UNITED STATES
U.S.S. “Solace”
New York Herald Tribune, August 10. — The U.S.S. Solace, first hospital ship to be added to the Navy since the World War, was commissioned at 11:30 a.m. yesterday at the Atlantic Basin Iron Works, Pier 46, Conover Street, Brooklyn. Rear Admiral Charles M. Oman, commander of the Naval Medical Center in Washington, representing the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery of the Navy Department, spoke. A few minutes after the commissioning pennant, with seven stars and one blue and one white stripe, was raised, Admiral Oman said that the Red Cross sign on the ship would not guarantee protection from attack. Instead, he asserted, it seemed to draw bombs. He pointed out that hospitals in London bearing the Red Cross sign often had been hit and said that eleven ambulance and hospital ships were sunk during the World War. The Solace, formerly the Clyde Mallory liner Iroquois, was bought by the Navy in July, 1940. Since September the ship has been undergoing conversion. Even during the brief commissioning ceremonies, while the 425 men and officers assigned to the ship and 100 visitors stood in the midday sun on the upper deck, workmen were installing electrical wires. Captain Benjamin Perlman is commanding officer of the ship, which carries 400 hospital beds. It also has two completely equipped operating rooms, an X- ray department, an eye, ear, nose and throat operating room, a urological operating room, a physiotherapeutic department, a pharmacy, and a clinical laboratory. It has a special diet kitchen. Electrically heated food carts are among the equipment.
The ship which will carry 13 medical officers, 3 dental officers, 13 nurses and 3 pharmacists, has 139 crew members with hospital corps ratings. The ship is painted white, with a broad green stripe running from stem to stern. On each side of the funnel is painted a Red Cross, and the signs are repeated on the sides of the ship. These markings, according to international law, should protect the ship from attack. The ship carries no armament. Before he read the formal orders commissioning the ship, Captain Perlman explained the purpose of the ship.
“This ship is unlike the other vessels of the Navy we know of as fighting ships,” he said. “Our service is primarily a public service to mitigate the evils of war. We are carrying the Red Cross, and we are not liable to capture if we behave according to international rules.”
The Iroquois was built in 1927 by the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Newport News, Va., at a cost of $2,500,000. She is a twin-screw, 19-knot turbine vessel, of 6,200 gross tons. She has a length of 410 feet, a beam of 62 feet and a draft of 19.4 feet, and, as a peace-time craft, carried 450 passengers. The Solace will make its first trial run next week. It will be sent into service by the end of the month.
Plane Detector Training
New York Herald Tribune, August 16. — A course in the detection of enemy aircraft by a secret locating instrument developed here by the Signal Corps of the United States Army is being conducted for 31 newly commissioned lieutenants who volunteered for the training. The locating instrument, which required 6 years to develop, utilizes radio beams to reveal the approach of enemy aircraft at long distances and to tell their altitude and direction. For the construction of an initial portion of an anti-aircraft detection laboratory a contract has been awarded to the Ehret-Day Company of Asbury Park, N. J. Six buildings with the necessary equipment, much of which is a military secret, will be erected at once, at a cost of about $735,000, and later construction will bring the total to more than $1,270,000. The officers in the first class were drawn from persons engaged in the field of radio engineering and electrical experimentation who applied for service after the Army Signal Corps announced it could use technicians for aircraft-locating -work. It is planned to train hundreds to man stations equipped with locating devices, which will soon operate 24 hours a day as a defense measure along the nation’s coastline. All those accepted for the work must be unmarried, without dependents and must agree to serve, if their duty calls them, outside of the United States. On being accepted the candidates receive commissions as second lieutenants in the Signal Corps Reserve and are ordered to active duty. After preliminary training for three weeks at Fort Monmouth the new officers will go to other Signal Corps stations for more advanced work.
Various Notes
The Navy Department announced today that motion pictures had been employed in conducting tests to determine wind current and eddy characteristics that would be developed through the construction of additional hangars and other structures at the lighter-than-air station at Lakehurst, New Jersey. The tests were carried out by the Franklin Institute in accordance with a contract entered into with the Bureau of Yards and Docks. Models of the planned structures were erected. Smoke was used to make possible the photographing of the air currents produced by the structures when wind at various pressures was created through use of wind tunnels. The motion pictures in conjunction with manometer tests (device for measuring wind pressures) have given definite and essential information in connection with the designing and locating of the structures to be built. —Navy Department Release, August 18.
The Navy has taken over Pier 92 on the Hudson River, formerly occupied by the Italian Line and capable of berthing the largest transports, and is converting it into a receiving station for enlisted personnel. The upper two floors of the spacious pier, which extends 1,000 feet into the Hudson, are to be transformed into barracks. The old cruiser Seattle, now serving as receiving ship at the New York Navy Yard in Brooklyn, will be stationed at this new receiving base. A receiving base accommodates enlisted personnel who are in process of transfer from one ship or base to another. There are several of these stations on the Atlantic coast. Presumably the new receiving station on the Hudson is being established to relieve congestion in the navy yard in Brooklyn. Whether it is intended also to give the Navy a more accessible depot for large transport ships was not revealed. Top ranking navy officers with authority to discuss the acquisition of the new Navy base were not available yesterday. Those who were available would not discuss it. —New York Herald Tribune, August 10.
