Evening star., 1923-03-27
AIR FLEET IS HELD
MOST VITAL TOU.S.
Money for. Navy Gun Changes
Should Go for Planes, Ad-
miraIs Believe.
FIsKE POINTS TO SUCCESS
Declares Adequate Force Would
Make Coasts Impregnable to
Attacking Enemy.
BY FREDERIC WILLIAM VILE.

Veteran American naval authori-
ties declare the United States, in
arguing with Great Britain about
battleship gun-ranges. Is wasting
time on a shadow and ignoring the
substance OF modern sea defense
aircraft. Instead OF spending s3o,-
0O0.000 on patching our dread
naughts," they assert, the United
States Navy ought to be strength
ening itself at the point where II
is weakest, which. they claim, Is a
totally inadequate air force. Much
attention has been attracted by the
revelation of Rear Admiral w. F.
Fullam (retired) that the recent
at Panama siIaringiy
ness in the sky. The maneuvers,"
says Admiral Fullam, "strikingly IL
lustrate the failure of Congress TO
supply the Army and Navy with the
submarines and air forces that are
In modern war" According to Full
lam, the attacking fleet in the first
evolution evaded the defending
distance of the canal locks. mainly
because OF the defendAs' insufficient
aIr scouting forces.
Point to British Case.
Present hour developments in
Europe are adduced by the advo-
Gates of strong American air arma-
"death-knell of navtes." Although
Great Britain is SO powerful at sea
between their. fleets. like an egg
shell, the people OF the British Isles
are at this hour in a state OF panic
over Frances command Of the air"
The thought that the French could
cross the channel, bomb London and
lay industrial Britain waste almost
before she realized she was at war.
has sent the coldest chiils chasing
down John Bulls spine since the
German navy scares of other days.
British .Sure Shield. Gone.
Men like Admirals F'ullam, FIske
and Sims, who hvae been urging that
America pay greater attention to the
development OF the air arm, call the
British situation a timely reminder to
the United States. If the traditional
mistress of the seas" who accepted
naval equality with America at the
Washington conference. now sees the
gravest peril to her security in a hos
tile air fleet, it is argued We should
not hesitate to draw the necessary
conclusion. That conclusion is that
Britain no longer sees in an armada
of battleships her sure shield" She
comedies. on the contrary. that that
shield is powerless to defend her
shores against a power which assails
lHeul win superior air IOTCe-
Rear Admiral Bradley A. Fiske.
L. S. N, retired. who invented the
naval torpedo plane in 1912. express
es to this writer the opinion that in
"fussing around" with Great Britain
about dreadnaught gun ranges. Uncle
Sam is burying his head in the sand.
Per Cent of Hits High.
'If the Navy Department were to
turn around tomorrow" says Admiral
Fiske, and ask Congress to divert
the proposed $30,000,000 appropria-
ton for modernization' OF battleships
to aircraft equipment. 1t would be
the sanest step in the direction of
true national defense that could pos
sibly be taken. am firmly convinced
that If. our Atlantic and Pacific coasts,
as we'll as the Canal Zone. were ade-
Quately protected by bombing planes
the danger of invasion could be ban
ished to the realm OF the practically
impossible. The public isn't aware
that at our autumn maneuvers In 1922
bombing planes scored eight hits out
OF seventeen shots at warships-a
record never family Appropriated in
gun actions between ships.
when I'm told that warships can
fight off airplanes by Sunfire I al
ship at Manila the night before the
battle, who was trying to ward off
swarms of mosquitoes with the butt
of his musket.
publicly that a hundred f1rst-class
airplanes, properly equipped, manned
and distributed. could be concen-
trated at any threatened point on the
Philippine coast before invading
troops could leave their transports.
The only defense against our air
planes would be a greater enemy air
force. But no country in the world
could compete with US in building
airplanes. The cost of air forces
able to protect the Philippines would
probably be less than l per cent of
the cost Of any endeavor to recapture
them"
The Washington treaty limits only
the total tonnage of naval aircraft
carriers to be possessed by the Amer
the ratio of 500. There is no re-
strictlon on the number of airplanes
that may be maintained for defensive
use ashore. 1t is this sort of an air
Fiske and Sims think the United
States ought to build up and main
tain. It's cost, they insist, would be
infinitesimal compared to upkeep and
"modernization" of 35,000-ton dread
tend, dreadnaughts of whatever ton
mage or armament are doomed by
aircraft "Of what avail are battle
ship guns that can shoot. say forty
miles" asks Admiral Fullam, against
easy range of 100 miles, as proved
by the sinking of the ex-German bat
tleship Ostfriesland 100 miles from
Langley Field?" Admiral Fullam
sums up his comments on the Pana-
better to use s30.O00.000 in getting
weapons that will defend, instead of
squandering it on patches and short
range guns that will not defend?"
Copyright. 1927