THE ZEPPELIN MENACE.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLI, Issue 10526, 2 December 1916, Page 11

THE ZEPPELIN MENACE.

LRU A NT) FOR AIRSHIPS AND "AIR LORD." Lord Montagu of Beaulieu —The man who doesn't believe in taking the Zeppelin raids lying down —is determined to press energetically his campaign for the appointment of an Air Lord on the Board of •Admiralty, Tie has been discussing with me, writes a special correspondent of tho Daily New,-, the whole problem of how to meet the air menace, and though sumo of the details of what he knows, or even what he believes ho foresees, cannot be made public, there are other point's which it ia right (hat the public should grasp. CONSTRUCT RIGID AIRSHIPS.

Lord Montagu urges, as he urged in the past, that, in view of the probable length of the war, we .should press on in the construction cf rigid airships with ;: < bw*i as much eiyu-gy as if we uero called up in to provide itl short notice si me new kind of craft for tii Navy. Tin >'■■■ •'■"-' three uses, ho told mo. lo which these rigid airships would be. put, and ilry are in the following order of import-

"Firsi we need tk.-m as eyes for tha Fleet. That would be their chief function. It. is interesting to note that one Zeppelin may, according !•■ ca'jine high authorities, bo reckoned as cental to from throe to six light cruisers, recording to the visibility at the

time of action. "Secondly, thej would be able to carry out bombing offensives against points of military importance within the territory i occupied by the enemy such as Essen or ; the Zeppelin sheds at Ghent or Nsmur. . with greater efficiency than aeroplanes; simply because an airship can remain almost stationary and let. go her bombs whilean aeroplane has to drop them in full flight and has to maintain itself in the air a'.l the lime at the expenditure of fuel. ZEPPELIN AGAINST ZEPPELIN. "Thirdly—and this is the point that is at the present moment probably of greatest, interest, to civilians—they would be used undoubtedly for fighting raiding Zeppelins in the air. It has been said that. Zeppelin j cannot fight Zeppelin. Thas is not so | As far back as 1909 1 said that tho only! right way of using aircraft was to meet like with like, and that is as true to-day as ever it was. j "Tho rigid airship wo require for defensive purposes would be able to substitute J greater gun-power for bomb-carrying capacity, replacing bombs by guns. weight for weight. Apart from her ability to remain stationary, waiting for the enemy, there would be this great advantage over the aeroplane as we know it to-day, rhat powerful searchlights could be carried which would make ir comparatively to attack at nigh i.

"The method of meeting like with like embodies one of i\\c principles of warfaro that have been proved true- throughout the ages. It means that Britain will inevitably bo obliged to build an air fleet to be used defensively, is not offensively. EYES OF THE FLEET. "But. let me emphasise once more the fact that rhe primary function of the rigid airship is to act as the eye of the Navy. 1 see the day coming when air petrols will hover perpetually over our coasts, doing the. work that cruisers do to-day, and when the capital ships of the Fleet, will in time of war ever leave harbour except to act upon information supplied by these patrols."