President Roosevelt has signed an executive order prohibiting unsupervised night time navigation of Manila Bay and warning that violators of the regulation would be subject to “attack by United States armed forces.” Portions of the area were mined several weeks ago. The order, published in the federal register, established the territorial waters of the bay and its tributaries as a “defensive sea area” and warned ships that they would operate in it at their own risk. —Chicago Daily Tribune, August 23.
GREAT BRITAIN
Hongkong a Fortress
London Times, July 7. —After serving as the entrepôt of South China for 100 years Hongkong stands today as Britain’s most advanced outpost in the Far East, a fortress ready to give blow for blow if attacked. Politically a Crown colony, economically a port of China, strategically a naval base, it has a double part to play in the life-and-death struggle in which the Empire is engaged: to assist the Imperial war effort by producing ships, war materials, and foreign exchange, and to make itself as strong as possible in the common defense of the Empire. Although a trifle slow in starting, Hongkong has been making up for lost time, and while it has no wish to provoke a clash, it can already promise an assailant that he will get as good as he gives. Hongkong’s beaches, like the shores of England, bristle with barbed wire; mine-fields, booms, and shore batteries guard the approaches to its unrivaled harbor; and heavy guns of no mean range and hitting power are hidden in the hills. Owing to the hills, it is true, the colony is short of aerodromes, but this is offset by the new technique of larger defense areas made possible by the increasing range and mobility of the Royal Air Force and the Fleet Air Arm. The garrison has been strongly reinforced with British regulars, Indian troops, Chinese sappers, and British volunteers. Hongkong was the first part of the Empire to conscribe its manpower, and every able-bodied Briton here must either do his share of training in the fighting force, or, if engaged in essential service work, serve in the local “home guard.” Many young Chinese have joined the volunteers as machine-gunners, and Americans as well as Allied subjects are giving their services in the defense of the colony.
Some six miles of air-raid tunnels have been drilled in the hillsides on both sides of the harbor since last October, including a vast tunnel in the Happy Valley area which could shelter between 50,000 and 60,000 people. The work, which is already well ahead of schedule, is still going on night and day at the rate of 1,500 ft. a week. The solid granite in the hillsides is often varied by loose rocks and water, and the tunnels, lined with strong timber frames, are later completed with stone and concrete. During the earlier stages of the work an army of 3,000 coolies was hired to test the ventilation, but this is now being done with instruments. Public shelters are being provided with food, lighting, seating, and sanitation, and tickets will be issued to the people in each district to prevent confusion in the event of raids. The colony’s chief problem in time of war as in peace is overpopulation. To ascertain how many people must be fed and sheltered in air raids a census was taken by 3,500 wardens in the earlier part of this year. The results were: 709,294 people living on the island, 581,431 in Kowloon, and 154,000 in boats, a total of 1,444,725. There were just under 8,000 Britons exclusive of the garrison. No census was taken in the New Territories, where the estimated population is between 120,000 and 150,000. Although protected for long periods by fog Hongkong can expect little or no warning of air raids in clear weather. The authorities are therefore striving to reduce, or at least control, the excess population by means of the new Immigration Office, and at the same time are building up the colony’s food and fuel reserves against a possible siege.
The defense of Hongkong being “static” the refugee problem cannot arise here in the form in which it did in the Low Countries and Northern France. In view of the dangers of bombing, epidemics, and famine, however, measures have been worked out for dispersing people into the hills, where food stores, communal kitchens, and water are being provided. Periodical blackouts are held, though it is hard to make them wholly effective with thousands of junks and sampans dotted all over the harbor. Over 3,000 paid Chinese street guards, corresponding in part to the special constables in Britain, are being enrolled to deal with Fifth Column activities. The Government is also forming an antisabotage corps, which will include trained Russian antipiracy guards from British coastal steamers now in service elsewhere. Special war legislation gives the authorities in Hongkong the same wide powers as the Government in Britain over persons and property for the purposes of defense. The censorship of letters in half the languages of the world is an important part of economic warfare here. Anyone may possess a short- or longwave wireless receiving set, however, and the most popular broadcasts are the news bulletins in the Eastern transmission of the B.B.C., relayed by ZBW, the local Government station. Hongkong is outside the sterling bloc, because of its trade with China, but British subjects here are subject to the same stringent monetary regulations which are in force in other parts of the Empire, especially as regards foreign securities. There is a branch of the Ministry of Economic Warfare in the colony, and no effort is spared to prevent goods reaching the enemy. The chief contribution to the Imperial war effort is the building of ships, which Hongkong can turn out, with its cheap skilled labor, faster than any other part of the Empire. Since the war started 11 cargo steamers of 9,200 tons deadweight each have been put in hand. In addition minesweepers and harbor defense craft are being built for the Royal Navy and ferry tenders for the Army. Besides voting $10,000,000 for these craft Hongkong has presented the home Government with £100,000 out of the last revenue surplus, £200,000 out of war taxation and promised £200,000 a year for the period of the war out of the profits of the exchange equalization fund. Although enjoying a remarkable degree of prosperity, Hongkong has its anxieties in the threat of war in the Pacific, the constant menace of Japanese troops along the border, the intensified blockade of the adjacent coast, the unfair treatment of British steamers in the Canton trade, and the growing shortage of tonnage in the Far East, which is a limitation on the volume of war material the colony can produce for the Empire. The authorities are also confronted with urgent local problems like the rising cost of living, the unceasing fight against disease, the flooding of the labor market with thousands of refugees from the mainland, and, above all, the terrible congestion in the city areas, where the recent air raid census showed that at least 20,000 people are sleeping in the streets.
