BOMBS AND BATTLESHIPS

Press, Volume LVII, Issue 17247, 10 September 1921, Page 14

BOMBS AND BATTLESHIPS

I After a rain of one-ton bombs, the army fliers off Virginia Capes recently sank the former German Dreadnought j Ostfries]and, but the conditions were ! those of peace, and it> is questioned by IDan ?! f 3 ?- 8 tll ® "London Daily Telegraph a' New York correspondent, whelher the attack would have been suc- , ewsfulif the battleship had been screen- ' 2? an ° protected as in time of war. There was no crew aboard the OstfriesI land when the tests were made, her en- ! gme3 were not working, and sh'o floated lazily oTi the Atlantic, an easy target for the airmen with their T.N.T. esnloaivee. Four hombs inflicted light

damage, but the fifth, which struck close to the old battleship's stern, or the port side, seemed effective. Slowlv the OstfriesJand's stern settled in the water, and presently she rolled around like some helpless sea animal, her bow lifted higher and higher, then she stood balanced almost vertically, and slowly slipped out of sight. Mr Denhy, Secretary of the Navy, says that "from the scientific standpoint the bombing tests have been of great value " General Menoher, Chief o? the Array Air Sen-ice, 6aid: "The real lesson learnt is that a battleship can be sunk by an aerobomb." Naval men declare that the tests have only proved what even-body knew already and they are of oamion that the Ostfriesland ua-

ier war conditions, with the latest yto* tective strategy and tactics, would h»v« survived practically uninjured.