Evening star., 1933-12-24
KING RECOMMENDS
AKRON Be REPLACED
Report of Navy Air Chief Also
Asks Los Angeles Re-
turn to Service.

SOAAobA dObAOAl al O 1lCW AldNdA otAoAAAP
to replace the U. S. S. Akron, lost at sea
last April; construction Of smaller air.
ship for training purposes and restora-
ton to service of the U. S. S. Los An
ge!es are recommended in the annual
report of the Rear Admiral Ernest ].
King, chief Of the Navy Bureau of
Aeronautics, made public today.
Admiral King also recommends an
increase of the 1,oo0-plane naval air
plane program to replace 212 airplanes
assigned to is new cruisers, the air.
craft carrier U. s. S. Ranger, now near
ing completion, and the d. S. S. Macon.
He urged in the future that provisions
be made for new airplanes for each
ship equipped with plane facilities that
is added to the feet as a part of the
construction cost Of the ship.
There also Is a serious shortage OF
naval aviators. At the beginning of the
current fiscal year this shortage totaled
1873 and it will not be made up until
about 1945 If Naval Academy gradu-
ates are commissioned only in so far as
necessary to maintain the total COM
missioned officer strength at present al
lowed, Admiral King reported. If the
the public works program. Admiral King
said, the situation in regard to naval
aviators will be even more serious"
More Civilians Asked.
An increase Of civilian employees of
the Navy Bureau of Aeronautics in
Washington, chiefly in the aeronautical
engineering grades, was recommended
to permit the bureau to keep abreast
of aeronautical progress.
Other recommendatio made by Ad-
miral King were that legislation be en-
acted restoring to the War and Navy
Departments the right to Interchange
property; that the breakwater OH
Colon, Canaz Zone, be extended to pro-
vide sheltered landing and take-of
areas; that funds be provided for de-
velopment of a fleet patrol plane OF
long radius, and that proper aircraft
tenders be provided for the patrol
squadrons.
Dealing with the Akron disaster, the
naval air chief said one of the funda-
mental lessons taught by that crash
was the necessity for better trained
sonnel." steps have been take to i'm
prove the ability of airShip-operating
personnel in Astrological studies and in
depreciation CT weather data. he said,
and the recommendations for restora-
ton of the Los Angeles and con-
struction of the two new ships is in line
with this program.
Experimental work and the develop
ment Of new types OF naval aircraft
has been handicapped by governmental
economy. conservative program has
been adopted to seek progressive i'm
provement in performance of engines
and airplaneS. In line with hgh-speed
development a more radical program
has been adopted for development of a
few engines and airplanes for miXimum
performance in the hope that lessons
learned from high-speed flying may be
applied to service airplanes.
Carrier Operations Developed.
The precision and extent of aircraft
carrier operations have attained to
degree never before realized, by virtue
of the highly developed facilities now
available to promote the effective en-
ployment Of airplanes from carrier
flight decks" Admiral King said. Fur
ther simplification with still greater re-
liability and improved action is antici-
pated from the development Of carrier
and airplane gear now underway, in
which highly satisfactory progress has
been made" he continued.
The fourth United States airplane
carrier, U. S. S. Ranger, is scheduled
for commissioning May /, 1884. This
will be the first carrier designed
throughout and built specifically for the
purpose this country has had, the other
three having been converted vessels of
other types.
There is an urgent need for proper
aircraft tenders and auxiliary vessels
to permit the patrol squadrons to do
more extended work with the fleet,
Admiral King reported. Preliminary
plans have been made for conversion
of the collier Neptune to a seaplane
tender, though such conversion is re-
garded as only makeshift.
Development of new two-seater
fighters and of long-range patrol planes
Is sought. The program for develop
ment of facilities for handling rigid
airships is being continued, with i'm
proveinent of mooring masts in the
Hawaiian Islands, San Diego, Guanta-
namo and Miami. Plans for similar in
sta1lations in the Puget Sound area
and in the Canal Zone are dependent
upon availability Of funds.