BOMBS AND BATTLESHIPS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22830, 14 March 1936, Page 12

BOMBS AND BATTLESHIPS

The extent of the menace to battleships which is presented by modern bombing aircraft has been a question of long debate. It has not been so finally determined as is suggested by Mr Hector Bywater's article in the Daily Telegraph, the gist of which was cabled this week. According to Mr Bywater, the Admiralty is convinced as the result of tests that the battleship is not'greatly endangered by aircraft. He adds that the new British battleships will, be virtually bombproof. . It will be noted that both these statements are qualified. Obviously they-must be. No expert knowledge of explosives and armaments is required to convince that, however skilfully protected a ship may be, a well-placed bomb might cause .considerable damage to it The point which the experts are endeavouring to decide is just how considerable the danger would be. They seem much disposed to differ. The general opinion of aviation authorities is that aircraft are a highly effective weapon against battleships. Naval authorities hold that the claims of the junior service are greatly exaggerated. In ..recent issues of the Spectator the former view was expressed by a writer who was in no doubt of the ability of bombing aircraft to wreak havoc among battleships. He stated positively that a bomb which falls some distance from a vessel will do as much damage as a direct hit, while the most that could be hoped of anti-aii-craft fire was that it might keep planes at a fairly respectful distance. " Swoop-dives " by aeroplanes aimed at the objective and releasing their bombs just before they " flatten out" at 2000 feet could, this writer asserted, be so ..timed as to destroy the efficiency of anti-air-, eraft fire. A naval correspondent of the Spectator, who replied, took issue with these statements in every particular. . What' is, perhaps, more interesting than his specific refutation of them is the historical aspect. When the torpedo boat appeared in 1880 it was described as sounding the knell of the battleship, but battleships have become bigger and better since that time. Again in 1905 the battleship was said to be doomed with the r-ommencement of the submarine era, but this has not proved to be the case —and not a single Dreadnought battleship was sunk by a submarine during the Great War. If the bomber can hit and damage battleships, that fact does not necessarily mean the end of the battleship. Indeed, the States of the British Commonwealth would find it difficult to imagine an Empire which was without a powerful fleet of great vessels. Not an air force, no matter how efficient, nor a fleet composed of minor vessels of war, could be conceived as a sufficient protection of the Empire's sea routes and shores. It is certainly desirable that, with a big programme of navy building under way, Great Britain should be in no doubt as to the comparative invulnerability of her battleships from aircraft attack, but there is no reason to suppose that this aspect has been neglected. From the incalculable hazards of warfare no form of armament can be declared immune, but it is not to be believed that the Admiralty is proceeding with battleship constructor without having taken into account anc provided against every danger thnmay be reasonably anticipated, outsidf the final test of warfare itself .