The Adair County news., 1922-11-14
Ait regarded generally as a remark
ablv hiah score.


OF course the conditions OF the test
were largely in favor Of the seaplanes.
The weather was ideal and there was
no opposition, excepting, Of course, the
ability Of the battleship to dodge the
oncoming torpedoes. In battle, natu-
rally, the seaplanes would have had
far less easy time. But conditions on
both sides would have been reversed.
Z The operations conducted with the
Arkansas as the center of attack
demonstrated what is regarded among
navy officers as highly important
that the torpedo attack and the neces-
sary maneuvering to avoid such an
onslaught threw the battleship forma-
ton into such confusion as to de-
stroy the firing program. Rapid
maneuvering was necessary to avoid
the torpedoes, with the result that the
guns were swinging back and forth
to.an extent where firing program
could have been carried out only with
the utmost difficulty, part of the time
not at ALL,
Rear Admiral w. A. Moffitt, chief of
the bureau of naval aerOnautics, who
observed the operations from the
bridge of the Arkansas, battleship
aboard which he was at one time the
executive officer, commented on the
confusion caused by the torpedo at
tack. He regarded this as one of the
essential results OF the maneuvers.
New to the Service.
An interesting detail of the whole
performance was the firing of a tor
pedO at an angle of 80 degrees, dis
tinctly new in the service. In the pre-
liminary part of the attack the air.
planes, in order to let go their tor
ship, coming as close as 800 yards. In
spite of the large number of airplanes
lowering about, it was easy enough to
tell which was about to fire a torpedo,
) so that the lodging by the ship was
Simplified.
But all this calculation was upset
when }one of the seaplanes swOoped
down in 6 direction opposite to that
in which the battleship was travelling.
Nobody thought that the plane ex-
pected to launch torpedo, but 1t did
that very thing, sending 1t off at an
angle Of 90 degrees.
Within two minutes the torpedo had
recovered itself and was turning at
right angles, making directly for the
battleship- 1t was too late to swing
around to escape the hit, which was
amidships, on the port side, a blow
sufficient, had the torpedo been loaded
with explosives, to have sent the bat.
tleship to the bottom.
Altered Views of Officers
The natural tendency of some Of
ficers aboard the feet to belittle air.
craft as an essential agency in the
future has been changed materially
by the tests with the Arkansas. The
tendency existed, even after the bomb
ing tests of year ago, which sue
ceeded in the destruction of the ten
.one-time German warships turned over
to the United States under the terms
of the armistice. The feeling then was
that bombs would be effective only if
properly placed, under the most favor
able conditions, and then in engage
ments which were not far from land
Protective decks might easily be
constructed, it generally was held
which would make it almost impOSSi
ble to destroy battleship. With limi
tatiOns, this is true, but the tOrpeG"
has changed the situation materially.
Nobody knows better than the navy
the effectiveness of tOrpedOes.
In fuEtherance of the torpedo firing
the naval air service has drawn up
plans for new type of seaplane, to be
called the Davis-Douglas plane. This
will have greater cruising radius and
greater lifting ability, overcoming sew
eral of the disadvantages now recOg
nized with the inadequate type of ship
now used. In the tests just held the
seaplanes did not go above 1000 feet.
whereas in actual operation they
might be called upon to go to 10000 OF
even more, that safety might be as
sured. Macgregor in the New
York Herald