Thank you for correcting the text in this article. Your corrections improve Papers Past searches for everyone. See the latest corrections.

This article contains searchable text which was automatically generated and may contain errors. Join the community and correct any errors you spot to help us improve Papers Past.

Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image

The Dominion. MONDAY, AUGUST 10, 1914. NEW PHASES IN NAVAL WARFARE

The stirring accounts which have appeared in our cable columns of the doings of aircraft in the present war serve as a reminder of the enormous changes which have taken place in the methods of warfare during the last.,hundred years. The fighting is now proceeding on laud ' arid sea, and under the sea, and also in the air. Many new inventions are being for the first time put to the test of actual war on a large scale, and the results will, go far to settle a good many unsolved problems. Modern science has revolutionised the inethods of warfare just as it has revolutionised thought and industry and means oi travel. It has brought into existence the Dreadnought, one of the most perfect fighting machines the world has ever' seen, hut it has also . produced the Dreadnought's most terrible enemy in the submarine, and just before the war commenced an animated discussion took place in the London papers as to the relative deadliness of these two in-' struments of destruction. The aeroplano has also, to be considered in this connection. It is only lately that the human race has learnt- to fly. Wonderful progress has been maao in aviation during the last few years, and it soon became evident that the airship was going to add a new terror to warfare. The great Powers now have their air fleets as auxiliaries to their armies and navies, and the cablegrams have already recounted daring deeds of airmanship in connection with the gigantic struggle in which the greater part of Europe is now engaged. ' With airships dropping bombs from above ana submarines attacking from below, besides floating mines and othfer enemies, the battleship of to-day has perils of which Drake and Hawke and Nelson never dreamed. Tho old fireship was a clumsy weapon when compared with the terrible appliances against which a naval commander has to be for ever on his guard. Yet in spite of all the wonderful mechanisms brought into play in modern naval warfare, the human element still counts as much as ever it did. The mental alertness, skilly and_ personality of the Admiral are as important to-day as they were when Nelson fought at' Trafalgar: and tho' nerve, steadiness, discipline, courage, and endurance of the men behind the guns aro playing quite as big a part in the doings of Britain's North Sea fleet at_ the present moment as they did in the days when British seamen defeated the Spanish Armada. The fact that air'craft took part in British naval manoeuvres for the first tinio in the year 1913 shows how rapidly things move as regards the methods and conditions of warfare. The Editor of tho Aeroplane. (Mr. C. G. Grey) states that, '"it is now admitted -that sea power alono ' is likol.V in the ttoe-v nittfnj i.g bocrimfl helpless without- sir power.'' The

aeroplane is at once the enemy and the friend of the battleship. It may drop bombs from above, but it may also bo used as a sort of guardian angel of the Dreadnought, for it can 9ften see the underwater foe when it can be seon from nowhere else. Friendly aircraft can therefore keep the great warships informed as to thb whereabouts of these hidden enemies. The fighting airship is only in the earliest stages of its development, and the present war will no doubt provide many new ideas for the inventors to 1 work' out. Sir Percy Scott recently startled, the British public by declaring thai; the day of tho Dreadnought was almost done, for it could not withstand the attacks of the aeroplano and the submarine; but other experts think differently. It is contended that the warships will, owing to their greater speed, have an advantage over the submarines in the wider seas for many years to come, whatever may be the case as regards the coastal waters...

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/DOM19140810.2.11

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2224, 10 August 1914, Page 4

Word count
Tapeke kupu
657

The Dominion. MONDAY, AUGUST 10, 1914. NEW PHASES IN NAVAL WARFARE Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2224, 10 August 1914, Page 4

The Dominion. MONDAY, AUGUST 10, 1914. NEW PHASES IN NAVAL WARFARE Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2224, 10 August 1914, Page 4

Help

Log in or create a Papers Past website account

Use your Papers Past website account to correct newspaper text.

By creating and using this account you agree to our terms of use.

Log in with RealMe®

If you’ve used a RealMe login somewhere else, you can use it here too. If you don’t already have a username and password, just click Log in and you can choose to create one.


Log in again to continue your work

Your session has expired.

Log in again with RealMe®


Alert