Aeroplanes in War

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 7847, 8 July 1911, Page 11

Aeroplanes in War

Interesting Theories About Fate t 11 oj Skips. | CREAKING at a meeting of the Insti- | O tution of Naval Architects in London recently Professor J. J. Welch, dealing I with ‘‘Tho Problem of Size in Battle- ! ships/* said that during tho last few 1 yeuvrt there had been rapid upward progress | in the size of battleships designed and built for British foreign navies. Within the past ten years British battleships had increased CO per cent, in di’s- = jdacement, 05 per cent, in length, and ; about 17 per cent, in breadth; the speed j had been increased by over two knots, I whilst tho weigut of mental d.scharged I per broadside nad risen trom 4000ib to | ! 12.50ffib, an increase of over 200 per cent. Tho new type of cruiser-battieship, too, had developed, until it now’ included tno Lion and Princess Royal, vessels of toA/0 ions displacement, each having a length of OCOft between perpendiculars and a speed of twenty-eight knots, ’i'he same leiutency wag at least as strongly marked in otner navies. In the German Navy the displacement.of tho battiesiiip liad been auout doubled within the juried under review. 1 Dae of the questions which must be givon its duo weight when deciding upon e-jatu-cwristics to.be embodied in.a warship at a given period was that of the number of vessels required to adequately perlonn the duties devolving ’ upon the Navy in Homo waters anti abroad, in peace and war. A nation's | resources, however ample, were not in- : exhaustible, and it followed that such considerations must tend to limit the I cost, and therefore the si zq and power, )of individual ships. There were those ! who contended that no consideration of expenses should bo allowed to obtrude itself in discussions so vital to tho safety | of the nation; nor was it doubted that * whatever expenditure is deemed necessary by the responsible authorities will ib© voted by Parliament; yet this question L-i ©beaming the maximum return for a given expenditure could not by any means be excluded from consideration. Professor Welch engaged on a calculation of the effect of increase of size of vessel on the number of guns that could bo installed. Taking the Japanese battleship Shikishima (14,850 tons) as tho type, ho calculated that an addition 6t 2100 tons to tho weight of armament and its protection whilst keeping other features unaltered would involve an increase of displacement ,2£ times the* weight added. Two of the larger vessels! could be obtained for the cost of three* of the smaller ships. Tho two larger ships'took to sea a total main armament one-third in excess of the combined armaments of the three smaller vesseis, and the total working cost would be smaller.

From these somewhat restricted poims of view, therefore, the policy ot building large vesseis could certaiaiy. be justifita.

Whether, when the whole field of advantages and disadvantages was surveyed the balance inclined to tho side of still larger dimensions, -with- greater concentfa-tion-fof power, or-the reverse; was a subject forJdebato. ), ' Danger From Above.

The contention, that large dimensions exposed a greater target to- attack now be oxpanaed to inciude the additional menace of missiles from dirigibles or aeroplanes. The .'larger tho deck area of the 'vessel attacked the greater was the probability, that the. dropped,, missilet wound reach its mark. Such attack, seemed more likely to be successful from dirigibles having speeds adjusted to the course and speed of the vessed attacked. Assuming the attack to be delivered from{ •a height of one mile, and therefore rea-| soaabiy 1 out of range of high-angle fire.j a hollow bomb carrying lOUlb of expio-i sive would take about twenty seconds to reach tho water level, and' would them have a striking velocity approaching 1 3iX)ft per second. Tho time in reaching |au objective compared favourably with* the eighty seconds which am under-water torpedo would take to travel tho garni, {distance.

Xu twenty seconds a ship would change [position some 540 ft, supposing her to be proceeding at sixteen knots, and Ue probabilities of such a vessed being struck from above would be' decreased if, at the ■momenfof discharge of the airship weapon, her helm were put hard over; tne time, however, would not suffice to allow the vessel to sweep clear of ner previous track before tho missile reached water level, although the exposed area of deck in that track would be very mticl smaller than before.

Ihe difficulties associated with correctly. Judging speeds of battleships from, the height named and making proper 1 allowance for cross-wind currents, ere,,, combined to render a hit very uncertain; if u single missile only was employed* If, however, a number of -such rr -ssilesi wore dropped from a single d?iigible, this form or attack would become a serious menace. Even so, it seemed reasonable to suppose that the best protection against attack from aerial craft would bo found in counter-attack by the same type of airship, associated with guns on the attacked vessel specially arranged for high-angl© fire; this defence wculd bo analogous to that adopted, torpedo-boats and torpedo-dostrov<Ts. With these considerations in view, tho menace from the air might be expected to have no greater effect on limitation of size than that resulting from the introduction of tho torpedo.