The backwash of war has made changes in the life and habits of Hongkong, which has become in many ways the cultural as well as the financial and commercial clearinghouse for China. The colony has a greater sense of realities today than ever before, despite some lack of it among Europeans as well as Chinese. Direct taxation has been introduced for the first time, quarantine has been imposed against Canton, and efforts have been made to control the ceaseless flow of Chinese in and out of the colony. Local-born British subjects, a “minority” of growing importance in Hongkong, are becoming more articulate for their rights. Stirred by the public work of the Bishop of Victoria, the social conscience is being awakened so that it is no longer left to the zealous few to tackle the social evils of the place. Like other parts of the Empire, the colony has learned some bitter lessons in coping with difficulties raised by the war, and if the system has not always proved equal to the sudden demands made on it, healthy criticism has not been lacking in the council chamber and the English newspapers. Instead of showing their former indifference, the public welcome important health reforms put through by the Director of Medical Services in the face of vested interests; and the general attitude of 20 years ago, “I am not here for my health,” has given way to a stronger sense of civic duty. People who could not, at one time, see beyond the Kowloon hills, now have a broader concept of Hongkong’s position in relation to China, the Empire, and the changing world in which we live. Nothing illustrates this change better than the visits which the Commander in Chief in the Far East, Sir Robert Brooke-Popham, is able to make by air from Singapore to Australia, Manila, and Hongkong. The barren, malarial island which celebrated its centenary of British rule earlier this year as one of the greatest ports in the world, has become, as a result of the war, an integral part in a wider Far Eastern sphere, no longer a pawn, but a factor, in the politics of the Pacific. In the resolute words of the Governor, Sir Geoffry Northcote, “If war is forced on Hongkong, it can resist, is ready to resist, and will resist,” and no one doubts that it will give a good account of itself.
Restraining the Sea Raiders
The Aeroplane, August 1. —Attempts by the Germans to restore a battle cruiser to commerce raiding in the Atlantic last week set the Royal Air Force upon the biggest single operation it has yet undertaken by day. Four-motor Stirling, Halifax, and Fortress bombers, two-motor Wellingtons, Whitleys, and Hampdens, and single-motor Hurricane and Spitfire fighters were detailed to frustrate the enemy’s plans, and the manner in which they accomplished their task made one of the most stirring narratives yet issued by the Air Ministry. The battle cruiser was the Scharnhorst, which had been a crippled prisoner in the French naval base at Brest since she was forced to shelter there on March 31 of this year. She was moved from her berth during the night of July 22. Brest also harbored two other German warships, the Gneisenau and the Prinz Eugen. All three had been under the constant surveillance of the Coastal Command of the R.A.F. and had periodically been the target for R.A.F. bombs. When the warship was moved, the Germans tried to conceal her departure by putting a tanker disguised as the Scharnhorst, and suitably draped with camouflage netting, in the same berth, but the trick was discovered, and the Scharnhorst was located at La Pallice, 240 miles South of Brest, on July 23. Later that day, Stirlings made an attack with heavy armor-piercing bombs, and scored at least one direct hit on the fugitive raider. After nightfall, Whitleys continued the attack. Meanwhile the big raid was being prepared. It was launched at 14.00 hours on July 24, against Brest. First over the target, and carrying American bombs, were Boeing Fortresses, flying at the great height made possible by their turbo-superchargers. Fortresses had previously taken no part in Bomber Command’s offensive operations. Following them came a tight formation of Hampdens rather low. Fighters escorted the bombers, but so determined was the German fighters’ challenge, and so great their numbers, that many bombers became involved in combat. Farther South, at Pallice, a “strong force” of unescorted Halifax bombers were attacking the already damaged Scharnhorst. At least one more direct hit was scored. The Halifaxes, too, were assailed by fighters. Farther North, Bristol Blenheim medium bombers were making profitable diversion raids on Hazebrouck and on Cherbourg, where, in the face of intense anti-aircraft gunfire, they hit and set on fire a whale-oil ship. A balance sheet of the operations shows that the Scharnhorst received at least 2 direct hits, the Gneisenau 7; the Prinz Eugen and an oil tanker were straddled, and a tremendous amount of damage was done to the harbor at Brest and La Pallice. The Luftwaffe suffered the loss of 36 fighters while resisting the attack. The Royal Air Force lost 15 bombers and 7 fighters—not a high price for the results achieved. Brest is the most strongly fortified port in Northern France; it is also guarded by many squadrons of fighters. Twenty-three of the fighters were shot down by bombers. The entire operation was carried through in accordance with the best traditions of the Royal Air Force, and will rank as one of the most carefully planned and courageously executed actions it has fought in this war. By their gallantry and skill the crews of the bombers and their attendant fighters removed a grave and immediate threat to British shipping on the high seas.
Various Notes
Rubber boats included with parachute packs is the newest thing for Royal Air Force pilots, the Commerce Department reported today. A pilot bailing out over water pulls two rip cords, one releasing a parachute and the other a rubber dinghy, which is inflated with a bottle of carbon monoxide gas. A small bellows also is in the pack, and the boat can be kept afloat for several days, the department said. —The Baltimore Sun, August 3.
