Evening star., 1943-04-06
BY WILLIAM ]. WHEATLEY,

Star Staff Correspondent.
DAHLGREN, Va, April 6.-Little
packets of high explosives which
will turn plane into flaming in
ferno in the flash of an eye, guns
which will drive the explosives into
the enemy's vitals, bombsights which
will send screaming missiles ac-
curately to the smallest of targets,
and shells to rip out the sides Of
heavily armored surface craft are
under tests around the clock at
this Navy proving ground.
All day long planes fly over
Machodoc Greek and the Potomac
River dropping torpedoes and bombs
on targets while sensitive instru-
ments record the accuracy of the
firing and the effectiveness Of the
results. In matter of seconds the
naval officers assigned to these i'm
portant tests can tell from their
data Just what gun or a she'll
will do under almost every condi-
ton which can be imagined during
actual fighting on both the sea and
in the air.
Work Has Two Aims.
All of this work has two pur-
poses: First, to find the very best
means American brains can pro-
duce to wipe out the enemy. and
the other to find out how to stop
them from putting United States
personnel and equipment on the
casualty list.
Some of the tests are of equip
ment taken from the enemy. The
projectiles are examined and tested
to determine their power, and the
guns are examined and used to find
out just what they will do. Even
the plane fuselages are made the
subject of examination and tests
to determine what damage may be
done them by fire from American
produced destructive implements.
All of the work necessarily is of
q highly restricted nature, but Rear
Admiral w. H. P. Blandy, chief of
the Bureau of Ordnance, spent
whole day with reporters in the
first wartime inspection of the plant
to show them all of the work being
done to fortify the Navy with the
very best equipment that can be
provided.
Several Secret Weapons.
Among the new implements are
some very special developments, pri-
marily for Hitler and Hirohito. One
very secret weapon was demon
strated which is going to provide
some pounding headaches for the
Axis, and as for Hirohito and his
air forces, there is another, which,
when it is used, will cause more
than headaches-it will blast the
Rising Sun plane crews into OBJ
1ivion
This latter is high-explosive
bullet which can be fired with ma
chine-gun rapidity. But it only took
one of them to strike horror into
the faces of blase reporters, as in
the flash of an eye 50-gallon tank
of gas was turned into an inferno.
One could visualize it as flaming
crema torium for the little Japs in
the skies. AS the great tank of
gas shot flames in all directions, a
fre-ighting crew of sailors, with
3-inch hose lines and a smothering
gas went into action and for 10
minutes fought the blaze. But
there are no hose lines in airplanes.
Another thing learned was that
there are new anti-submarine weap-
ons for the battle of the Atlantic.
There are weapons under develop
ment and some in use. which are far
advanced over the depth charge"
said Admiral Blandy, commenting
guardedly on one ton.
Supplementing rather than replac-
ing the depth charge. these weapons
are expected to deliver some crush
ing blows against U-boats this spring
and summer.
Anti-Aircraft Guns Improved.
Better and better anti-aircraft
guns and ammunition are increasing
the range of usefulness of battle
ships and other surface craft by
radically reducing the effectiveness
Of aerial attack on them. Present
AA-gun types can curtain battle
ship with 100 times more steel than
shipboard AA-guns put up year
ago. Admiral Blandy said Jap planes
could never do to our ships what our
planes have done and will continue
tosdo to theirs.
There Is a school for training
personnel in the repair and MAIN
tenance of the Norden bombsight,
where enlisted men are taught to
take apart the clocklike workings
with the precision of jewelers.. The
sights are turned over to them
with various kinds of casualties the
instruments will meet in service
The men not only must determine
The cause of the trouble, but put
the mechanism quickly back in
service. They are also taught how
to use the sight.
In another section of the reser-
vation there is precision instru-
nent which drops bombs for hours
at time into bed of sand while
delicate instruments record the lag
between the time the bomb release
Is actuated and the time the bomb
starts on its downward flight, a
matter of fractional seconds, but 1t
must be known in order that the
target may be hit accurately.
Bombs Dropped in Tests.
In Machadoc Greek there are
bomb targets over which planes fly
constantly dropping death-dealing
missiles. while personnel on shore
with delicate instruments record
accurately the time of flight and
the point of impact. With them
are radio men who are in continu-
ous communication with the plane,
which, when the newspapermen
we're there, appeared to be merely
= speck in the sky.
In the laboratory there are deli
cate instruments that can tell in
matter of moinutes. for instance, the
composition of a metal. There is a
small furnance for developing and
examining armor plate. And here
too, In a museum, are scores of ar