The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1922-02-03
Navy Has Designed One on Turn
table Which Can Be Operated
on Any Ship.
ENORMOUSLY SIMPLE DEVICE
Airpiane May Be Launched Into Wind
Without Regard to Direction
Battleship Is Headed-com-
pressed Air is Used.

Washington.-The navy has been
launching airplanes from the decks
Of battleships for several years, but
1t has hitherto been necessary always
to maneuver the battleship so as to
launch the airplane directly into the
wind. This manifestly, would be i'm
possible In actual battle. SO the Uni
ted States Navy department has just
developed a system whereby an air
plane may be catapulted into the wind
without regard to the direction the
battleship is headed.
The Scientific American gives a
complete description Of this ingeniously
simple device, which is now being
shown at the Philadelphia navy yard.
Following is the article, slightly con-
densed:
ITO permit the launching Of air
vessel the catapult has been resorted
TO, and special type Of catapult has
been developed which has been des-
lgnated turDtable catapult because
the catapult mechanism proper Is
mounted Of a turntable so that II can
be pointed into the wind when launch
Ing plane.
+ODe eatapult Of this type could be
Installed on every battleship and
could launch when needed a fighting
sirpiane. so that feet of battleships
would be able on the approach Of hos
tile bombing airplanes to send into
the air instantly a large number Of
lighting planes to shoot them down
before the bombing attack could be
developed. This Is the real answer
10 the threat Of the bombing plane,
which was demonstrated I'm so spec
tacular manner by the recent bomb
Ing from the air Of the ex-German
warships.
an the bombing attacks of these
ex-German warshlps II was shown
that bombs dropped from the air
could do material damage to war
ships which did not defend them
selves. Obviously a warship can de-
fend itself by anti-aircraft gunfire.
but never by attack In the air. The
weapons OF offense and defense In
the history Of naval warfare have
always developed step by step and
the development of the heavy bomb
Ing airplane Is being met by this de-
velOpment of catapult which will
shoot fast combat planes from the
decks Of battleships into the air to
yepel homhino attacks
Developed In Ten Years.
1.-THE catapult of this particular
type is new, but the elements are the
result Of navy catapult development
initiated In 1911 by Capt. Washington
I. Chambers, at that time In charge
Of naval aviation experiments. The
FIRST flight WINS made Nov. IL, 1912,
by Commander, then Lieutenant, T.
@. Ellyson In a Curtiss seaplane from
q catapult.
"The matter was resumed in 1916
when the development Of naval sea-
planes had proceeded to such point
that 1t was clear to the Navy It would
be desirable to take aircraft to sea.
A new design Of catapult. based on
experience with the first one. was In.
stalled on the stern Of the armored
cruiser North Carolina and success.
full flights were made. The North
Carolina installation proved so re-
|fiiable that similar catapuIts were In
ON the armored cruisers Sc
attic and Huntington. and during
t,e early winter Of 1915 successful
Ifaents we're made from these cruisers.
r~'sAt the time the United States en-.