Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1923-09-21

bomb carrying capacity is FIVE tons.
| She is equipped for a cruising radius
| OF 4,5OO miles. The designer of the
FRI, Commander Weyerbacher. u.
| s, N, wrote as follows regarding the
| flight:
Had we carriedIhe FIVE tons of
high explosives the FRI can float,
we could have dispatched the guns Of
| Forts Hamilton and Wadsworth and
lifted the sea going Aquitanias from
| the water, to say nothing of lesser
craft in the harbor. l could not help
| thinking as we circled Manhattan
what grevious destruction may be
| wrought by aerial bombing over large
cities. IL such floating battleships as
| the FRI can be developed to a point
where they can successfully resist
counter attack.
However, the Fri il not bomb
| ing craft. The prime function of this
and similar airships is to act as n
long distance eye for the navy. The
ZR-1 was designed as a wide ranging
; scout, to scour the seas in time Of
war for signs of enemy fleet move
ments.
Counter attack"-there is the ia
| tai flaw in the theory that airships
| like the FRI can ever be employed
| for bombing. The airship is as vul-
nerable as 1t could be. This was
| proved by the easy destruction Of the
Zeppelins that bombed London and
Paris. The future Of aerial warfare
does not include the use Of airships
as bombers.
Most of the comment upon the
flight of the Fri deals with the idea
that the airship will find it's greatest
usefulness in war as scout, ito
scour the seas for signs Of enemy
fleet movements" With high regard
for Commander Weyerbacher, we do
not agree with him as to the ultimate
use to which airships will be put.
Their vulnerability and their easy
visibility disqualify them for scouting
over the seas, an area which in time
of war would be humming with air.
craft capable Of sinking such air
ships. Moreover, there is no special
advantage in using great airships for
scouting purposes. Airplanes can do
the work more quickly and safely.
and over a wider radius. Airplanes
would not attract so much attention,
and if attacked they would have
better chance of defeating the assail-
ant or of escaping from him.
The airship of the future, in time
of war, will be carrier of airplanes
and airplane supplies. That is its
true duty The bombing and sinking
of two battleships on September b,
off Cape Hatteras, by seven bombing
planes, brought out several funda-
mental Considerations, one of them OF
first rate Importance, viz, the useful
ness of large surface vessels as air
plane carriers. Since battleships can
not survive aerial bombing, airplane
carriers can not. No surface vessel,
in fact, is immune from instantane-
Gus destruction by gigantic bombs
falling from great heights. A naval
fleet would be no antagonist, but
merely a victim, of an aerial fleet
equipped with 2,000-pound bombs.
The endurance fight at San Diego
recently demonstrated the ease with
which fuel and other supplies may be
transferred in midair. The vulnera-
bilitv of surface vessels to airplane
bombing attack, and the practical
bility OF transferring fuel, supplies,
men. and even engines in midair,
point to the logical conclusion that
the crucial fighting Of the future will
, be in the air. for control Of the air.
/ A naval force is safe If the air
above il is free from enemy air
planes. The only way Of keeping the
! air free is to control it with defend
| ing air force. AS aerial warfare eX-
; tends with the improvement of avia-
! ton. there will be need of giant air
! ships capable of carrying airplanes,
bombs, fuel, supplies. and personnel.
| These airships will not risk destruc-
! ton by acting as scouts or bombers.
They will be carefully guarded by
| pursuit planes. They will not be in
| any sense "air battleships," as they
! have been enormously described.
! 1t is reported that the British ad-
mjralty has perceived the uselessness
of surface vessel as airplane carriers,
! in view of their vulnerability to aerl-
I a! bombs. A single bomb, such as
those which sank the Virginia and
| the New Jersey. would cripple or de-
| stroy the air force Of an enemy fleet
! if it should sink an airplane carrier.
But an airship. capable OF great
| cruising radius and carrying power.
protected by fighting planes, would
] be unapproachable by the enemy
] from air. water. or land.
The ZR-1. therefore, is the fore-
runner of the great airplane carriers
| of the future those mother birds that
will convey flocks of steelbeaked fly
ers armed with huge bombs capanle
! Of destroying battleships, forts, ana
encampments.