AERIAL PILOTS At the beginning of the present year thero were, according to the “Aero,* 51 G aeroplone pilots certificated under the International Aeronautical Federation, the numbers in the various countries being: ! In Francs 339, Germany 43, England 39, ! Italy 27, Belgium 24, United States 18, | Austria 18. Switzerland 3, Denmark 3. i Spain 2. Day by day the English list is growing, and aviation is being studied seriously in the United Kingdom- At tUe Bicoklands flying .ground there are now about forty sheds occupied, and on most days three, four and five machines may be seen aloft at one time. At Hendon there are two schools where pupils are trained dailv. On Salisbury Plain and at Eastchurch and in the New Forest numerous sheds are occupied, while in many parts of the country individual flying ; men may bo found. 1 Colonel Guiseppi Garibaldi, son of an officer in' the Italian army, commanded the American legion in the Battle of Juarez, Mexico, in May. For his services to the rebel cause Colonel Garibaldi has been # made a general by General Madero, joint Acting President, (with Segnor Francesco-de la Barra) of the Republic. No time is long. Only eternity. The longest period of time when passed and looked back on seems short. A thousand years nro bating a day-to the right perception of things and to a developed sense of proportion.

KRUPP AERIAL TORPEDO. | The Krupp firm in Germany has . just : brought out a new aerial torpedo which ' is said to be far in advance of anything in this lino heretofore produced. This torpedo, which has been developed from a Swedish invention, is, according to a description given in the "Scientific Amercan.” self-propelling and without reaction upon the airship or aeroplane from which it is discharged. It is operated somewhat on the principle of the sky-rocket, being composed of two parts, viz., an explosive head and a tail chamber containing a slow-burning powder charge, the gases from which are I discharged through tubes at the rear and drive the torpedo forward. The initial start is given the projectile by means of a launching device operated by a light powder or by electricity. The gas discharge tubes are set at an angle so that the torpedo revolves on its axis as it moves forward. A very sensitive percussion device is used, and is provided with a safety look, which is only released when-the projectile has attained a certain speed by rotation. This percussion device is so sensitive that it will explode the torpedo the instant it strikes an inflated gas bag.

Love laughs at Reason, but he treats Pride aa a formidable opponent.

WOMAN'S DUAL LIFE. A remarkable story of a double life was disclosed by the arrest of a fashionably attired woman in a shop in the Place de la Republique, Pans, a few Weeks ago. . , Descending from a luxurious motor car, the Baroness Ro ; a de -Chastot, as she announced herself to the manager of the shop, visited each department, purchasing a variety of lace and leather goods and jewellery. As she was about to leave a man stepped up to her and remarked. "Pardon, madam©, but you have a ring worth .£IOO adhering to the palm of your left hand," and, seizing the baroness* hand, ho disclosed a solitaire diamond ring adhering to the customer's hand by a tiny drop of glue. The police inquiries show the baroness to have maintained two establishments. She slept and breakfasted at a modest apartment in tbe Rue de Charonne, where she resided under the name of Helen Mounier, describing herself as a modiste. Here she lived a most retired life with her little daughter. Every morning the baroness sent her daughter to a neighbouring crecho and then, it is said, went to another flat, rented by her near the Garo St. Lazare. Here, it is alleged, she discarded her milliner's coat and skirt and assumed tho role of the elegant baroness, wearing the most costly drosses and making herself up to look the part.

ARCTIC COAL MINES. According to "La Nature" the most ' northerly coal mine in tho world is that of the Arctic Coal Company (ap. American concern) at Advent Bay, on the east ' coast of Spitz bergen. The coal crops out at the surface of the ground several bundled feet above sea level, and is carried down to the harbour by a funicular railway. 'The company has about 150 men at work, chiefly Norwegians, who remain on the spot all the year, although Advent Bay is blocked by ice and inaccessible to vessels for eight months, from November to June. About GOOO tons were taken out last year, but . the maximum output has not yet been i reached- The chief market is in Norway, which has no coal mines of its 1 own. BIG INCOMES. 1 In Groat Britain, during 1909-10, 10,300 persons were liable to the super tax on I income. In other words, they had over £SOOO a year coming in. The total income of these ■ persons was =£130,000,700, or an average of .612,621 each. The total income of 585,000 employees was £130,000,000, an average of £233 per head. There were 202 employees with salaries over .£SOOO, and twenty business men made incomes of over .650,000,