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Aviation History
1912
1912 - 1174.PDF
FROM THE Attack by Air, THK LaMORg OF THE SHEERNESS INCIDENT. MR. CHURCHILL'S statement that all necessary precautions would be taken to protect our nival establishments against aetial observation or attack lends particular interest to the following article by our naval correspondent:— If we were to learn one morning that a flotilla of foreign destroyers had steamed up the Solent, made a circuit of Portsmouth Harbour, and steamed out again without any effectual note of its presence being taken by those charged with the defence of the place, we should begin to entertain legitimate fears as to the efficiency of the various arms of the national defences. We do know, however, that it is possible for an unknown foreign airship to circle without interruption or interference of any kind over a British dockyard, and over a harbour containing fifty British warships, both ships and dockyard being alike defenceless against aerial attack. The First Lord of the Admiralty has categorically stated that "an unknown airship was heard over Sheerness about 7 o'clock on the evening of October 14th," and that he knew it was " not one of our own airship.." A foreign airship, it is admitted officially, was over a British dockyard and war harbour two hours after sunset on an autumn evening, at a time when five European nations were at war, but even if the period had been broad daylight, and the time one of war instead of peace for this country, our position would have been just as helpless. Neither Sheerness nor any other place on the whole of our coasts would have been in a position to offer any defence against its attack ; and there is a touch of irony in the fact that the head- nastier* of the Naval Flying School is only a few miles from Sheern:ss. No Wire Nets on Clouds. Ultimately it will probibly be possible to organise a coaU patrol of armed air-craft similar to that now maintained by means of torpedo-boats and destroyers; but even then it will be much easier to mi-s an airship than it is to miss a battleship or destroyer—which is easy enough—for while the " surface " ship can move only in two dimensions, the airship can move in three. Against the surface ship, too, harbours can be defended by means of booms, which are effective until they are broken, even when the enemy cannot b; seen. You cannot, however, hang wire nets on the clouds to keep out aircraft. What should be done, with the minimum of delay, is to equip our naval harbours and dockyards with the most efficient defence against aircraft that is procurable. Several British firms of ordnance manufacturers have turned out excellent guns for attacking aerial vessels, and a proper equipment of these weapons with batteries of searchlights to assist them at night should be regarded as equally essential as defences against torpedo craft. Very shortly, too, the authorities should have at their disposal flights (the official term) of armed aeroplanes and dirigibles, which could stand in much the same relation to ports and harbours as the patrol fio'.illas of torpedo craft stand to the coasts ; though whether they would be able to maintain a continuous patrol is quite another question. Depots for aeroplanes and hydro-aeroplanes are already being established at Port Victoria (in the Medway), Cleethorpes, and Rosylh, thus affording a hint of the organisation that is to come ; but the whole problem is a difficult one. A " LiwMs>" Pange. An interesting side issue raised by the foreign visit to Sheerness is what shall be the aerial equivalent of the " three-mile limit " as, applied to coasts? An imaginary line three miles from a nation's coasts represents the limit of territorial waters, and these are not entered (in peace) by foreign warships without due notice being given. The distance was agreed upjn before guns attained to anything like their present power, but the underlying idea was that a ship three miles out could do no damage. Conditions have altered a good deal since then. It is obvious that an airship can do effective damage whatever its height may be. It has b:en suggested that an aerial height of 1,000 ft. or thereabouts should be regarded as the vertical limit of a nation's jurisdiction ; but this would allow perfect freedom to a foreign armed airship to traverse the country at a height of twelve hundred feet. Thanks to gravitation, the "range'' of a bomb dropped from an airship is limited only by the first obstacle it meets. FOUR WINDS. The best plan surely, is to take an analogy from the submarine, which cannot legally evade the three mile limit by diving under it. Why then should it ba suggested that an airship can evade it by sailing over it, at whatever height?—Evening News, December 6th. Bulgarian Aviator's Fate, Vienna, Sunday. The Pester Lloyd publishes an interesting report concerning the death of a war aviator, Dr. Jules Constantin, a former assistant of the famous Paris surgeon, Dr. Doyen. Dr. Constantin was engaged by the Bulgarian army and received, for his wonderful bravery, a medal from the hand of King Ferdinand. He was engaged to throw bombs from a biplane on to the Turkish army. On his last flight he left Surma, a small village before the Chatalja lines, in an aeroplane, and rapidly disappeared from view. When his machine descended his comrades found him lying dead on the ground, with a wound in the breast. The wings of the biplane were bared with shot. As his barograph showed, he had sailed at a height of 1,220 metres over the Turkish fort, where he photo graphed the terrain, and there h; had evidently been shot, but had strength to guide his apparatus towards the Bulgarian camp. In his hand he still held the helm.—Morning Post, December 9th. Bombs from Airships, Berlin, December 6th. The current number of the Mililair Wochenblatt, the unofficial organ of the Ministry of War, contains an interesting article by Captain von Stockhausen, adjutant to the military commander of Berlin, on the dropping of explosives from airships and aeroplanes. It is reported, says the writer, that the Italians were at first fairly successful with the bombs dropped in the Tripoli War, but after wards not at all. It is evident, he contends, that the hits were purely accidental, for the official tests made by the Prussian military authorities at Diiberitz and also in France have proved that it is posible to make accurate hits with air-bombs. Practice is, of course, he remarks, necessary, but lack of it does not account for the Italian failures. Presumably the Italians flew only by day and aimed at living objects, and as an explosive body dropped from a height of 1,600 ft. requires 12 sees, to reach the ground, an attentive observer can easily avoid it. The Arabs, he remarks, were at first to'ally unacquainted with air-bombs, but very soon understood their import. The writer points out, further, that an explosive body dropped from a height of 1,600 ft. has attained a velocity on reaching the earth of over 300 ft. per second, that much of its explosive force is unavoidably lost, and if the charge be very great the bomb is resolved into a number of ineffective atoms. Shrapnel with a time fuss he declares to be at present useless. The writer comes to the conclusion that explosive bodies aimed during the day at living objects, however numerous these may be, will not do much harm, and declares that the uneasiness felt in respect of the large number of flying machines possessed by the French is, as far as living objects are concerned, groundless. More interest attaches, however, he continues, to the question of dropping of explosives on inanimate objects, but even in this case he states that success can be achieved only if a large quantity of explosive matter, at least 150 to 200 pounds, be dropped at once. The use of aeroplanes for this purpose, he declares, is impossible, and he asks i " What nation possesses an airship at all approaching in value to our Zeppelin cruisers ? Is there one unrigid or semi rigid airship which can attain such speed or has such carrying power ? Can one of them hold an exact course or remain stationary- over a definite point ? " Captain von Stockhausen mentions that aeroplanes are useless in the dark, whereas Zeppelin cruisers can fly and be directed equally well by day or by night. The advantages of Zeppellin cruisers are therefore, he states, in conclusion, overwhelming, and the motors are constantly being improved. He hears that Count Zeppelin has been compelled to advance money trom his private purse to carry on the manufacture of airships at Friedrichshafen, and adds that if Count Zeppelin's patriotic enterprise is really in financial difficulties, an appeal to the German people will certainly not be made in sun.—Morning Post, December 7th. ® ® ® ® HydM'Aeroplanzs Wanted for Norway. A FIRM in Norway has communicated with us to the effect that there ought to be a very good business for hydro-aeroplanes in that country, and they are anxious to get into touch with some first-class English constructors, with a view to representing them. The hrm in question represents one of the largest British auto mobile manufacturers, and any aeroplane maker interested in the matter should communicate with us at once. I 174
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