FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1921
1921 - 0003.PDF
JANUARY 6, 1921 We have naturally followed the con- troversy relating to the future of our Controversy Naval shipbuilding policy with more than a little interest, but the more we read the more are we reminded of the proverb which asks: " Who shall decide when doctors disagree ? " It is practically impossible for the lay mind to arrive at anything like a settled opinion after reading the columns of print which are con- tributed to the daily Press by distinguished retired admirals and senior officers of the Navy, each one of whom appears to have his own ideas and con- ceptions of how the future sea wars will be fought and won. The worst of it all is, from the point of view of the outsider who strives for enlightenment, that every letter he reads seems to smack of special pleading, an impression which is very often strengthened when the record of the writer is looked up and it is found that he is a distinguished specialist in the particular branch of the Service upon which he apparently pins his faith. Naturally, it is expecting a great deal when we ask the submarine specialist to admit that the future of naval war lies in the hands of the big ships. Nor is it logical to expect an officer whose principal service has been in battle ships to agree with the school which avers that the big ship cannot put to sea in the face of the sub- marine menace, and cannot even remain safely in harbour because of her vulnerability to attack by torpedo-carrying aircraft. Hence the only way to arrive at conclusions is by a careful reading and weighing of all that is said on every aspect of the question, and a careful elimina- tion of all that seems biassed by the known service and inclinations of the witness. The tendency we have in mind is well demonstrated by the fact, to which Admiral S. S. Hall draws attention in a letter to The Times, that the controversy has largely been reduced to a discussion of the respective merits of the battleship and the submarine. The share which aircraft are likely to take in the naval battles of the future, he points out, is ignored or dismissed with little more than a reference. Admiral Hall, after pinning his faith to " thoroughly efficient air, sub- marine and mining services," concludes his views with the very emphatic pronouncement- : "It is air mastery alone that can give us the power of a vigorous offensive." General Brancker sums up the case quite well when he says—also in The Times—after reviewing the claims made by all sides: " Some writers have stated that the duty cA the Fleet is to destroy the enemy's sea bases, coaling stations, fortifications and commercial haibours, and others have contended that submarines have rendered such enterprisfs impossible. But they will not be impossible to aircraft, and I am .certain that, in the future, the Air Force must become par excellence the arm of offence against hostile commerce and territory. If this is admitted, then the proportion of the money available for armaments allotted to the Air Force as compared to the other services must be very high. If this high allotment to the Air rendeis the allotment to the Navy insufficient for the con- struction of capital ships, then they must go. No nation can neglect power in-the air in order to preserve a form of defence so expensive in its maintenance and so problematical in its utility." Naturally, we incline very much to the endorse- ment of Admiral Hall's and of General Brancker's views, and we believe that before many decades there will be few who. will not be of the same way of thinking. By way of a last" view " of the future the following sentence from a New Year's article in the German paper Die Woche should give food for reflec- tion :— " The capability of ships to submerge marks a new era in the waging of warfare which is of the highest importance. It can never again be left out of calculation, any more than can the masteiy of the air by airships and aeroplanes." It would really seem to us that the matter has now arrived at a stage when it can best be judged by an able civilian committee, capable of sifting the whole of the evidence, etc., free from professional bias, and qualified to arrive at reasoned conclusions, which must be forced upon the professional seamen whether they agree with those conclusions or not. THE ROYAL AIR FORCE ENSIGN THE design for a Royal Air Force ensign has been approved by His Majesty the King. It consists of a flag of Royal Air Force blue, one-fourth of which is occupied by a Union flag as in the maritime ensigns. The fourth below the Union flag bears no device, whilst centred in the remaining half of the ensign is the Royal Air Force identification mark carried by all British Service aircraft. The Union flag in the corner of the ensign denotes its nationality, whilst the colour and the marking serve to identify it as the ensign of the Royal Air Force. The inclusion of the Royal Air Force marking, which has become so familiar to all as the recognition mark on British" Service aircraft, is appropriate The new R.A.F. ensign. The ground is R.A.F. in that it is the symbol under blue, and the rosette has the outer circle in which many thousands of gallant Royal blue, the inner, white, and the centre, red. actions have been fought in the air, and many thousands of British flying officers have been wounded or have met their death. The ensign will be flown daily from morning parade till sunset at the Headquarters of the Force, of areas and independent com- mands and at Royal Air Force Stations, Hoisted with due cere- mony, it will be flown at the peak of a mast and gaff, at the masthead of which the dis- tinguishing flag of the command- ing officer will also be hoisted whenever the ensign is flown, except on those occasions when the Royal Standard or the personal Standard of a Member of the Royal Family takes the place of the distinguishing flag of the commanding officer, indicating that the King or a Member of the Royal Family is present.
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
