern, thereby increaS-
ing by about eight times the chances
of a hit if compelled to fly trans
versely across the ship. as would
probably be the cas- If she were free
to m%aneuver at will: small sighting
bombs were dropped before the big
missiles were let go; there was only
one vessel to be attacked, whereas
in an enemy force there would be
several: the doomed ship was
anchored, and could neither reply
with anti-aircraft guns. throw out a
smoke screen. or maneuyer at high
speed. Were an actual engagement
between beliigerent battleships and
aircraft to take place, involving all
those factors, 4 hit such as that reg
istered against the condemned Ger
man boat owuld be by the merest
chance. The menace would not be
comparable at all to that. now offered
by the automobile torpedo and sub
marine. neither of which threatens to
make the battleship obsolete.
But n certain n does exist,
and the air service should be denied
no facility to develop its form Of at
tack to the utmost. The Navy. too,
should be encouraged to devise and
apply every form of defense that will
make its vessels more immune to ex-
plosive bombs. Only by so doing will
orr national safety be secure WHEN
the next emergency confronts us"