THE AIRSHIP IN WARFARE

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 19, 17 October 1907, Page 10

THE AIRSHIP IN WARFARE

VIEWS OF MAJOR' 'By BADEN-POWELL. That immense strides havo boon mado by tho English military authorities in tho development of tho airship as a useful fighting machine is undoubted, writes Major B. Badon-Powell in tho "Daily Mail." I have seen tho airship under the caro of Colonel Capper, - but I cannot, of cour.se, divulgo the secrets of its construction. It is snlficient to say that I havo seen tho Fronch and German creations of tho same kind, and I think that wo oro not boing loft behind by tho foreigners. - , . THE COMING OF THE PETROL ■ ENGINE.- : -;. „ , The French first brought out ' a dirigible balloon about 1882, which was a wonderful success,, considering all things, but after working'it for several years they dropped it for some reason, and have not done anything moro with it until now. Probably tlioy were unable to hit on moans of improvomont before. One thing that has mado the possibilities greater in tho matter is tho coming of tho petrol ongine. Formerly trials were mado with olectric engines, which were very heavy and not too roliablo. Tho lighter petrol engines,, which are safo and easily constructed, havo enablod great developments to bo made. I was very pleased with tho French airship that Isaw. •' It is a beautiful and strongly made machine of good ship-shape style, and not of tho gimcrack, temporary character as .many of.thdm have been. It is difficult to say if tho English one is as gooduntil it has .undergone proper ,trials. It may look all right, but for.some reason or. another it may bo found that it will not: go. From what I have seon and heard of it, however, I , think it will bo found to bo satisfactory. ' We aro going ahead, although wo havo not got lriiicli.' m'onoy to' spend'"over the •experiments, but. what little wd'have is being, woll oxpended. ' Other shins aro being'Jaid, down, and tho triajs will show us what 7 can bo done with them. -' . ; •Tho largest airship is the Gorman ono of Count Zeppelin,, which,is ; over.4oo feet long. I. havo seen it'.out'tivipp/, Although it is of snch an enormous size, it is quite correct theoretically, but in practice it is a big tiling to manago. It has gono thirty miles an hour, but not'much has been" done" with it lately. Building an airship is something like constructing an Atlantic liner with no small steamer built in advance from which to gain oxpcrionco. The English airship is not built on tho lines of that'of Count Zeppelin. The latter is like a ship 'with; a big frame, covered in with stuff'-to make it rigid, and thore aro several separate .balloons inside. It. is much larger than ainy'others 1 havo seen, and weighs several..-,tefns. . The but tho wind, of balloon airships very: largoli'i rand^their: practical use the currents. Tliey.vaVe. propelled i:i'!the, same way ; as a steamerj': : bnt..the'.' "groat ; 'cliffo'reaico bo-' twecn a 55 that tho formcr'«eTdwn'encouiifers a sea current running mois''t]&'&'.SVa hour, whereas in the ,iiir.,,'T^"incl; : ' 1' currents blowing tiycnty or thirty; iriile's.'au ■ hour are common. Tliat is 'whcro lies, and wo must obtain greater/ sp'ecd. m order to stem the wind currents.'' " I .thirik it will be overcomo. We get airships now which can be propolled at-thirty miles an hour, and' we may reach fifty niiies, but I do; not think wo' shall go beyorid that with balloons. .There' is no doubt in my mind that tho airship section will be tho most, important branch .of the service oventually. Wo cannot foresee what is. in the futuro,. but of ivo •got. a machine capable, of /going '.up'iiif ajiy weathor; and' w;ith ;a speed;.ofr.thirty;: oi',- forty liiiles an^iour^—l think they 'nidy 'ultimately go even faster —it would certainly havo ! a tremendous .effect not; only, oil military but also on riaval, warfare.- _ f - Their .first importaiioo'would in ;recon- i noitriug:' ait 'enemy's th'oir aid' We could loarn exactly wlifiro bodies' of 'troo'ps wore,;they would bo. able to detect any fortifications, arid'got Allans of thorn, ivhich would mako an.enormous difference to any armylin ;tho field..:.; When:.one comes to think of tho South African war; one can soo what an advantage an: airship would havo.-been-to us then. ■ If every aay. we had- known whore ■tho' Boors. ! wero, •and' where their entrench'mo'nts 'layj it'would'havo made all'tho difference in tho world'to that campaign;'"-- ; 'I donot-believo' that airships'will-be of so niiich'use in .dropping explosives ' into an oriemy's camp, or fortifications; although itjis possible-that may-come,about. ' ;[Phoj,w.ould not be ablo'to carry! a great weight of projectile, but...it .!may'.bß .that they could, lie armed with a very small shell containing • a high explosive, of light weight. On,the other hand, howevor, thero would be a difficulty in trapping the explosive in the right placo, unless.it were possible-, to hovor exactly over the objective spot. Ido not say it is impossible, but at first reconnoitring will be the most practical use of an airship, ivhich will only carry a crew of five or six men. Some people say , that if war broke out tomorrow airships would be of vast importance, i think they would bo .important in a way, but they will not mako any groat difference to an arriiy until it is possiblo to havo a nunibor of them working together in a practical way. Even a single maehino, of course, inay gain important information, but its influence would not- be' overwhelming* HOW SEA BATTLES WILL BE ' AFFECTED. In naval warfare airships would bo able to go right ovov an enemy's liarbours and ascertain what ships wero lying there, and possibly tlioy might drop explosives on tho ships or ; in'the forts) They;could do damage so long 1 as-the ships had no'giihs which could firo directly upwards. lam certain, however,. that in.;a'fow, yearsj .time- battleships,;a.V woll •' as land 1 'artillery,'.'; will- J possess' guns} vrliiqii will lie ablo to fire projectiles an im-' monso distance straight up in the air. That ■ .ill revolutionise fightiifg, and will.havo as great^ari''elfec , t;asrthq submarine has had in sea battles. ■'■ '• I do * iiot, expect<';to, see battles in 'the air between.fleets'of airsliips just yet; but I ,snpppso:it jvill come' to. that if developments, ■proceed as rapidly as;.they., are doing at pre-' Jscnt:.• It''is:co"ncejvable_that airships may be: ifitted •''Tnih'''ligKi ; ; certainly- the rifle's.''-'.;,: With all the success which is attending, in-' vontion in tho way of:..airships, howevor,' ,'I believe the aeroplane- ; is;tho thing -of tho. future. It is bound to como to tho front, and probably it will como suddenly. I havo myself 100 models, somo of which go quite steadily in a strong wind, and no. <Joubt..,spmo energetic inventor will discover tho secret of successful flight boforo long. No ono, however, seems inclined to put down,,, money to,, cucgurago invention in this direction. If wo could get a fow hundreds it would do much, dospito the fact that somo people think that many thousands of pounds aro necessary. If wo could get s'omoono tcrisk the money, we should soon havo a good, practical'macliino; •/ no hope of tho 'GoVernmont" doing that.' I 'LThoy'. do not like risking tho money becauso there is a chance .that.thpy niay. spend thousands and got no . result.At >.the. so me - time I do not say they are spending nothing that way now, becauso small _ oxpenmcnts aro, going on which may have important consequences.