The Hardin tribune-herald. [volume] (Hardin, Mont.) 1925-1973, 1942-06-25

FlNe. 6ul he absence VI SlISAllS
planes along our coasts. u un'
bounded monopoly of non-infamma'
BILE helium gas. geographical sit
uation make the blimp an ideal
weapon for American defense
Blimp Capabilities
AS a warship, the dirigible's pro-
ponents say, it a be an effective
aircraft carrier.
A rigid airship can carry ten at
tack bombers and has a range OF
TO- 900 miles without %re-fueling. Its
planes would not need the heavy
landing gear required Of planes that
land on the ground and therefore
their speed could be greatly in
creased. Furthermore they could be
launched at high speed for the air
ship itself has a top speed of "a
nautical miles per hour.
In answer to the charge of vulner-
ability, the airship's friends say that
surface air-carriers are highly vul-
nerable. too. Japan found that out
at Midway That the airship is vul-
nerable to only one enemy weapon
planes. The surface carrier can
be attacked by the guns Of other
ships and submarines as well as
planes. The airship keeps out Of
range Of gun fire. And the loss Of an
airship carrier would not be as cost.
ly in money, replacement time OF
personnel as a surface carrier.
In peacetime, with Americas mo.
nopoly Of non-explosive helium gas
to carry it, the dirigible could dc
all that the Germans proved could
be done with the successful flights
Of the Hindenburg-and more.
Captain Rosendahl has a light ir
his eye when he talks about that
Buy War Bonds
Amphibious America
America is going amphibious.
That sounds professional. 1t /!
really just a natural deduction O.
what happened at Midway. A de
duction that I made in the light o.
a conversation I had before the bat
tie of Midway with a w~ind-tanned,
salt bitten sailor-man with a lot O.
stripes on his sleeve. He was kin
of the men who made the Yankee
clipper queen of the seas, weather.
beaten as a piece of driftwood. mel.
low as old port.
Here is the way he sized up the
war in the Pacific. as he saw it before
Midway through the calm eyes OF
experience. tempered by the proof.
ing Of memories before a cracking
fire that warmed his snug harbor
and in whose dancing shadows he re-
read a long life with his face barred
against salt spray.
LAS I see it." he said, our navy
has nothing to be ashamed Of"
He had read. he said, the books
about naval warfare, most Of them.
He reeled off the titles I couldn't
follow. But, he said, none Of them
ever talked about airplanes. And
there was very little about subma-
rines. And not much about landing
parties, when soldiers on the sea,
leave their ships under war condi-
tons and become land fighters
amphibians. This the Japs worked
to perfection in their fight on Singa-
pore. The Japs have written sew
eral new chapters for the war books.
Il don't know where they learned
what they did. Some Of our fellows
preached it. Nobody listened.
You don't always have to be
bigger and stronger than the other
fellow" he said. but you've got
to know what he's going to do next.
As I read the reports and the news
paper accounts. the Japs had eyes
that we didn't. They had planes
that we didn't. They knew what we
were going to do. What we wanted
to do.
In the battle Of the Macassar
straits they didn't know. and we
licked 'em. And when the history
Of this war Is written you'll find out
that there would have been a lot
more Macassar straits If the Japs
hadn't learned what we were doing
before we did it. You'll find that
more than once, when they did find
out, they ran away"
At Midway, we found OUT and
they had to run awav.