The Guardian (And Evening Star, with which is incorporated the West Coast Times.) SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 23rd., 1921.

Hokitika Guardian, 23 February 1924, Page 2

The Guardian (And Evening Star, with which is incorporated the West Coast Times.) SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 23rd., 1921.

AIRPLANE V BATTLESHIP. Tun naval correspondent of the I-oti-don “Dally News” has discovered a State secret of first-class importance, notes the “Lyttelton Times,” if his account of American experiments in, the boiiibiug' of battleships from the air is te he accepted as authentic. That such an experiment, should bo made is lil-elv enough. In July, 1921, elaborate Lets were made by the United States •Army and Navy air branches to .see whether airplanes (‘mild , put naval emit out of action. It was impossible, of course, to reproduce the actual conditions of warfare, but it was one of the rules of the. test that no plane should come nearer its objective than 1909 teet, it being regarded as certain that anti-aircraft lire would destroy any squadron bombing from a lower altitude. The objectives on the occasion referred to were the old United .States battleship lowa, which was under engine power, ami wirelessly controlled and two helpless hulks, the ffght German cruiser Frankfurt, and the German battleship Ostfricsluml. The lowa was not sunk, hut tins two German ships were. Out of 78 bombs dropped upon the Frankfurt twelve scored direct hits. Five failed to explode, and six which did explode did not penetrate to the vessel’s vitals, though the protective deck was h s.s than two inches thick. The twelfth direct hit made by a flOOlb bomb, the heaviest used, broke the vessel’s buck, and she sank. ’'The Ostfi icsland, a buy battleship, took two clays to sink. On the first day 52 bombs were dropped, the weights ranging up to 20001 b. There were thirteen bits, but only four of the bombs exploded. On the second day there were no direct hits, but after eight big bombs had been dropped around the ship she turned slowly over ami sank. In the latest experiment conducted by the United States, according to the “Daily News cot respondent. the objectives were I lie United States battleships Virginia and New Jersey. Those two ships, built eighteen years ago, wore scrapped under the Washington Agreement. They were sister ships, vessels of 14.9-18 tons with a length of 430 feet, and a beam rtf 70ft 3in. Their belt armour ranged from six to eleven inches in thickness, and they bad three-inch armoured decks. The “Daily News” correspondent. gives the impression that these ships were completely disabled as the result of one diced hit apiece. A 10001 b bomb wrecked the Virginia and an 11001 b bomb sank the New Jersey, if this is true, then there is this much certain to add to the results of the fe.ur-vear-old controversy of aeroplane versus battleship—confirmation of the tir.it. that an airplane can sink a battleship. The fact that the airman who sinks the battleship will probably pay his own life ns the price docs not remove the possibility that such exploits may he attempted. It rather increases the likelihood that, such adventures will appeal to the romanticism of young men and to the good judgment of elder patriots. “For how could man die 'hotter than facing fearful odds. . . And if one man, or two men, using this new science of aviation can put out of in lion a battleship manned by six hull, cl red or seven hundred men , then that possibility will have to enter into future naval tactics. Before there were aeroplanes the only things that could sink a battleship were torpedoes or gunfire from other naval craft, or from toils. But there is now, apparently, a mosquito in the air which can inflict a. deadly sting. Itself Insignificant in cost and man power, it can find a weak link in the armour of the mightiest ship that ever sailed the seas. V.V are not prepared to believe Unit tbj British Admiralty, while it has such intelligent officers as Admiral Sir Percy Scott to advise it, is quite so blind to t-e possibilities which lurk in the air as to pin its faith entirely to big battleships.