Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1925-12-20
NAVY HAS VESSEL
FOR BOMB TESTING
Collier, Now Useless, May Be
Given Army for Air
Attack Target.

oiFCii Amy iOl All
Attack Target.
BS WILLIAM J. WHEATLEY.
The Navy may possibly have a
shin to give to the Army for bombing
tests in the near future, in accord
arco with the law which authorizes
.-urh use The collier Orion. which
recently hurried back into port at
Norfolk after she had headed into the
wake Of storm and had been twist
"a so that to continue might have
sent her to the bottom, as ii is be
l'eved was the fate of her sister ship,
The Cyclops. during the war, may be
available for tests by Army air
fOmberS.
After the enactment of the law
authorizing transfer Of n ship of the
Navy, Mai. Gen. Mason NJ. Patrick,
chief of the Army Air Service, asked
FOR one, but Assistant Secretary Rob
lnson refused, saying there was no
ship available. The condition OF the
orion, it was said, throws new an
Gle on the situation and places within
The realm of possibility another bomb
ing test to determine the effectiveness
Of an air unit to go out and locate
ship, attack and sink 1t.
Two-Fold Purpose.
The Orion, therefore, may serve a
two-fold purpoSe-one in the interest
Of naval construction, for from her
NAV be gained some clue to the dis
apnearance of the Cyclops, and the
other in the interest OF national de
Tense, so far as aircraft offense or
defense is concerned. 1t will be re-
membered that the CyclopS dlsap.
reared at sea during the war, ana
nothing has ever been heard OF her
nothing found that might indicate
what happened to her. For a While
it was thought that she had fallen
into the hands of the enemy. but the
end of the war wiped out this bellef.
When the Orion recently Went 10 sea
and her great frame buckled from the
strain of the waves, another angie
.tppeared which might furnish naval
EXPERTS with a theoretical solution OIL
the disappearance of the Cyclops
DISPATCHES from Norfolk. where
court of inquiry is investigating the
cause of the bucklinG OF the snip
frames. indicate that the Orion, be-
camse of this structural defect, may
never be allowed to go TO sea again
as a naval ship. To send the snip
out. knowing this weakness, II was
3ointed out. would be suicidal.
II was indicated that she would
nave to be scrapped. and, it was
pointed out. it would be a good way
10 scrap her by sending her out as
e. target for air bombers
Should the two departments. war
and Navy. be able to agree on the use
of the Orion as a target, there would
he the question to be settled as TO
whether she should be towed to sea
and allowed to float almleSSly, or
whether it would be better to equip
her. with wireless control apparatus,
and provide a searching problem lor
-he aircraft, during which they Woulc
be required TO locate the EeSseI anu
bomb her while steaming.
The Iowa So Equipped.
The battleship Iowa was so equip
ned but she was sunk by gun IRE
from the fleet. This apparatus is
rIncannv in its operation. The snip
so equipped maneuvers about the
sea without soul on board, her
movements controlled entirely by the
radio apparatus of & ship ~ miles
away. Her boilers are fired by iadlo'
radio turns her rudder, steam pres
sIre is regulated by radio. But 1t IS
$50. 900 to place such an apparatus
ON a ship like the Orion. II the vessel
is sunk this is total loss.
OF course it was pointed out, the
IDEAL test with air craft would De 10
hermit the loading, range setting ana
control of her guns with radlo' buI
his development has not yet appear
I'd. but is not beyond the realm OF
possibility. At any rate, 1t IS beleVeu'
another effort to determine the enec-
ttveness of an air fleet against a sur
face fleet will come up soon.
The collier Orion is $50 feet long,
With a breadth of 60 feet. Her speed
Is "A knots and her decks are or steer.
The control equipment on the Iowa
was designed under the supervision
of the Navy Bureau OF Engineering
in consultation with j. II. hammond.
ir.. who is the owner of the important
nateuts covering the circuits OF the
installation. 1t was manufactured at
the Philadelphia Navy Yard.
The equipment consists Of two ra-
dio receivers which convert the radio
energy of the controlling ship INTO
direct current suitable for operating
selecting electrical relays. Ihese re-
laws operate in response to comDlna-
lions Of dots and dashes sent from the
controlling ship. If signal Is re-
ceiyed to set the ships rudder at 10
degrees, left or right, the proper relay
will close an electrical circuit which
starts an electric motor on the steam
steering engine control. This motor
replaces the ordinary hand wheel and
rome control in the pilot house. Inc
electric motor viii stop when the rud-
der reaches the proper position.
If a signal is received to start the
main engines, the proper relay Will
close and start the engines as we'll
as bring the fires to the proper heat.
These controls are operated by com
pressed air Automatic devices are
provided for shutting down the fires
and engines in case no radio signal IS
received within a predetermined time
Of the start signal. A syro control is
also provided for automatically keep
ing the ship on any designed course.
This is an electric device connecting
The gyro compass with the steering
engine.
of course, the Orion is a naval aux
Hilary and is not armorCd. 1t would
NOT give a real test as to the effec-
tiyeness of bombs, but With radio APP
paratus such as described it would
furnish a real test as to the ability
of the arlmen to hit the ship under
somewhere near service conditions,
except. of course, they would not be
subjected to anti-aircraft fire.