692 



Popular Science Monthly 



exactly as if it had been dropped from a 

 destroyer. 



I have seen it stated in print that Captain 

 Alessandro Guidoni, of the Italian Navy, 

 experimented with such an invention two 

 or three years ago and that he hit the 

 target nine times out of ten at a distance of 

 three thousand yards. Not having an 

 aeroplane large enough to carry a heavy, 

 long distance tor- 

 pedo, he used a light 

 short distance tor- 

 pedo suitable for the 

 size of his craft. 



I received private 

 information from 

 Europe about a year 

 ago that a lieutenant 

 in the British Navy 

 made four flights 

 over the land into 

 the Sea of Marmora 

 in an aeroplane un- 

 der which a White- 

 head torpedo was 

 secured and that he 

 sank four Turkish 

 vessels, using four- 

 teen inch torpedoes, 

 weighing seven hun- 

 dred and thirty-one 

 poundseach. Forthis 

 service, hewasaward- 

 ed the much coveted 

 medal of the Distin- 

 guishedServiceOrder. 



while the torpedoplane can be shot full of 

 holes without much damage, unless hit in 

 a vital place. 



The aviators tell me that they see no 

 difficulties whatever in doing their part 

 of the work. 



For an attack on battleships, the large 



size torpedo, weighing about a ton, would 



be the best. It can be fired from a distance 



of five sea miles or 



Pulling the lever releases the torpedo, 

 which is securely held under the aeroplane 



Why the Fighting Ship Would Be 

 Helpless 



Naval officers and many aviators agree 

 with me that it would be very difficult, in- 

 deed, for the guns of a ship to hit a torpedo- 

 plane, for the reason that accurate firing 

 of guns from a rolling ship at an aeroplane 

 that is neither overhead nor on the surface 

 of the water is almost impossible. 



The greatest single difficulty in firing 

 from a rolling ship at anything near the sur- 

 face of the water is to find the range at 

 which to fire; and a rapidly approaching 

 ill-defined aeroplane makes finding the 

 range almost impossible. The sudden 

 changes in the height of a torpedoplane 

 as she would swoop down would increase 

 the difficulty tremendously. Besides, in a 

 contest between a torpedoplane and a ship, 

 in which the torpedoplane seeks to strike 

 the ship below the water, the ship, if she 

 is struck there is disabled, if not destroyed; 



more. We now have 

 a number of aero- 

 planes in this coun- 

 try large enough for 

 carrying such tor- 

 pedoes. 



But battleships 

 would be accompan- 

 ied by a vast array 

 of other vessels 

 which are verj^ im- 

 portant, such as de- 

 stroyers, colliers, am- 

 munition ships, scout 

 cruisers and trans- 

 ports — vessels which 

 are lightly built and 

 which have sides so 

 thin that a torpedo 

 would be thoroughly 

 effective against 

 them. A destroyer 

 would be especially 

 helpless in an at- 

 tack, because a de- 

 stroyer's motions in 

 rolling and pitching 

 are so quick that her gun fire would of 

 necessity be extremely inaccurate. There- 

 fore, torpedoplanes could with comparative 

 safety approach destroyers and discharge 

 their torpedoes from a distance of a few 

 hundred yards. 



In our present state of unpreparedness, it 

 would be a great thing if we could bring out 

 something as revolutionary and effective 

 as the "Monitor," something that could be 

 got ready in the limited time that may be 

 granted us. We cannot hope to catch up 

 with any of the leading powers in ship or 

 submarine building. Their output is 

 enormous compared with ours, and their 

 experience is greater. We are far, far be- 

 hind; but I believe that our national se- 

 curity could be hopefully improved by 

 keeping say fifty torpedoplanes at each of 

 the ten important naval districts, and on 

 aeroplane mother ships, which would go 

 with the fleet. 



