AIR-CRAFT IN WAR
by Breech-Screw
Chamber's' Journal - Seventh Series (March 8th, 1913)
The far-reaching results of successful reconnaissance in war were fittingly summed up by Frederick the Great. "If," said he, "we had exact information of our enemy's dispositions we should beat him every time." Nowadays every commander in the field hopes to obtain this 'exact information' by means of his flying corps. Until recently a General relied mainly on his cavalry for intelligence duties, but the information he obtained from this source invariably related to events several hours old. The great speed of air-craft has changed all this. His flying squadrons can also be used by him for purposes of offence - namely, bomb-dropping; for communication by means of wireless, or signalling between the widely extended wings of his army; and last, but by no means least, for observation of artillery fire. Darkness, fog, and perhaps very stormy weather, these alone will prevent his air-vessels from viewing every dispostion and movement of his adversary.
During the war in Tripoli the Italian areoplanes made reconnaissance flights daily, and the materials for the map of the Tripolitan region were mainly obtained from photographs taken from dirigibles by Italian observers. The Italian Government evidently appreciate very fully the value of air-craft in war, for they intend to form before the end of this year twelve squadrons of aeroplanes, and have already ordered three new dirigibles. For purposes of defence and communication, Italy is also expending over a quarter of a million on establishing a chain of hydro-aeroplane stations round her coast. There are to be twelve of these stations, from ninety to one hundred and twenty-five miles apart. In July 1912 it was announced from Milan that her dirigible M.1 was equipped with two machine-guns, several bomb-discharging appliances, and a wireless installation. The range of aerial wireless telegraphy is at present only from three hundred and eighty to four hundred and thirty miles.
In the Balkan war, unhappily not yet ended, two aviators were killed by rifle-fire. Dr Jules Constantin was the second to meet his death in this manner. He was struck by a bullet while endeavouring to drop bombs on the Turks at Chatalja, but had sufficient strength left to steer his machine toward the Bulgarian camp, near which he was found dead. The wings of his biplane were riddled with bullets. The Bulgarian aviators made daily flights over the beseiged Adrianople, and were able to report the result of the fire of their artillery, and to observe every movement in that city.
During the French army manoeuvres of 1912 forty thousand miles were covered by her fleet of aeroplanes, and there were no accidents.
For purposes of war on sea and on land, each form of craft has its own special duties; but the dirigible is at present the form best suited for offensive action. As compared with the heavier-than-air machine, the dirigible has a larger radius of action, a greater carrying capacity, and it can remain motionless in the air by its engines being stopped - a risky proceeding in the case of the aeroplane. The heavier-than-air machine has the advantage over its larger and more expensive rival in speed, handiness, comparative invulnerability, the height to which it can rise, and in its power of flying under bad weather conditions. At Tunis, last December, M. Garros, in his Gnome-Bleriot monoplane, flew to a height of nineteen thousand feet. At Issy, in June 1912, the Astra dirigible Eclaireur Conte rose to ten thousand feet, a record for lighter-than-air vessels. The dirigible has never reached a speed greater than sixty miles per hour; M.Vedrines has accomplished a speed of one hundred and eighteen miles per hour on an aeroplane fitted with the 'integral propeller.'
The aeroplane, by overtaking the dirigible, flying above it, and dropping hand-grenades, explosive rockets, or bombs upon its envelope, can in this way bring about its destruction. But so far as ships and fortresses are concerned, the dirigible, on account of its greater carrying capacity, and owing to the fact that it can remain steady in the air, is able to direct on the object of its attack a far more formidable and better aimed fire than can the heavier-than-air vessel. The larger dirigibles can carry a supply of ammunition wighing from one to two thousand pounds.
The dirigible, as the larger and the slower moving of the two machines, affords the gunner an easy target. Its envelope, too, is filled with an inflammable gas; but, doubtless, in a few years such a gas will not be used.
