RAIDING IN A ZEPPELIN

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2962, 28 December 1916, Page 5

RAIDING IN A ZEPPELIN

HOW THE AMP FIGHTS SOME INTERESTING DETAILS Those-who have seen the gear and (structure of the Zeppelin in East Essex can form a very clear idea of her fighting methods. The mosfc_ curious fact about these> / immense ships iB perhaps tho small number of men oarried. The total is only two officers 'and twenty non-com-imssioned officers and men. All are Volunteers. selected for the work 'of murder,; from which it appears "that some of the more honourable mon in the German air services shrink.' . A study of the hull throws light on the distribution of the crew. When tho Vessel is approaching Great Britain and attack by aeroplane is apprehended; all tho guns must be manned. There are : iiine in the Zoppolin~-threo of half-inch calibre on the top of the structure, and the other six of machine-gun calibre .in tho four gondolas. If one man apiece be allowed,, that absorbs nine men. The stations of the men at the throe platforms on the top-of the hull* must bo intensely cold and lonely. The temperature-of the upper air is bitter indeed, and the swift movement generates a cutting, wind. Tho airships, when in the danger zone, appear to fly at about 8000 ft. or '9000 ft.', and in the attack on London of, October last year Mathy was for some minutes at a level of 11,000 ft., or two miles up. Hence we understand why the Zeppelin crews are clothed so very warmly: Thoy are encased in loather or fur lib® our own valiant airmen, who, however,- go forth to fight Combatants and not to slrvi women and children. The men at upper gun platforms can only be reached by steep ladders running up through. the hull. They are isolated, and it stands to reason that they could not .very long maintain their fire, aa. the quantity of ammunition which can jbe carried on. their little porches is'not large and there is no surplus of men to take up fresh sup'plies. i Tho men at the machine-guns in the gondolas would havo a less dangerous post. They have company near at hand, and the engines in the gondolas must give out a certain amount of warmth. The wireless operator in his little cabin —which had no heating arrangements— ■would have another cold and -uncom- , Jortable station. The captain, forward in his aerial ohart-house, would also be much exposed to the cold, as he must constantly have his celluloid windows open to see clearly what is pening.In ordinary conditions each of the sis engines and each of the six dynamos would need a mechanic, absorbing twelve men. But some of them must he left untended, as it would take one more man than figures in the crew to provide eaoh with an attendant. The sum works out thus: ; Captain 1 Wireless operator 1 . 9 guns, 1 man each 9 - 6 engines, 1 man each 6 6 dynamos, 1 man each ...... 6 23 Whereas the crew is 22. Probably, then, there aro only three or four instead of Bis mechanics in the stern gondola, which contains'three engines and dynamos. But if the slightest thing goes wrong tho difficulties must be great. It is much_ worse than in a warship, whoro there is a reserve of men, if a small and scanty one. No Reserve at all. In the Zeppelin there is no /reserve lat all. For. that "reason every possible effort ought to bo made to attack these craft at sea before they reach British air. They fly low at sea when coming here with their heavy load of bombs, petrol, and oil, and tho infliction of very little damage might result in their destruction and incalculably. increase the risks they run. Tho greatest blun- : der in the British n,ava'l anti-Zeppelin campaign—which has so far been a deplorably passive and timid defensive — has been the failure to; act against these highly vulnerable airships at sea. - The noise in the gondolas wh<yi' tho engines are running at 1600 revolutions a minute must .bo terrific. It may be judged by recollecting what an uproar was made by the much smaller, engines of the old 90-h.p. Mercedes in a' motor-car when running unsilenced; The men in the gondolas can therefore Hear little or nothing.

Movement about tho airship when in the danger zona is possible but must .be. difficult, as then all' lights,'.except carefully screened ones in-'the gondolas, would he extinguished, and tho men would have to grope their way in tho dark. . To proceed in. such conditions along the "cat-walk" which runs inside the keel would be no very easy matter. If the narrow boardway, only •9in. wide, he missed, the fabric would not support tho weight'of a man, and he would go. through on a'swift journoy to the nerfc world. Possibly there is a rope-above ,or at the side to hold, though it does not show in L 33.

I. observed no lire in L 33, but they are known to lis carried. The position of a Zeppelin crew, (who suddenly see patches of; flamo ap- ;' pearing /on the fabric which forms'the outer sheathing of the hull may lie pictured. To stop the ship exposes her to gun-fire. To proceed creates a . draught that must fan"the firo and hasten her end. In tnost of tlio accounts nf the disasters to these airships it will ho noted that' the fire began forand ran swiftly_ aft. There' -'is practically 110 hope' when the vessel is once alight, and-in no case has anyone lived to"tell the tale of what happened. But as.the cover burns tho,great central wire hawser -which'"runs 'from' stem to stern must - hold tho' structnro tos®™er and prevent it; from collapsing and falling to'piecos in the air. ■

Haphazard Bombing. In the .earlier Zeppelins : tales were told ot men walking on tho" top. If there was a gangway on the top of L 33 it was destroyed by. the fire and no ■trace of it remains. But it would bo difficult to i retain • the balanuo up there while the vessel was whirling through the air and divine; or climbing at a steep angle. The three upper gun platforms are tolerably'well walled in, but it may have been from'tbem' that certain of .the crew fell when L3l. and L 32 dropped to their fearful end, a little disfcanco from, the main-tangle of .wreckage.

Of cooking arrangements there were 110 signs whatever. The crew on their journeys must'have used thermos flasks or have eaten their food cold. As these airships sometimcß remain in the air for two or three days,., an electric stove might have been expected. ■, . a cruising and scouting vessel, k33 seemed to have grfeat' advantages, fli? system of wire bracing employed in her would probably enable her to remain at sea in weather which would try a small ship. And this accords with' actual observation. . Looking at a barometrical chart, I .observe that Zeppelins have been sighted over the North Sea in distinctly stormy weather. Moreover, ono or two raids have boon carnod out in stormy conditions. Tho bombing must bo effected entirely at haphazard. At the heights at which these vessels cruise, their • captains know perfectly -well that they cannot bit auv targofc. Maihy boasted of droppine: bombs on London, but any fool could do that from a great height Trhon there wero practically no guns and no soropkaes to tixmblo him. His hits

caused loss of life and damage to property, and these are actual losses which our mandarins clioso to overlook, but which must figure in any honest bal-ance-sheet. But in inflicting this damage he rendered himself aud his crew, by the laws of war, liable to summary execution. . 'In tho other raids it is quite clear that the bombs were dropped wildlyIndeed, on examining _ the discharging apparatus in L 33 it is impossiblo to believe the Germans ever expected to tut any definite object. They must "re "into the brown," which renders thevr procedure more cruel and callouß. H.W.W., in the "Daily Mail.'