Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-04-10
Forecasts New Era in Sea Power

pick off and sink the Golfers and other
auxiliaries.
''On the basis of experience and
demonstrations, that would be no diff
cult task, for the big planes can carry
bomb of from 1000 to 4,o00 pounds.
Dropped on the deck of any fighting
ship or in the water within a short
distance on either side, one bomb
would finish her, and the proportion
of hits in such operations is SO high
that the feet would have no chance.
1t is not commonly understood how
big target battleship presents to a
bomber. If the ship be 600 feet long
and 100 feet BEAM then a great bomb
that strikes her, or within SO feet on
either side, will be fatal It's target
represents an area 600x200 feet The
bomb which falls in the water near
the vessel sinks to certain depth and
explodes, like a depth charge against
the unprotected part of the ship below
the water line. 1t is even more deadly
than if it had fallen on deck.
1.-THE Navy of the future should be
particularly strong in aircraft car
riers. We have one, the Langley.
compieted--an experimental craft of
only is knots The Saratoga and Lex
ington, which are nearing completion,
will carry rs planes each and make
about 80 knots an hour against per.
haps % for battleship. With such
| a speed, carriers program is to
keep out Of range of the battleships
and cruisers and send her aircraft out
to bomb them.
Instead Of building more cruisers
of 10000 tons, which are permitted
under the Washington conference
agreement, sound naval practice would
! be to construct aircraft carriers. The
battleships and cruisers, with their
| steaming radius of about 5000 miles,
are not to be compared to submarines,
with four times that radius It must
be remembered that normally the SUBJ
marine steams on the surface, going
| below only when there are reasons for
/ concealment.
The big new submarines can do
around 100 miles under water at or
Is knots. On the surface they use
| oil for power; under the surface, cleo
| tricity from storage batteries. A
submarine can lay mines anywhere,
| even across the widest ocean. If it be
suggested that the chance of sinking
shipping with mines is rather remote,
my reply Is that at the height of the
submarine campaign the British ad.
miraity was using 600 vessels con.
stantly as mine sweepers to keep clear
| the approaches to harbors Of the Brit.
| ish Isles. That many vessels were
/ lost to other services for which they
would have been enormously useful -
x x x
| Discussion turned to the forthcom-
| ing armament conference recon-
mended by our Government, and the
admiral observed that, of course. the
nation which initiates such confer
Fence assumes serious responsibilities,
because the success or failure of the
conference at once becomes partly a
| political question. In order to secure
results that will make the conference
a success the country concerned is
! liable to have to trade off some of its
| own interests. For example" he
| said, "at the Washington conference,
in order to get Japan to accept the
| 5--5--3 ratio the United States agreed
not further to fortify any of its bases
west Of the Hawaiian Islands. This
hamstrings us in the Pacific and
means that in case of war the Japa'
nese would Immediately seize the
| Philippines and Guam, and in an eff
fort to retake them we would be handi'
capped by having no naval base in all
the 1900 miles between Hawaii and
| the Philippines. The compact not to
fortify Guam was a mistake, but was
forced upon us because Japan de-
manded a quid pro quo for accepting
the 5--5--3 ratio.