NAVAL SHAM BATTLE

Greymouth Evening Star, 25 March 1929, Page 2

NAVAL SHAM BATTLE

AIR CRAFT’S IMPORTANCE. (United Service.) (By Cable—Press Assn.—Copyright.) (Recd. March 25, 1 p.m.) LONDON, March 24. Probably the greatest combined i navy and air -action yet seen, occurred . yesterday afternoon, when the entire Atlantic and Mediterannean fleets pat- • ticipated, including the first occasion of four air craft carriers. There was • a grand battle off the coast of Barcelona. j The ocean suddenly became a bewildering mass of ships, and the air became peppered with aircraft. The , pageant far exceeded any air -manoeuvres seen ashore. The aircraft ; carriers loosed plane after plane within a few minutes. Six flights swept , over the Repulse. To meet the -enemy, immediately the opposing guns blazed out, but the aeroplanes, with magnificent impertinence, swooped down on the barrage loosening torpedoes and bombs. It was necessarily a theoretical attack, the result of which was not even conjecturable until the data was examined, but many aircraft were shattered to pieces and many ships also were victims. Eighty air craft participated in a magnificent spectacle of diving within a few feet from the bridges of the ,grea.t battleships, dropping torpedoies. They flew almost tip to tip throughout, and scampering likewise to the carriers. As the ships cunningly altered the courses to mislead the attackers, the ships often engaged both ships and aircraft simultaneously. Incidents were crowding one another, and it was impossible to keep pace with the progress.