BALLOONS FOR THE FRENCH NAVY.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XVII, Issue XIX, 7 November 1896, Page 26

BALLOONS FOR THE FRENCH NAVY.

During the last year the French army has been experimenting with balloons. To every marching regiment a balloon corps has been attached and ascensions made at all the manieiivres. These experiments have proved very successful, as the serial scout can obtain from his high position a perfect knowledge of the enemy’s movements. Russia has employed this method for the last five years, and during the building of the great Kiel canal, and the consequent strengthening of the forts at entrances on

the Baltic and North Seas, these Russian spies were enabled to obtain perfect plans and drawings of the work being done so secretly by the German government. Aroused by the success attending these land manoeuvres by balloons, the French navy has decided to experiment with balloons at sea. For this purpose a French cruiser has been set apart to be used as an anchorage and for carrying the balloon and its attendant paraphernalia when not in use. The * Sfax ’ is a cruiser belonging to the Mediterranean squadron, and used especi-

ally for these experiments. The balloon is placed, half-inflated, on the stern deck, and is thus always ready for immediate service. It apparently does not take up much space, but if one stops to consider that, besides the balloon itself, the vessel is supposed to carry the complete outfit for inflating, and the enormous lengths of rope or cable for holding and guiding the balloon, one can gain some idea of the space occupied. The introduction of balloons into marine service is intended to reduce to the smallest possible number necessary the scoots, so to speak, needed in a rqaadi on. A navrl army in marching order needs, the same as a marching army, to be kept carefully and quickly informed of the presence and movements of the enemy. Another vital and necessary .point is to know these movements when the enemy is as far away as possible, and this, it is believed, can be easily accomplished from a balloon. The well-equipped navies of to-day are surrounded and guarded by cruisers, patrols and torpedo boats. These vessels represent to a navy what the outposts and scouts are to an army. The distance which these guards can put between themselves and the gunboats is necessarily limited in order to be of the service demanded of them. Torpedoes and rams lie so low in the water that their view is in consequence limited and their utility for reporting a neighbour’s movements greatly restricted. This necessitates the employment of a great number to be of any practical nse to a squadron, and entails, as can easily be seen, a great and almost unnecessary expense. To-day a squadron possesses in the balloon a precious auxiliary, though a cumbersome one. Bnt its advantages are so numerous that its inconvenience is nullified.

Connected telegraphically or telephonically with a vessel, the officers in charge of the squadron can be kept in constant and perfect communication with all the movements of the enemy’s ships, even at a distance of many miles.