JAPAN
Light Cruiser Weakness
The Navy, July. —Every now and then we hear that Japanese warships are so formidable as to be superior, ship for ship, ton for ton, to their foreign contemporaries —this, for the reason that they can pack more military and tactical qualities into a given size than any other naval powers could possibly do. While this may be true to some extent of their submarines and 8 heavy cruisers, let us first examine what their naval designers have created in light cruisers before we fall in with those know- alls.
The old armored cruisers Yakumo and Iwate, battle-scarred veterans of the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-5, no longer will be used for navy training purposes, for the Japs have recently commissioned two new vessels, built exclusively as training ships for their future admirals. These ships are the Katori and Kashima, built at the Mitsu-Bishi yard at Yokohama and completed in the summer of 1940. Of identical design, each is of 6,800 tons, has a large radius and a designed speed of 18 knots. The armament sufficient for training purposes includes four 14-cm. (approximately 5.5- in.) guns in single mounts behind thinly protected shields, two 12.7-cm. (5-in.) anti-aircraft guns, and some eight M.G. Four torpedo tubes for training purposes, possibly 24-in., are mounted in pairs on each ship. We see, then, that these two ships are a far cry from being the actual cruisers which naval alarmists up to the present time have claimed them to be. Economy in size and operation is still an axiom of Japanese naval thought and policy; hence we can rest assured that all her new light cruiser construction will be designed for short-ranged operation and be of smaller dimensions than her previous classes of cruisers. Of the seven light cruisers authorized in April, 1937, 5 were reported to have been laid down in 1937-38, 2 of which we know are training ships, and the other 3, the Hashidate (launched December, 1939), Kashino (launched January, 1940), and the Arashi (launched April, 1940), are believed to be light cruisers of about 7,000 tons each and embodying some of the lessons learned with their unsuccessful Mogami’s. It has been reported that they are armed somewhat similarly to that of the Italian Garibaldi’s (ten 6.1-in. in two twin and two triple turrets), plans of which were purchased from Italy in 1937. Their speed is probably comparable with other cruisers of the Jap Navy (33 knots), and their armor is limited most likely to thin protective plating to their vital areas, somewhat similar to the Italian ship—a weak protection, indeed, for a modem light cruiser! It is, of course, to be expected that these ships will continue past policy and carry a formidable torpedo armament of twelve 21-in., or, more likely, 24-in., tubes in triple sets (protected by armored shields), and have two catapults with a capacity of four or more seaplanes. No doubt the sky defense armament will be much heavier than in any previous Jap cruisers. In this type we see the same story all over again— armor sacrificed for gun power and torpedo armament. The Japs just won’t learn to stop packing too heavy an armament on their ships. Two more cruisers of this class laid down about a year later, and possibly slightly heavier (7,500 tons), should be near the launching stage (the Tsugaru, launched last June, 1940, may be one of these), if not already in service. How many more of these cruisers are building is, of course, not known. So much for their new construction. Now we come to their 26 light cruisers in service.
Of the Mogami’s or Mikuma’s there are six 8,500-tonners, and of a size and gun power (fifteen 6.1-in., eight 5-in., A.A., 12 torpedo tubes, 2 catapults, with 4 seaplanes, and a 33 knot speed), not likely to be repeated because they have proved unsatisfactory on trials and in service, rolling excessively and being a weak mount for such heavy armament. Owing to their top heaviness (resulting from the huge tiers of bridgework forward with control stations and range finders piled high above the deck, plus the weight of the armament) three of their guns were removed recently. Notwithstanding this, these ships are still overloaded with top weight, and are by no means as formidable as they appear to be. It has been reported that the last two, the Tikuma and Tone, have been converted into aircraft cruisers, having all their guns placed in four triple turrets forward, a most unusual procedure, and carrying from 9 to 15 seaplanes each. If successful we may see the adoption of the aircraft cruiser by all the leading naval powers. The Mogami’s protection consists of a belt armor on the water line, possibly no thicker than 3 inches for some 190 feet in length and covering the machinery and boiler room spaces only. The decks are only 2 inches, and the turrets and conning tower are, in all probability, no better protected. Their triple hulls and anti-torpedo bulges, however, offer some defense against mines and torpedoes. On the whole these ships seem very weak, both in vertical and horizontal protection, in comparison with British and American cruisers built in the same period. A lucky hit from a 6-in. shell should send one of them down to Davy Jones’s Locker as quickly as the Italian cruiser Caleoni sank last July 19, when she had the misfortune of meeting up with the much slower Australian cruiser, Sydney, a ship equal in gun power, but slightly better protected on the water line amidships. In gun power, armor, radius and sea-keeping qualities, America’s Brooklyn’s and Britain’s Southampton and Belfast classes clearly outshine the Mogami’s which are supposed to constitute Japan’s most powerful light cruisers. Next, there are 13 older cruisers of the Kuma and Zintu classes, built between 1920-25; they are 5,100 to 5,200 tonners, armed with seven 5.5-in., two 3-in., and six M.G. A.A., and one seaplane, have 8 torpedo tubes, mines, and a speed of 33 knots. They have even less protection than the Mogami’s, the belt being confined to a small patch of 2-in. armor amidships with similar plating to the decks and conning tower. Their sky-gun defense is weak, their radius about half that of the British Arethusa’s, which are of about the same size and are highly vulnerable to the lightest bomb or a destroyer’s gunfire. They are inferior beyond doubt to America’s old Omaha’s and Britain’s two Emerald’s. Next come three very