Experiments recently conducted on the Continent show us that on a moderately calm day there is no reason why a large and steadily moving airship, with good sights, should not be able to drop 50 per cent. of its projectiles into a circle of twenty feet diameter from a height of two thousand feet. The projectiles used are high explosive shell and shrapnel. The striking velocity of shell let fall from air-craft must be very small - namely, thirty-two feet per second of flight; though in the case of shrapnel the striking velocity of its bullets will be increased by the bursting charge in its base. It may be regarded as certain that in the near future every military dirigible will be armed with either a gun using compressed air as a propellant for its projectiles, or some light weapon of high velocity with a shell of five or six pounds weight. These pieces will be used for its own protection against other dirigibles or aeroplanes, or perhaps one will be carried for that purpose and one for the attack on ships and fortresses.
The effect of explosives dropped from an air-ship is generally greatly exaggerated. A dirigible which discharges its cargo of, say, twenty shells, each weighing fifty or even one hundred pounds, would do little damage in the most crowded of cities. Bomb-dropping at night will be a frequent occurrence in war-time. Once a dirigible has obtained its bearings by day, it can return to the same spot by night, and, hovering over the place, continue its bombardment. In the case of the House of Commons, such tactics would lead to the abandonment of many an intended 'all night sitting,' and so prove a blessing in disguise to some of the jaded members of that historic assembly. On the other hand, the shock experienced by those members who were asleep would probably necessitate many by-elections.
Every war of the future, whether it be waged on land or on sea, will be preluded by a series of fierce air-battles. In view of this fact, witness the great strength of foreign air battalions.
According to Aeronautics, Germany will in a few months possess twenty-seven dirigibles of high power, carrying capacity, and speed. Of these at least fifteen are military or naval craft. The dirigible Zeppelin L.1, recently delivered to the German navy, has a volume of seven hundred and seventy-six thousand cubic feet, a speed of fifty-two miles per hour, and a useful load of fourteen thousand pounds. Its length is five hundred and twenty-five feet, and diameter of forty-nine feet. It is equipped with wireless apparatus, and carries one gun at least. The crew of this vessel consists of two naval officers, one engineer officer, one pilop, and ten men. The Schutte-Lanz S.L. dirigible is fitted with an armoured platform on each side, on which a gun can be mounted. Germany also possesses a fleet of two hundred and fifty aeroplanes, one hundred and twenty of which are of the latest design and make.
By next June France will have twenty-five dirigibles, of which number twenty are for naval or military purposes. Her largest is the Speiss, whose volume is four hundred and six thousand cubic feet, length three hundred and forty-one feet, diameter forty-three feet, and speed fifty miles per hour. In 1912 France purchased four hundred aeroplanes of war, and it is authoritatively stated that this numnber will be greatly exceeded in 1913. The French biplane of war is capable of accommodating three persons, though ordinarily only two will be carried - namely, the aviator and the observer. The latter is armed with a repeating rifle for use against hostile air-craft.
Russia's new dirigible, the Albatross, which is driven by two one hundred horse-power motors, carries a wireless installation and one machine-gun. A Henri Farman biplane which lately passed its tests for the Russian army is fitted with a mitrailleuse*.This aeroplane is almost the only one in existence in which there is a clear field of fire. It is difficult, however, to see how even a moderate accuracy of aim can be obtained with such a weapon, owing to the great vibration the engine causes throughout the whole framework.
All the Powers, great and small, are purchasing air-craft, and we are endeavouring to retreive our past policy. That policy seems to have been this: Can we, a maritime Power, afford to develop or aid the advancement of a project likely to affect very materially our predominance at sea? Whatever the answer may be, it was obviously our duty to retaliate directly other countries commenced to build air-craft and to study the art of aerial locomotion. Command of the sea is impossible unless we also rule the air. We live in the hope that some great British firm will soon build a huge giant of the air, armoured and heavily armed - the Dreadnought of the Skies.
* An early form of breech-loading machine gun having several parallel barrels. (Collins English Dictionary)