The Washington times., 1923-12-04

Air, Surface, and Undersur-
face Forces Are Necessary
for Adequate Defense.
By W. r. FULLAM.

BY w. r. FULLAM,
Rear Admiral q. 8. N. RetiredI.
copyright. 1929. by Cosmopolitan News
Service.)
The navy is making every
effort to encourage the introduc-
ton of air power into the active
operations of the fleet. This is
vital. No fleet that fails to avail
itself properly of the new weap-
ons-air forces and submarines
can possibly win in the next war
against fleet that is equipped
with these dominating weapons.
Three-PIane Navy.
The nation that looks ahead and
conforms to an enlightened naval
policy-the recognition Of a Three
Plane Navy" operating in the air.
on the surface, and beneath the sur,
face--will win. hands down, against
q nation that looks. backwards and
builds its policy on the strategy of
the ostrich that buries its head in
the sand, hearing nothing, seeing
nothing. and not wishing to know
anything of the dangers that ultra
conservatism and lack of prepare
ton must inevitably involve.
A dispatch from San Diego tells
as that the commander-in-chief of
the Pacific fleet broke the worlds
record the other day when he flew
his four-starred flag from an air
plane in flight on the Pacific
Coast from one naval base to an.
other. And the dispatch also in
forms us that the same admiral. in
active command afloat, had pre-.
v1ously cruised in a submarine from
port to port. Nothing will do more
than this to encourage the per-
sonnet Of the Naval Air force and
the Submarine Force OF the Navy.
Important Parts of Fleet.
!. They win begin to feel that they
are, in truth, recognized as i'm
portant elements in a modern fleet.
They have long deserved such recog-
milton and the time has come to
impress upon Congress. also, the
fact that the Navy possesses not
no cruiser submarines, and no mine
layers; and that the Nays air
force is totally Inadequate for the
emergency OF war.
The Navy Department and the
Bureau of AeronauticS are prepar-
ing to send all of its available air
forces to operate with the fleet in
the Caribbean this winter Planes
win be used to control the fire of
big guns. and 1t is expected that
scouting, bombing, and torpedo
planes viii all be used in connec-.
ton with the tatical and strategic
maneuvers that should illustrate
the operations Of modern war.
DirigibIes Needed.
But 1t is not in airpIanes alone
that air power will be utilized in
the next war. The success of the
Shenandoah. her flights in all kinds
Of weather and above the clouds
where she can hide at will, proves
that such ships can. make long
cruises over the sea for days at
time to locate and give the first
warning of a hostile fleet.
A naval officer of war college
experience has visualized a com.
mander-in-chief, or a member Of
his staff, taking station in q dirig.
ible during the approach of a
hostile fleet in the early stages of
q sea battle, in order that he may
get an accurate idea of the dis
position Of the eneny's forces and
by wireless messages transmit the
necessary orders for the prelim.
mary deployment of his own force
to meet the situation. And it must
be noted that the commander-in-
chief. after obtaining the needed
information with his own eyes,
could embark in an airplane
attached to his aerial flagship and
fly down to board the super-dread-
naught-his flagship on the sur
face Of the seal There is nothing
visionary in this picture.
The Shenandoah has been sue
cessfully moored to a mast at
Lakehurst, New Jersey, with the
aid Of a few officers and only
eighteen men on the ground. This
solves the problem of safely an
choring airships in cross-country
flights. A few n1asts between
New York and San Francisco-or
on any line where airships may
cruise in the transportation of
mails, passengers and merchan.
dlse-win enable them to do the
WIN IcqulT6u OF Inen. immense
covered hangers are not required.
The masts are not as expensive
as a great railroad station-far
Iessi
An English airship was kept
moored to a mast in Scotland for
a month or more in all kinds of
weather-gales of wind, snow and
ram. This problem has been
solved
Navigation Comparatively Easy.
1t is absurd to exaggerate the
difficulties of airship navigation.
In the old days of sailing ships
IN the navy as well as in the mer-
chant marine-a full-rigged ship
with cloud Of white canvas could
not, to be sure, sail boldly up a
river or into New York harbor
p against adverse tides and winds!
She was often compelled to anchor
outside and await tug or a favor
XMAS CARDS
ROCKS