small cruiser-destroyers of the 3,000-ton class, the Yubori (2,890 ton), carrying six, and the Tatsuba and Tenryu four 5.5-in. guns. They are getting on in years, being 17 to 22 years old, are of short radius for a cruiser and, like the Kuma’s, poorly protected. They are weak in sky-gun armament (one 3-in. A.A. and several M.G.), and are not even considered today a good match for America’s and Britain’s powerful 1,850- to 1,870-ton destroyers of the Porter and Tribal classes, ships which are superior to them in speed, gun power, torpedo armament (in U. S. ships) and radius. Next there are two 28-year-old protected cruisers called the Hirado and Yahagi. Armed with eight 6-in. guns and barely capable of 24 knots they are of only limited value for China coast patrol or for training purposes, but are definitely obsolete for modem warfare and can be considered as suitable museum pieces. Lastly come the Ning Hai and Ping Hai, modem Japanese designed vessels and built in 1934 and 1936, and captured from China in 1938. It has been reported that these two vessels have been turned over to the Chinese puppet government at Nanking. They are actually remarkable little craft; on a displacement of 2,500 tons they mount six 5.5-in. and six 3.5-in. A.A., four torpedo' tubes and two seaplanes. Their low speed of 23 knots makes them unsuitable, however, for cruiser work, but for patrolling the China coast in lieu of gunboats they are excellent vessels. They cannot be classified as cruisers and should be placed in a special class like that of America’s two Erie type gunboats. Thus we can see that Japan has available in 1941 no more than 24 light cruisers, of which 13 are armed with an inferior 5.5-in. gun. In comparison, Britain will have available when her Dido's and Fiji's are completed during this year, 44 of the most modem type of 6-in. gun cruisers, as well as 15 older and 7 anti-aircraft cruisers, or a total of 66 in all. United States has in service only nineteen 6-in. gun cruisers, of which only 9 of the Brooklyn class are of modern design; these ships are considered the most powerful armed and the best protected light cruisers afloat, being easily a match for any of the Japanese heavy cruisers.
U.S.S.R.
The Russian “Secret”
The Aeroplane, August 8. —Miracles are still associated in the popular mind with Air Power. The superb Russian resistance to the armored and mechanized forces of Germany is honored as a fine piece of military tactics backed by the highest devotion in the Russian soldier. The relative immunity of Moscow from serious air raid damage is regarded, on the other hand, as verging on the miraculous. The British citizen who has seen the effects of bomb damage in his own land asks how the Russians do it. The daily press backs his incredulity by hinting that Russia must have an air defense superior in some respects to that of Great Britain. “What is Russia’s secret?” asks one of the newspapers. Leaving the question unanswered, the organ of public enlightenment asserts that, whatever it may be, it will by now have been communicated to Great Britain. The truth, when it can be told, will be that Russia has a good deal to thank the British for. A hint of what has happened lately in this country was contained last week in the announcement that when the Germans claimed to have bombed Plymouth and Yarmouth, they had, in fact, not dropped a bomb within 40 miles of either objective. There was a time when the raiders were guided surely to the cities they were to attack by means of radio beams. The British had also done enough in the development of detection systems to help any other power which might have access to the leakages of information through certain neutral countries. That, in turn, had shown how valuable it is, from the defender’s point of view, to have the raiders over enemy territory for a fairly long time. Stated briefly, the conclusion is that the farther the bomber must fly over hostile territory, the better the chance of interception. Considering Moscow’s situation in the present stage of the German military advance, the onlooker notes, in the first place, that there can be no short-range raiding. The bombers bound for Moscow must fly at least 300 miles over country which presents few landmarks. He assumes that radio beams, intersecting over Moscow, are not available to them. He no longer has any doubt that Moscow is well defended by a big Air Force and by ample anti-aircraft artillery. He has evidence to satisfy him that only a small proportion of German pilots are skilled navigators. He remembers instances in which night raiders, when engaged, have jettisoned their bombs and streaked for home. He recalls an extract from a Russian message issued on July 31: “Several scores of German aircraft tried to raid Moscow. All of them were dispersed ... in the approaches to the capital, but far from Moscow itself.” And he concludes that distance, once again, is an essential element in the Russian defenses.
The better navigators among the German pilots may get through. The others, after being chased off their course three or four times on a long trip, will be lucky to find Moscow before anxiety and nerve strain overcome their desire to do their duty. Russia’s “secret” is threefold. It consists, for one part, of good fortune in having to meet an enemy air force which has had its confidence in the technique of its strategical bombing badly shaken; for another part, of good fortune in having plenty of space in which to harass the raiders; and for a third part, of sound sense in having prepared strong and efficient defenses. Russia might have had to meet the Luftwaffe in all its fresh assurance of domination by weight of numbers. She might have encountered it in the days when it was rashly willing to throw its squadrons wholesale into the daylight sky. The British performed so useful a wearing-down service that the Luftwaffe was more an Army Co-operation service when it turned against Russia than it had been when the war began. In strategical bombing it had met real success only against undefended cities like Rotterdam and Belgrade. Wherever opposition occurred, the Luftwaffe had to twist and wriggle, looking less for a means of defeating its opponents than for a way of evading the defenses. The effect of that attitude over a long period forms a large part in explaining the things that have happened in raids on Moscow.
