ZEPPELIN FLEET

Evening Star, Issue 16279, 23 November 1916, Page 9

ZEPPELIN FLEET

LOSSES CONJECTURED. The night that the Zeppelin L2l was brought down at Cufflcy was dark and the sky cloud-swept. A thick ground-mist hid the upper atmosphere from the view of those watching on the lower ground-levels; but once the airship and her confreres were picked up by our searchlights the rays never left them save when dark cloud-banks intervened. Our batteries got to work from their concealed positions, and excellent practice they made; but at 10,000 ft an object, however bulky, forms an exceedingly difficult target. (People are apt to forget that the anti-aircraft gunner has to deal with three-dimensional problems, as against the simpler ranging of his earthly colleague). Our defensive aeroplanes were early in pursuit of their quarry, darting through the

shrapnel-swept zones, invisible to the gunners below, and at instant risk of their lives. And the point that is only too often forgotten by the uninitiated is the fact that aeroplanes attacking an airship inevitably are exposed to the fire of our own anti-aircraft guns, and this apart from the terrible danger of landing on mist-swept ground which always lurks below. Tho airship that was brought down was struck in "the envelope. The highly-inflam-mable hydrogen gas that fills the gas-bags caught fire, and the craft, with its occupants, swept down earthward like a flaming torch. ° Reliable statistics of the German losses in aircraft are not publicly available, but a rough estimate is possible. Up to the beginning of this year the losses numbered 16 capital ships; by tho beginning of May this year six additional craft had been destroyed by tho hands of the Allies. Tho present known losses amount to 25 airships of capital size (not counting cruiser types and smaller fry). The unknown losses—unknown because they must have been incurred during ordinary operations in the interior of Germany, and therefore jealously concealed —probably brought this figure up to that of 35, cited by Major Baird, the' Air Board’s representative, in tho House of Commons a few weeks ago. If these figures are correct (and there is no reason to doubt their substantial accuracy), two salient facts emerge, which should once and for all give the lie to the alarmists who conjure up visions of the destruction of London by a vast German air fleet. In the first place, the rate of destruction of German airships has been at least equal to the building capacity of their yards, which in turn is controlled by the limited housing accommodation for housing firsLcloss craft. In the second place, there is good reason to believe that on this and recent raids the Germans used tho whole of their available airship fleet, including the oldest craft.