Evening star., 1922-07-25
UNNAMED FLEET MAY
WIN FUTURE BATTLES
Success of Radio Controlled Iowa Ciues
Promise of Ships, Once Started, to Go
Through Fights Under Distant Control.

mind. miles away. who guides them
by the means of radio signals Ihese
| ships, like the Iowa, would not oe
operated by power sent by iua raaio, rith GI,
| standard engines. oil-burning boiiers
and mechanically aimed and nred
guns-all directed by radio. FAR
sighted naval engineers have prophe-
| sled radio-cOntrolled barrages or air
| and water torpedoes, fleet movements,
gunfire, mime explosions. airplanes,
| tanks. dynamite ships ana nlne
| sweepers-unmanned but operated oy
| radio and sent on errands of destruc-
tion and determination.
, Point to Many Tests.
To the skeptics who say. "Impos-
sible" they ask. why not?" and
| point to the successful operations OF
! the Iowa. the radio-controlled auto
mobile OF Calvin and the tank OF Capt.
Vaughan, which not only was ma
! neuvered at will. but made to fire a
pistol and do all manner of tricks
| within a fraction of a second.
The bureau of engineering of the
Navy is not standing still; some OF
| the more advanced problems have
! been solved already, others are under
! way and even the conservative eX-
, perts admit that within five years we
| may have an auxiliary fleet OF un-
| manned war vessels controlled by
| radio.
Naval engineers will not reveal the
technical details Of her ''innards." but
explain the operation of the Iowa
! generally as follows:
| Crew Abnndons Ship.
A crew of men. after starting the
oil burners and the engines. abandon
ship The control ship takes charge
A signal from her aerials is picked
up by the antenna on the radio shiE
and transmitted below. There 1t is
amplif1ed and made to operate very
! sensitive relay. which manipulates q
larger relay. The main relay con-
trolls an electric circuit, which gov
erns a pneumatic vale. This opens
and closes the throttle of the main
engines mechanically by compressed
air. at the will of the RADIO operator
The main relay also manipulates q
sort of commutator, which is the key
to a standard steam steering system
controlled by electrical motors. Ma
| neuvering is also effected automat-
ically in this radio ship by means OF
! a gyro compass. likewise connected
to the master commutator. enabling
the operator to "set the wheel" sc
to speak. on a given course.
All sorts OF devices are installed foi
carrying out the details Of operation
such as controlling water and fuel oil
feeds: but the mechanical brain OF
! tnlS r6ulO monster Is tne
| which literally interprets the radio Sig
mails and executes ORDERS" all within a
second. A time clock device is provided
to keep the craft from running away in
| case the control ships radio apparatus
ceases to function properly. If radio
signals are not received after certain
lapse of time the clock takes charge OF
| the crewless ship and shuts down every
thing All the apparatus except Mr.
Hammond's special relays for the con-
version of the radio signals into cur
rents suficienly strong to operate de-
vices was developed by radio engineers
Of the bureau of engineering or the
General Electric Company. The scheme
| is "aIl-American" and is a carefully
! guarded secret.
VIII Be Moving Target.
| The first radio-controlled battle
ship Is not through by any means
she is still in special commission at
the Hampton roads operating base
where she is in charge of a trained
| crew of mechanics and electricians