Inland Waterways
Engineering, July 25. —There have been many references during the past 10 years, most of them rather vague in matters of detail, to the efforts made by the Government of the U.S.S.R. to improve and extend the inland waterways which play so prominent a part in the internal transport arrangements of Russia. To a large extent, these consist of the great river systems of the country, but the canals are also very important, and some of them are of considerable antiquity, dating from a period between 150 years and 200 years ago. The natural waterways aggregate about 250,000 miles in length available for navigation, but, before 1930, comparatively little had been done to link them into a unified system based on definite strategical and commercial objectives. Something of the developments that have been undertaken since that date is indicated on the map. The ultimate aim is to connect the Baltic, the White Sea, the Caspian, the Sea of Azov, and the Black Sea by a system designed to counteract the military disadvantage, under which Russia has always labored, of being obliged to maintain separate fleets in European and Mediterranean waters. This would not entirely obviate the need to base a separate naval force in the Far East, but that disability has also been met to some extent as a result of various expeditions to the Arctic and the successful charting of a route from the White Sea to the Bering Strait, which has been regularly traversed in recent years, during the summer months. This development, however, has been dictated as much by commercial as by strategical considerations, whereas military strategy alone inspired the construction of the Stalin Canal between the Baltic and the White Sea. When the system between Western Russia and the Black Sea is completed, it will have definite defensive importance, as the intention is to maintain such a depth of water throughout as will enable light cruisers to pass from one area to the other. Meanwhile, however, the benefits of the enterprise are mainly industrial. New manufacturing districts have been opened up, and appreciable relief afforded to the overtaxed railways. The Baltic-White Sea route consists of the Rivers Neva and Svir and the Imeni-Stalin Canal, and is about 560 miles long. The two locks on the Svir are not yet in use, but one has been completed and the other is under construction. A temporary by-pass canal has been cut to enable some traffic to use the route, pending the completion of the locks. On the Imeni- Stalin Canal there are 19 locks, mainly of wood and built in 1932. They are 379 ft. long, 50 ft. wide, and 15 ft. deep. The depth of water in the canal itself is only 12 ft., but it has been reported that a number of small naval craft, including submarines, succeeded in escaping through it when the German forces attacked the Baltic coasts and frontiers of Russia. The Marinski system connects Leningrad to Ribinsk, on the Volga, but at present is of limited utility, having 43 locks and being capable of passing only barges not exceeding 800 tons. Plans have been prepared to modernize the system by increasing the depth and reducing the number of locks to six. The Moscow-Volga Canal, 80 miles in length, which was completed in 1937, is of more adequate dimensions, being designed to take vessels drawing from 15 ft. to 18 ft. of water, but itis not yet used by ships of this draught owing to limitations imposed by adjacent sections of the general canal system, where reconstruction is still incomplete. The Manych Canal, connecting the head waters of the river of that name with those of the River Kuma, was to have provided a passage from the Black Sea to the Baltic via the Caspian Sea and the Volga; but its construction is understood to have been abandoned, although in a fairly advanced state. One main reason is believed to be the difficulty of navigation in the Caspian, which is subject to violent storms, and the level of which is steadily falling; but it is probable that the decision not to proceed with the Manych system was influenced by the superior possibilities offered by the Volga-Don Canal, which will join these two rivers immediately below Stalingrad, so linking the Black Sea with the main canal system. This link is understood to have been begun in 1939, and to be designed for a minimum depth of 21 ft., which would enable light cruisers of moderate size to make the passage; but, in the most favorable circumstances, it cannot be completed for several years. An additional benefit to be expected from it is a check to the falling level of the Caspian, due to the present inflow being less than the loss by evaporation. The canal should retard this loss to some extent by diverting the waters of the Don into the lower Volga. There are other minor canal systems which, though of technical interest, cannot compare with the foregoing canals in strategic importance. They include the Tikhvinski and Vishnivolotski systems, connecting the Volga with the Baltic; the Hertzog Wurtemburgski Canal, between the Volga and Dvina rivers, and linking the Volga with the White Sea; the Sergeitch Canal, in the Minsk region, which connects the Dnieper with the Western Dvina by way of the River Berezina; and the Dnepropetrovsk Canal, past the rapids on the Dnieper between Dnepropetrovsk and Zaporozhe. This was constructed as part of the Dneprostroi power-station scheme, and was opened for steamer traffic early in 1932. It is reported that the water supply to the Sergeitch Canal is failing and that, in consequence, this waterway is now used only for rafting timber.
[MAP]
Naval Notes
The principal interest of the Russian Navy has been in light torpedo forces’ (destroyers, torpedo boats, and submarines), amply distributed in the various seas which constitute possible theaters of naval war for Russia. The disadvantage of the great distances which separate these units has been greatly reduced by means of the network of canals which are being constructed and deepened. The White Sea and the Baltic are already linked by the Stalin Canal. All that is lacking now are a few improvements to permit passage of these craft between the Black and Caspian Seas, and the Baltic and Arctic Ocean without being obliged to circumnavigate Europe or Asia. The stretches on which work remains to be done are the old Marin- sky Canal from Lake Onega north, the upper reaches of the Volga, and a short stretch from the Don to the Volga in the South. —Revista de Marina.
Various Notes
According to German publications four destroyers of 2,900 tons are being built in Leningrad; names of these ships are Arkhangelsk, Kronstadt, Murmansk, and Petrosavodsk. These ships probably are of the same characteristics as a series of eleven, of which the Leningrad was put in service in 1936. The last of this series is now being completed. Nine new torpedo boats have entered the fleet in the last few months. There are the Sasovietz, Serp, Lukoz, Molnya, Zarnitza, Sovnarkom, Stamor, Sokki, and Sibiriak. The old torpedo boat Frunze (ex-Byslry) has been modernized and renamed Bezpochlachadni. The newspaper Pravda announced that a large number of workers have been sent to Viborg and are constructing at top speed a great naval base, big enough to handle battleships and heavy cruisers. —Revista de Marina, May-June, 1941.
