Evening star., 1925-02-20
MITCHELL ASSA|LS
ERRORS IN NAVY'S
BOMB TEST REPORT
Declares Report Given to
President on U. S. S. Wash
Ington Is Misleading.
EXPLOSIVES NOT USED,
AIRCRAFT PROBERs TOLD
Asks That Dreadnaught North Da-
kota Be Made Target in
New Experiment.

For the purpose of calling the al
tention of the committee to the fact
about the battleship Washington
bombing experiment" Brig. Gen. Will
liam Mitchell assistant chief of the
Army Air Service, appeared today be-
fore the House aircraft investigating
committee and declared the report Of
the Navy board yesterday on the
Washington bombing leads the peo-
pie to believe that the battleship
can Withstand aerial attack, which
is most decidedly an error"
The general declared that no bombs
were used in the tests, and that in
their stead static charges were placed
alongside the ship and set off. This
method showed nothing new what
ever" declared the witness He said
total of 5000 pounds of INT was
placed in the water over a period of
three days; also. he continued, two 400
pound charges were exploded close
to the ship, and these blew great
holes in the sides.
Says ship Listed Heavily.
Asked by the committee how II was
that two naval officers were able TO re-
main on board and uninjured, Gen.
Mitchell said there was nothing to it,"
explaining that people stood on the deck
of the Indiana while 1,600-pound Eng
lish bombs laid on the deck were ca
ploded
After the two 400-pound charges ex-
ploded Gen. Mitchell continued the ship
listed heavily, and then from distance
of $500 yards projectiles were fired, "a
hits being recorded out of II shots.
Gen. Mitchell declared the armor-
piercing projectiles dropped from air
planes toward the conclusion of the
tests were sand bombs.
This goes to show" he declared,
that the capital ship or any other ship
and any organization on ground as
we'll"
The Navy report published yester-
day declared great faith in the anti
aircraft guns aboard the battleship TO
ward off aerial attack, and further
made the statement that it was the
first line of defense opposed to air.
craft which had been sighted as the
only force capable of successfully
combating aircraft. OF this Gen.
Mitchell said: The Navy records
II
insoluble from battle ships-they have
the records in their files, make them
get them OUT
Amused by Statement.
In time of war, Gen. Mitchell said,
it is 10 be expected that some one
will return fire TO defend themselves.
and he said: 1t is very amusing TO
think that an enemy Will not defend
himself. Why, battleships so out to
target practice and with nobody
shooting at them make or > per
cent hits"
The general disagreed with the
declara ton made by a recent witness
from the general staff that it is dim
cult for an airplane to get out of the
beam of a searchlight. He said he
succe sSfully has accomplished that
without difficulty and told the COM
mittee he would take any member
over TO Boiling Field and would fly
down the rays of the sun. which
would obscure his ship until he
reached a few feet of the ground
Representative O'Sullivan of Connec-
tiCut took UP the general on this in
vitation. and after the witness com
pleted his testimony both departed
for Boiling Field.
Asks Ship Be Target.
Ina smuch as the battleship North
Dakota is scheduled for scrapping
under the treaty, Gen. Mitchell be-
lieved, he urged and the committee
approved that the dreadnaught be-
turned over for further bombing
practice. While admitting the North
Dakota was not as .modernly con-
structed as the late Washington in
regard to blisters and water-tishu
Z 4 oil
that doesn't make any difference:
we can blow her out of the water if
neces ssary."
The Navy report had cited British
tests in aerial bombing on the Aga
memnon. and Gen. Mitchell declared
this didn't show anything" whereas
the Navy board thought it meant a
great deal from the standpoint of air
plane shooting at moving target.
Gen. Mitchell said 124 toy bombs OF
s and 12 pounds each were dropped.
and they were so small that the
splash in the water could not be seen
He said. however, 10 hits on the ship
were observed.
Cites Report of 1921.
The general cited the position taken
by the joint Army and Navy board
in 1921 which, over the signatures of
Secretaries of War and Navy and
Gen. Pershins declared aircraft car
rying a sufficient amount of explosive
by excellent Workmanship can rem
der great damage to battleships.
That position has never been
changed, and it stands today" Gen.
Mitchell empha sized. He said the
Army is in possession of 4,00o-pound
bombs ready for use, and that two
airplanes-the Barling bomber and
the l.. W. +. OwI-can carry these
heavy explosives, but only for expert
mental purposes. He said, We should
have had 4,00O-pound- bonn carrying
planes two years ago, and it always
should be our policy that our bombers
can carry two bombs, one of which
alone would be sufficient to sink
battleship.
Navy Ohicer Heard.
Lieut. Comdr. Holbrook Gibson or
the Navy Department, at the request
of Seer etary Wilbur, testified on
submarines and aircraft The Of
ficcrs' statement was brief He said
experiments had been conducted
along the lines of submarines carry
ing aircraft, but this had not proved
practical. 10 the best of his knowl
edge, he said, no other nation has
succe ssfully accomplished this
The committee decided to issue 2
subpoena for Lieut.. Comdr Clifford
A. Tinker, u. S. n. r. F., to explain
an article in a recent issue Of
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