The New York herald., 1922-10-08

TIE newest development of the
navy air service, the firing of
torpedoes from seaplanes, the
success of which has just been DEM
onstrated in a series of remarkable
tests off the Virginia Capes, with the
dreadnought Arkansas as target. is
causing no end of concern among the
tactical officers aboard these monster
! fighting ships.
While the fleet officers are consid-
ering methods of defense against such
torpedo attack, which admittedly pre-
sents many problems work in perfect
Ing offensive tactics is going ahead at
the naval air station at the Hamnton
Roads naval base. The tests lust COM
Pieted nave been valuable not to the
niers alone, but to those officers whose
duty II Is to keep in action what thev
oeheve probably always will be the
backbone of naval warfare, the bat
tleship.
Inc success in firing torpedoes from
. seaplanes admittedly has brought the
science or naval warfare into a new
Phase. with the result that, while bat
tleships will continue to be essential
to supremacy at sea, that fighting
force which is superior In the air will
De dominant. 1t is the problem now
of Admiral Jones and the other biob
officers of the fleet. who control naval
aViation as well as surface craft to
cooruinate the two for the best re-
suits.
The development of firing torpedoes
from aircraft has been the work of a
year and half, largely in the hands
OF Lieut.. III. T. Bartlett, and il has
been conducted at various stations
along the Atlantic coast Hampton
Roads, Yorktown, Pensacola and New
port. One of the problems has been
the perfection of a launching gear so
that the torpedo carried under the
seaplane, may be let goA at the proper
time: another has been the manufac-
ture of a torpedo which when dropped
INTO the water at from twenty to fiftv
1eet Will Withstand the jar, recover it.
self and function properly; still an
other has been the training of pilots
and the working out of tactics for
attack.
The tests just completed with the
battleship Arkansas as the target
showed that these obstacles have been
overcome to large extent, although
1t must be said that this kind of tor
pedo firing is as yet not fully devel-
oped. The tests have demonstrated
that there are many things yet to
overcome-for instance, the necessity
for better type of seaplane. to pro-
vide greater speed and endurance;
longer range for firing torpedoes, so
that it will not be essential that the
seaplane get dangerously near the tar
get. and a still greater problem, that
OF dropping torpedo from a distance
higher than forty or fifty feet from
the surface of the water. These weak
nesses are recognized, and the airmen
are trying to overcome them.
Planes Flew Ninety Miles
to Fleet Rendezvous
In the attack on the Arkansas the
seaplanes carrying torpedoes flew
from the naval base at Hampton
Roads, a distance of ninety miles, to
the scene of the operations. The tor
pedoes were slung under the seaplanes,
each seaplane carrying one. The Ar
Kansas, accompanied by two other
battleships, the Wyoming and the
North Dakota, were under way, steam
ing at seventeen knots an hour.
The problem for the seaplanes was
to get to the target, launch the torpe-
does to register hits and get away
again. The comparative success of
this was demonstrated in the tally,
which showed that of seventeen tor
pedoes launched nine hit the target.
The Arkansas was able to dodge three
of the torpedoes by quick maneuver-
ing. although one of these went on
and, by accident, hit the North Da-
kota.
The torpedoes of course were dunn
mics, but i'm every other way except as
to, explosive charge they were of the
navy standard type, Weighing about
1000 pounds.
The planes. from an altitude of about
1000 feet, swooped down 10 within
forty feet ofthe water and when about
1000 yards from the target let go the
torpedoes. II was easy enough from
the bridge of the Arkansas. to see
these drop. When they were let go
the planes would get up again and
duck out of the way, turning off and
making for base
The torpedo would land I'm the water
with great splash and then go out
OF sight. II required minute and a
half or two minutes for the torpedo
10 recover itself in the water and then
make for the target. It's course was
easily discernible, as it travelled be-
meath the water at depth Of eigh-
teen feet. 1t left a ripping wake as
II made its way nearer and nearer.
Nine of tie Torpedoes
Found Their Target
Observers, stationed all over the
battleship. reported by telephone to
the bridge. where the navigator shifted
the position of the vessel, sometimes
in time to dodge the torpedo. In spite
of this. however, nine of the torpedoes
hit regarded generally as a remark
ably high score.
OF course the conditions OF the test
v,cre largely in favor of the seaplanes.
The weather was ideal and there was
no opposition, excepting of course, the
ability of the battleshp to dodge the
oncoming torpedoes. In battle, natu-
rally, the seapianes would have had a
far less easy time. But conditions on