DIRIGIBLE AIRSHIPS

Evening Post, Volume CXI, Issue 6, 8 January 1916, Page 2

DIRIGIBLE AIRSHIPS

GERMANY'S FAITH BUILDING ZEPPELINS. ROTTERDAM. At a score or more places in Germany the construction of Zeppelins is. being carried out. This information comes to me from an absolutely reliable source. In a position to obtain definite news on the matter my informant added; "I can safely say that in no department of con. structional work in Germany at the present moment is there greater activity than in this one. Not only has the plant been greatly increased,, but. every where they, are working with nothing less than feverish haste." ■ This is no mere hearsay. For some reason, difficult as it may be to probe, the truth is that the enemy is just now devoting more attention to the strengthening of his airship squadrons than to anything else. This policy is not confined to the Zeppelin type. As fast as . they can be built, there are being turned out also dirigibles of the classes bearing the names of their inventors, Major Parseval and Professor Schutte. Simultaneously with the construction of the airships themselves, sheds are being erected. In this connection there are two new features. Instead of concentrating these buildings in such wellknown centres as Wilhelmshaven, Ham burg, and so on, sites have been chosen at an extraordinarily large number of places in widely separated localities in Germany. The other change is in the material used in these sheds. Instead of constructing them almost entirely of wood, as, for instance, those destroyed by incendiary bombs of Allies' aviators in Belgium, so far as possible iron only is being used, not only for the framework, but also for the roofing. Still another development is the designing of portable sheds—a matter which is in the hands of Krupp's. Naturally, the question arises, What „is the object of this activity, entailing as it does a vast expenditure of energy, of human labour, and of money, for all of which, it might be thought, Germany could find more useful employment at the present time. What military purpose has so far been achieved by the use of airships is known only, if 't exists at all, in the minds of the German Gen. eral-Staff All the evidence points to practically absolutely negligible results from this point of view BRINGING WAR TO ENGLAND How is this expenditure of their resources looked, upon by the general public in Germany, as distinct froni their military heads? This is how it was put to me a> few days ago by a neutral who had just spent a considerable time hi the country. He was speaking about the recent raids on London, and Was telling me with what satisfaction, not to say glee, they were greeted in Germany. T asked him the real reason, with the words, "Do they suppose that London is in ashes and the English people panic-stricken?" . .- ■ "No." he replied "As a matter of fact, they are not deluded to anything like that extent, even by the accounts appearing in their newspapers. What they say is this • ' The: English don't really know what war means.' Our Zeppelins will show them what war really is, and then they will be muclr more willing' to .think about peace.' This, too, was one of the reasons for the continuance of the submarine war on mer■chant ships long after the Marine Staff .knew it. was a failure. It is a' factthat an important section of the Government urged some time ago the complete abandonment of the pirate campaign. And it would have been done publicly and openly, but for the fear of its effect on public opinion. Admiral yon Tirpitz had held out such great promises that the public believed, as in the case now of Zeppelins, that the sinking of British merchantmen would, as they said, bring the war home to England,' and be one means of influencing the English indirectly to think about the desirability of peace " ' . NAVAL EXPERTS CLAIM. Reverting to the strange outburst of activity _in the construction of Zeppelins, it would really seem, however, that for some Season, unknown to the rest of -the world, the German naval and military authorities do appeal to attach military value to them. Even the necessity of feeding -the expectations of the i public does not account sufficiently for the present exertions in this direction. What are the claims to this alleged military value ? Little to support them has appeared in the press. One writer, however, does profess his faith m tho dirigible arm. This is Captain Persius, who is supposed in Germany to carry considerable weight as a naval expert. • "From a military as well as a technical standpoint," he writes, "the pride in our successful activity in the air weapon, especially regarding the ships of the Zeppelin, Parseval, and the SchntteLanz types flying over French, English, and Russian territory, is completely justified. The brilliant achievements of our air pilots, as well as in a smaDer degree that of their material, have shown our opponent? that ■ Germany stands in tho first place in the command of the air. German genius remains unequalled in the producing of this complicated weapon. " . ■ "Our dirigibles have been able to prove before the eyes. of the English that there is a very weak point in their armament, and that the command of the sea must be supported by the dominion of the air Not only over enemy territory, but in work over the sea, have our airships proved useful. Their possibilities for reconnaissance purposes were recognised before the war, but we were less certain in our judgment ns to their use as an offensive weapon. Now our airships and our flyers have shown in this direction, even in the trade war, that they are able to do a great doa!. Two examples aro the successful attacks of our flyers on the Russian fleet in tho Gulf of Riga, and, some time ago, on the English monitors before the Belgia.n coaat. It can also be stated that airships, as well as aeroplanes, are useful at a good opportunity for destroying submarines.". And after all this boasting &,pt. Persius, in summing up, can say no more than this : "Airships aro useful to undermine the feeling of security in any country, to'-destroy harbour works, and so on. and to threaten mercantile shipping." None of which, putting it at its highest, is sufficient to explain or justify the present constructional activity in Germany.—London Telegraph.