OTHER COUNTRIES
China
The developments of the past week in French Indo-China, and the Far East generally, though they are obviously linked with the common policy of the Axis Powers, may be regarded also as but one more step in the Japanese expansionist movement which began in 1894-95, when the war with China enabled Japan to acquire the island of Formosa and a virtual control of Korea. The southwesterly extension of Japanese influence along the shore of the South China Sea has progressed more rapidly in the past four years, and it was evident, even before the collapse of France a year ago, that the position of French Indo-China was becoming increasingly precarious. The main threat behind the latest Japanese maneuver, of course, is to the communications by land between Burma and China, by means of which the Government of General Chiang Kai-shek has obtained necessary supplies since access by sea was cut off. These various routes—there are four between Rangoon and the Chinese frontier—all present conditions of some difficulty, because of the character of the terrain; and their improvement, which may be regarded as probable important items in the post-war resettlement of the Far East, will certainly involve some unusual engineering problems. The four lines of communication mentioned are indicated on the accompanying map; they are (1) by railway to Lashio and thence by road; (2) by road all the way from Rangoon, following the same route; (3) by river to Bhamo and thence by road; and (4) by rail to Mandalay or Katha, thence by river to Bhamo, and thence by road. On the Chinese side, there is only one first-class route in existence, the “Burma Road” to Kunming, but a second line will be available when the new railway from Lashio to Kunming is completed. Many pack routes also exist, which have long been used for trade between Burma and China. There is air communication between Rangoon and Chungking, via Lashio, a passenger and postal air service being operated by the Chinese National Aviation Corporation. Air freight services from Lashio or Myitkyina to China, which would relieve pressure on the Burma Road, have been considered, but have not yet been put into operation. The focal point of Burma’s communications is the capital, Rangoon, situated on the Hlaing or Rangoon River, some 20 miles from its entrance into the Gulf of Martaban. Almost the whole of the trade of Burma passes into and out of Rangoon, and, to cope with this trade, reconstruction and improvement of the harbor facilities at Rangoon took place about 12 years ago and again within the last 2 or 3 years. These have been described from time to time in Engineering. Rangoon is also the headquarters of the Burma railway system, controlled by the Burma Railway Board, a statutory corporation responsible to a Burman minister on matters of railway policy. The railways are entirely of meter gauge. The main line runs from Rangoon to Mandalay, a distance of 440 miles, and from there continues to Myitkyina, a branch linking with the Irrawaddy River at Katha. A branch line from Mandalay to Lashio, 120 miles long, takes the bulk of the China traffic. Between Mandalay and Maymyo, the headquarters of the Army in Burma, the line mounts the escarpment to the Shan Plateau, this section including a stretch of 13 miles of a gradient of 1 in 25, containing four reversing stations. From Mandalay the line is in long switchbacks, the plateau being deeply scored by large valleys and gorges. One of these gorges is spanned by the famous Gokteik Viaduct, 2,260 ft. long and 260 ft. high. Beyond this gorge, the line continues through mountainous country to Hsipaw, the capital of the Hsipaw State, and from there, still climbing on the whole, to Lashio. Between Hsipaw and Lashio the Burma Corporation’s private railway branches off to the great silver and lead mine at Bawdwin, and the plant at Namtu. Lashio, the terminus, is the administrative headquarters of the Northern Shan States. A first-class motor road runs from Rangoon to Lashio, following much the same route as the railway, and at Lashio the famous Burma Road to Kunming begins. The section in Burma, 120 miles long, is a mountain road, but in good condition. The total distance from the railhead at Lashio to Kunming is 738 miles, and the journey takes, on an average, 5 days for private cars and 7 for motor lorries. The section in China to Kunming, the capital of the province of Yunnan, was opened in 1938 and has remained open since then, apart from temporary stoppages due to landslides and Japanese bombing. The road crosses the Salween and Mekong rivers by suspension bridges, and contains some very steep gradients; particularly that beyond the Mekong Valley, where it rises in a short stretch from 4,000 ft. above sea level to the great height of about 7,500 ft. In view of the limitations of road traffic, which is not suitable for all types of goods, the Chinese Government has consistently pressed the need for railway communication between Burma and China, and early this year the decision was taken to build a railway from Lashio to link up with a railway from Kunming, on which work had already been started. The question of railway communication between Burma and China has been under discussion for many years, having been first examined in the nineties. Some three years ago, the construction of the whole line both in Burma and in China was under consideration by private commercial organizations, but this came to nothing, as it was doubted whether the line would pay from the the point of view of private investors. Similar considerations precluded the Government of Burma from undertaking the project from their own resources; but it has now been decided that, as a long-term project, the railway will be constructed from funds provided by H.M. Government in the United Kingdom, the Government of Burma to be given the option to acquire the railway at a later date. The railway will follow a different alignment from the road for about two- thirds of its length, thereafter following much the same route as the road to Kunming. The length involved in Burma is 110 miles, across the hilly plateau of the Federated Shan States. In Burma the first half is comparatively straightforward, but the second half will involve many cuttings and bridges. The chief task in the Burma section is the bridging of the Salween, which is 500 ft. wide at the point considered. The first section in China is comparatively simple, running up the Namting Valley; thereafter comes a very difficult section, in which immense ranges of hills 7,000 ft. in height, with precipitous sides, have to be crossed, the work including a major bridge over the Mekong River. The eastern half of the Chinese section is easier, and on this part a good deal of work has already been done. It is estimated that the Burma section will cost not less than 2,000,000/., and will take about two years to complete. It is possible that both skilled and unskilled Chinese labor will be employed on the Burmese as well as the Chinese section. Another line of communication to China is via Bhamo, goods being carried up the 870 miles of the Irrawaddy River from Rangoon on floats towed by steamers. The journey by boat takes 9 days to 10 days, but this time can be shortened by taking the goods by rail to Katha and transferring them to the river at that point. Bhamo lies on the old trade route from Burma to China, which followed a pack road via Tengyueh to Kunming. In spite of difficulties, trade flourished on this route for many years, and as far back as 1894 a convention with China was concluded, which dealt with mutual trade and the fostering of trade relations between Burma and Yunnan. The Bhamo-Tengyueh route is not passable for motor lorries, but a motor road runs from Bhamo via Panghkam in Burmese territory, to join the Burma Road near the frontier. The first section of this, though mountainous, is in fair condition, but the second section, which is on comparatively low ground along the River Shweli, is indifferent, being liable to flooding in the rains.—Engineering, August.
