Evening star., 1923-05-27
Warships Still Backbone of =. S. Fleets;
Navy Officials Discount Claims for Aero

is small, but aircraft wears out and
becomes obsolete in two years time
Add to this the unavoidable expense
of maintenance in the veE- high per-
centage of loss through crashes and
other operating causes.
Many Craft Could BE Built.
Eighteen of the most modern bat
tleships and battle cruisers, 200 mod
ern destroyers, thirty modern cruis-
ers, fifty modern submarines, could be
built for two-thirds the cost of our
aviation effort during 1917. 1918, 1919
and 1920. These vessels would be ef-
fectfve for twenty years.
Aside from the economy argument.
let us look at the tactical problem
presented to a bombing plane about
to attack battleship at sea. First
Of all, the attacking plane will be
under fire before he can drop his
bomb. He will drop his bomb from
position about a mile above sea
level, at time when he is well with
in range of a dozen or more machine
guns firing $50 rounds per minute.
Added to this disturbing shower of
bullets will be the barage of burst
ing shrapnel of large caliber anti
aircraft guns. The aviator must
Judge accurately the course and
speed of the battleship.
Judge accurately the direction and
Shape his own course through the
air so that the combined effect of the
speed and the course of the plane and
the direction and force of the wind
will cause the plane to travel along
straight line that will, when pro-
longed. pass through the battleship
at the instant the bomb completes it's
fall.
Having done all this. the aviator
without swerving his plane and while
maintaining 1t horizontal, must re-
lease his bomb at the right time with
in fraction Of a second.
Chance to Score Hits.
If he does all this faultlessly, un-
rufaed by bursting shrapnel and the
whistling stress of tracer bullets, and
IL there are no cross currents of wind
lower down. and IL the ship does not
change her course, it is probable that
one bomb in twenty-five will hit.
Probably five hits by large bombs
would disorganize, but not sink a
modern battleShip. So much for the
tactical problem.
The strategic problem involved in
aircraft versus surface ships is fun
damental, and, under present or fore
seen conditions, admits of but one
solution. The great systems of world
commerce operate on the surface Of
the sea Armies move on the sur
face of the earth and the surface of
the sea- Every Industrial, political,
military, naval and air activity de-
rives its support from the land. Abil-
ity to hold and control the land and
to control what happens on ths sur
face of the sea are essential of sue
cess in war.
Every possession Of the United
!States-Alaska, the Philippines. Guam.
the Canal Zone. Porto Rico--will fall
into enemy hands because his ships
may carry all the forces he wants to
those points and because the forces
we maintain there can never be
strong enough to resist indefinitely
without reinforcement.
Armies that move upon the ground
and ships that move upon the seas
are still the controlling factors in
war. Aircraft support other military
effort and do it with spectacular efh-
cheney; but those who think that be-
cause of aircraft we can do without
navies and armies lack that funda-
mental of military genius - strate-
.Sical and tactical Yisiona ---
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