Evening star., 1942-01-01

4
robots called radiolocaters.
When the attack comes-if 1t does
come-it is unlikely that q repetition
Of the surprise Pearl Harbor foray
can occur.
That does, not mean that enemy
bombers cannot reach vital objec-
tives. They have couple Of million
cubic miles of air through which to
fly. strike and flee. 1t does mean
that seaboard attack in great force
and without heavy casualties among
enemy airlnen would be difficult.
The Army maintains a ground
alert instead Of an air alert in order
to have the maximum number of
planes to muster for an attack on
enemy bombers. An air alert means
a constant patrol at varying alti-
tudes.
When fighter planes are kept on
the ground, ready to take of on
q seconds notice, their fuel tanks
are always full and their pilots are
rested.
OlVc 0OmDlu& EucCtIVc.
The type Of plane with which de-
Tending American fighter pilots prob
ably would have to cope in an initial
attack would be dive bombers.
Usually this type carries only q
pilot and rear gunner. Dive
bombers are slower than either
standard heavy bombers, such as the
American flying fortress, and single
scatter fighters.
In an attack on this country they
would be expected to approach in
formation. That enables gunners to
mass their fire against attackers. In
diving on targets, they peel of"
from the formation, aim the plane
at what they want to hit, release the
bomb and level of.
It was dive bombers which did
such devastating work on the Eng
lish manufacturing city Of Coventry.
The first wave started fires around
the perimeter of the town. Sue
cessive waves bombed inside the
fires.
The Japanese used both dive
bombers and torpedo bombers in at
tacking the island Of Oahu. Dive
bombers apparently did most Of the
destructive work on the air fields.
1t is possible that single and two
engine seaplanes, launched from
carriers or tenders, would be used by
either or both Japan and Germany.
These would be heavier planes
carrying bigger bomb loads. Sea-
planes are relatively slow and should
be easy adversaries for defend
ing American fighters.
Plane Equipment Described
The Germans are known to have
ur-engine seaplanes launched by
catapult from mother ships. So far
as is known, these planes are even
slower but they can fly as much as
a thousand miles to the attack and
return to their base.
Standard American interceptor-
fighters made public by the War De-
partment are the Curtiss P-40, the
Lockheed twin-engine P-38 and the
Bell P-39. Other types, notably the
Republic PAT ''Thunderbolt," with a
1000 horsepower engine, are being
manufactured.
The Curtiss, Lockheed and Bell
fighters use hquid-cooled engines
like England's famous Spitfire and
Hurricane fighters. Other American
fighters use radial, air cooled en-
gines. The cylinders fan out from
hub like the points of q starfsh.
The types Of anti-aircraft guns on
which the War Department has per-
mitted publication are standard rs
millimeter (3-inch) and los MILL
meter guns. The former fire r.
pound shells at the rate of IS q
minute, or 100 minute In battery
Of four, and the latter 33-pound
shells at the rate of Is a minute.
The first job Of intercepting en-
emy bombers rests with the Navy
particularly if the planes approach
either American coast on carriers
To destroy the carriers is to destroy
the planes.
Problem Is Twofold.
The problem Is twofold: Detection
and destruction. The farther away
from our shores both can be &C.
compnshed, the better. It Is not I'm
probable that American carrier
borne fighters, dive bombers and
torpedo planes would be employed
TO fight of an enemy far at sea.
II enemy bombers should get BY
that guard, they would run afoul Of
the radiolocaters, which automatic.
ally ferret out and report the pres.
ence of airplanes in the sky. BEHIND
the radiolocaters are the thousands
Of civilian observers, ON 24-houl
duty.
At filter centers, men known a.
plotters and evaluators collect ths
information from the Navy, the
robot locators and the observers
They cross-check the information
on the size, direction, altitude, speet
and nature of the enemy attack.
! An elaborate communication sys.
tenn whips their findings to anti
aircraft batteries and to the field!
where the interceptor- fighters avail
the alarm. At the same time op
orators of warning sirens will b
advised to send the populace Il
cover. Commercial radio stations
and airway beams will be turned of
| Airliners will be grounded.
II
1uskegee Reports Four
Were | lvnched in 1911