Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-08-23


served exceptionally well, admit
tedly has certain limitations in
the way Of speed and rapid
handling of gas supplies. Even
the two large aircraft carriers
the Saratoga and Lexington were
laid down as battle cruisers, only
to he converted when the Wash
irlgton Arms Conference of 1922
banned this type Of capital ship,
And the Langley, CLASSIFIED as ex-
detrimental, also was rebuilt into
O. plane carrier.
Arsister ship to the patoka was
ready for service during the Cool
idge administration when it was
planned to send the Inflated
Shenandoah on a fight to the
North Pole by way of Nome,
Alaska and Spitzenberg.
The trip, which would have been
the first polar voyage Of a dirigi-
BILE, had the hearty approval of
President Coolidge and all ar
rangements had been made, in
Guiding the assignment of Rear
Admiral William A. Moffett, chief
OF the Navy AeronauticS Bureau,
as head of the expedition, and
Rear Admiral Richard e. Byrd as
his assistant. The Navy went so
far as to order erection Of tenn
porary mooring masts at Fort
Worth, Tex: San Diego, Calf.
and Nome, and to dispatch the
Pat0ka to Spitzenberg and her
sister ship to Point Barrow.
G. O. r. Took Hand.
But, at the last moment, Re-
publican politicians stepped in
and advised against the trip for
fear 1t would react unfavorably
to the administration, resulting
perhaps In q Democratic victory,
Il things went awry. Coolidge
subsequently revoked his order of
permission.
It was from this proposed polar
flight that Byrd later evolved his
idea for the atrplane expedition
to the top Of the world that made
him famous.
Just what sort Of tender should
be- built for the Akron and her
proposed twin, the ZRS-5, still re-
mains q matter Of conjecture,
although plans definitely are un-
der way for her construction.
Lieut.. w. s. q. Davis, y. 8. n,
In the current issue of United
States Naval Institute Proceed
ings," O serst-officia1 Navy publ
cation, points out the obsolescence
Of the Patoika. He Ciaaracterizes
the former tanker as an made
quate hybrid and asserts certain
features 1cry out for remedial
action IN future design"
Davis Indicates Changes.
: "Upon receipt Of word that the
Los Angeles Is to take part in the
war game Davis continues, "the
PatOka must undergo q meta
naorph0sis from tanker 20 mobile
base. Her mast and the necessary
equipment for actual mooring
operations are on board as per-
nnane1lt fixtures, but much Is to
be done.
"A shipment OF heiiun must be
obtained and loaded on board.
Several thousand cylinders Of
compressed gas are lowered into
q tank reserved for this purpose
and manifolds connected. Next q
tremendous supply OF aviation
gasoline Ia hOiSted aboard in
drums and slowed in other tanks
with q lapse of 10 days to get
this 10-knot ship from port TO
port.
"a two-week period is neces-
sary for boiler cleaning prior to
departure for the South. Even
tually al Is IN readiness and the
ship 1urnbers along at pitiful
speed to her assigned area. weeks
in advance Of the contemplated
arrival Of the airship. I'm
nediately upon Hnooring the cry
is raised for water ballast to re-
place the weight of expended fuel
and 70 avoid valving precious gas.
Water Tank Problem.
'By this time the irladeQuacy
of the tenders water storage space
is evident and the tanks must be
refiIled. Now we have serious
conferences between airship and
tender. It takes time to obtain
water from q dock and the air.
ship must have swinging room for
her stern, not possible from a
dock.
1T takes time to strike up the
drums and empty them into small
deck tanks from which the gaso-
line Is pumped up the mast and
into the airship There are no
means Of hosting a spare engine
up TO replace faulty one. And,
above all, II takes time for a mo-
bile base to steam TO her rem
devious where she will enable the
airshtp TO utilize her cruising
radiurl1Ey Add to this the fact that
the tender Is dependent upon soli-
tary gun for protection against
encounter with hostile craft and
you have an imperfect but grow
Ing picture of her inadequacy to
perform her task and make that
airsflip possible"
All of which only goes TO prove
how much the United States needs
a modern airship tender, built
especially for lighter than-air
work, and not Just another re-
modelled tanker.
EfEiciency Danger Seen.
Davis goes on to ask whether
we are TO hamper the movements
and limit the efficiency Of sur
modern dfrigibles by short-sig1t-
edness in the matter Of mobile
bases for them"
ut is for those charged with
design to produce such a ship as
will oroyf1e a definite negative