Evening star., 1939-11-14
German Batt|eships
May Be Targets in
First Air Power Test
Deutschland and Admiral
Scheer MysteriousIy
Drop From Sight
BY COL. FREDERICK PALMER.

BY COL. FREDERICK PALMER.
The first great test of air against
naval power may not be by Ger
man bombers against British war
ships, but by British bombers
against the German pocket battle
ship Deutschland and her sister
ship, Admiral Scheer, which are pre-
sumably still at large on the high
seas outside the British blockade.
We have no word about any dam
age they have done They have
disappeared as completely as though
they had taken fight to Mars.
The German admiralty ought to
know where they are. The British
may know. For the German ad-
miralty to report the sinkings they
have made, if any, might give the
British a hint as to their location,
and for the British to report the
sinkings might be an jmpolitic con-
fession or a hint to the Germans
that the hunt was getting warm"
If no sinkings, why not, in view
of how helpless any merchant ship,
though armed, is to cope with the
Deutschland's and the Admiral
Scheer's speed and 11-inch guns?
Worry for British Admiralty.
1t may be that they are both back
in Wilhelmshaven. In that case,
thanks to their speed and the cover
of fog, which enabled them to get
out and return through the British
blockade, it would seem that they
could get out again. The British
admiralty will have them very much
in mind until both are captured or
destroyed or securely locked in port.
Let us consider the Deutschland,
for example, cruising at sea, able to
get fuel to continue cruising. Her
two little catapult reconnaissance
"spotting" planes are on the lookout
for any approaching British or
French warship with superior gum
power and the speed to overhaul her.
This would be particularly the
British battle cruiser Hood, faster
than she by five knots, which could
stand off out of her range, while the
Hoods 15-inch guns mauled her to
her death. Two other British battle
cruisers and two new French battle
ships are two knots faster. but this
might not be enough to overhaul her
before nightfall affords her the cover
of Natures blackout.
She sights two or three British
cruisers which have only 6 or 8
inch guns. but are much faster
than she. They flash back the word
to the British admiralty that they
have located her She has the
range of them They cannot afford
to approach near enough to be un-
der the fire of her 11-inch guns.
But she cannot run away from them.
Relatively, she is in the position
of a heavyweight boxer against
lightweight boxer, who is better
runner, and better at footwork gen.
orally. with the ocean expanse as
the prize ring. The cruisers stick
close to her. She is unable to shake
them off while they wait for REIN
forcements with a more powerful
punch than hers.
Say her little catapult planes sight
two British aircraft carriers. both
speedier than She They have only
to approach within bombing radius
There she is alone at sea, without
any of the protective companions a
battleship requires.
Own Guns Sole Defense.
She has no surrounding ring of
cruisers and destroyers with their
anti-aircraft guns, no friendly air.
craft carrier with fighting pursuit
planes to intercept and bring down
the bombers Her only defense
against an enemy which she cannot
reach with her guns is her own anti
aircraft guns.
The bombers, operating from a
short distance, can drop cargo after
cargo of bombs. They can slash at
her, as dogs do at grizzly at bay,
until an allied warship, or warships,
with heavier guns, outranging hers,
appears. They may so cripple her,
reducing her speed, that the big,
slower British battleships of the line
can now outrun her and have her
utterly at their mercy. Or the
bombers may finish the job on their
own without any help.
Such an action is not speculation.
1t is quite within the domain of
practicable naval tactics. If the
pocket battleships are back in port,
Air Marshal Goering's advice may
be to keep them there. Or they may
have mission somewhere on the
seven seas which will one day spring
a surprise.
(Released by North American Newspaper
Alliance, Inc)