A RAID BY ZEPPELINS

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2265, 26 September 1914, Page 6

A RAID BY ZEPPELINS

Most of th'e stories which have lately come over the cables aboivt a contemplated airship attack by Germany upon England are to bo taken with a grain or salt. Certainly the latest statement that Germany was turning out Zeppelins at the rate of one a week is wildly incredible. Apart from the fact that the Zeppelin is an elaborate structure nearly five hundred feet long, calling for the.' work of skilled artificers, each* ship has to be provided with a shed, usually of a revolving type, so that the ship, may emerge conveniently in relation to the directipn of the wind. In addition to that, skilled crews are required for the safe navigation of the big aircraft. The importance of this factor was exemplified when two'of Germany's big naval airships came to grief last year, for not only wore new ships put in hand, but'one or two private ships were taken over in order that they might be used for [ the training of crews. It is barely possible that Germany might attempt a Zeppelin raid upon England, and colour' is lent to the possibility by the fact mentioned by Field-Marshal French in an official dispatchy that the Royal Flying Corps, though they had been out on reconnaissance every day, Tiad never seen a Zeppelin. They had seen nonrigid airships on two occasions. It is possible, therefore, that Germany is holding her Zeppelins in reserve, conceivably with a view to a raid on England. So > far as available i'nformatiqn goes, it is unlikely that Germany would have more than a dozen or fourteen Zeppelins, "Dreadnoughts of the air" as they have been somewhat ornately called, available for>a dash across the Channel. The journey is within the capabilities of the airships, but would ue undertaken in face of grave disadvantages and serious risks. Ideal circumstancesi from the point of view of raiding airships, would be the presence of a German fleet, which would serve them as a_ base, in close proximity to the English coasts. The airships have a carrying capacity of from, five to eight tons, and on a short journey much of this weight could be allotted to bombs and ammunition. On a long journey, from a land base in Germany, much of the weight-carrying margin of the airships would have to bo apportioned to crew and fuel, and the relative weight of ammunition would be small. The principal danger to the raiders would be from attack by aeroplanes, which can travel more than twice as and ascend twice as high. The Zeppelins carry a gun on their upper surface, as a defence against aeroplanes, but the speed and manoeuvring power of the smaller craft appears to give them a decided advantage. It is possible that Zoppfilins carrying _ three or four tons of explosives might reach England under cover of darkness, but even then they would be liable to discovery by means of searchlights, and unless they maintained an extreme •altitude, would bi vulnerable.to {run and riflo fire. • Taking everything into account, it would seem that the damage they could hope to inflict would ho nuite disproportionate to the risks' attending their effort.