France
Due to scarcity of ocean transport and the blockade, the trans-Saharan trails for traffic between North Africa and French West Africa have assumed today a tremendous importance. Three trails, those of Hoggar from Algiers to Zindar, Tanezrouft from Oran to Gao, and Mauretania from Casablanca to Dakar permit the regular passage of automobile convoys. It is interesting to note that a French captain has just made the trip in exactly one month with a convoy of 12 charcoal gas trucks and several gasoline vehicles. This is a trip of 2,700 miles, of which, 1,225 are sandy trails. —Journal de la Marine Marchande.
OF the numerous warships which were under construction in the French shipyards in May, 1940, very few are still in existence. The Richelieu of 35,000 tons was completed before the debacle and is at present in the port of Dakar, badly damaged. Her sister, the Jean Bart, still unfinished, was towed to the port of Casablanca before the Germans took St. Nazaire. A third ship of the same class, the Clemenceau, is understood to have been destroyed by explosives in the port of Brest, and the fourth ship of the class, the Gascogne, appears never to have been started. The aircraft carriers Joffre and Painlevé which were being built in the shipyards of St. Nazaire are understood to have been blown to bits with explosive charges, and the conviction is that the same fate came to the 8,000-ton cruiser De Grasse building in Lorient. Two other cruisers of the same type were projected, but appear never to have been started. Six destroyers of the Le Hardi class and 12 of the Agile class which were being completed in French Atlantic ports were undoubtedly destroyed before falling into Nazi hands. It is believed, however, that the destroyers Le Nicois and Le Savoyard building at La Seyne may have been completed if the necessary materials could have been obtained. This is also what probably happened to 20 submarines which were in the process of construction in what is now occupied France. Four mine layers were to have been built at Toulon, but only one has been started to date. It is believed that the only construction which may be continued will be small mine sweepers in the yards at La Seyne and Port de Bouc, but no definite data are available. Because of all this it is thought that the French Navy Department will remain in an inoperative state for some time. —Revista de Marina.
There is little chance that the 35,000-ton Richelieu, France’s most modern battleship, will be able to put to sea again during the war, according to a group of Australian air gunners who have just reached England. They state, according to the Evening Standard, that the Richelieu still is lying stern down in the harbor at Dakar, French West Africa, as she was after a British motorboat laid depth charges under her stern and planes attacked her with torpedoes. The gunners left Australia in February, but their ship was torpedoed and they took to two lifeboats 700 miles off West Africa. After 12 days, one lifeboat reached Dakar. As they approached the harbor they were hailed by a French ship, the captain of which told them to tie up on the seaward side of his ship, hidden from port authorities. Then safely escorted out of the harbor, the survivors sailed on another 130 miles to Bathurst, British Gambia. The other survivors sailed into Dakar Harbor, collapsed, and were taken to a military hospital. After one unsuccessful attempt, they escaped and reached England after a 5-month journey. —Chicago Daily Tribune, August 2.
Germany
News is now filtering through on the more detailed aspects of the German gliders used in the invasion of Crete. All the gliders had a capacity of between 10 and 12 soldiers with equipment. They were high-wing braced monoplanes with a wing span of approximately 72 ft. and a length of some 48 ft. The fuselage was of welded steel tube construction, with fabric covering, the wings of wood with plywood covering. The empty weight was around 1,800 lb., the loaded weight 4,500 lb. That leaves a disposable load of 2,700 lb., which represents 10 men at 220 lb. each, plus 500 lb. of equipment. This equipment usually included the following items:
6 tommy-guns and ammunition.
6 Schmeisser sub-machine guns.
1 heavy machine gun with ammunition.
1 light machine gun with ammunition.
2 portable radio sets.
The gliders were towed chiefly by Junkers 52/3m transports, themselves carrying troops, although one or two Ju 89s, Ju 90s, and quite a number of Fw Condors were seen. The towing speed is reported at rather more than 100 m.p.h. and the number of gliders in a train varied from one to six, although the most usual number appears to be two. The landing speed of the gliders seems to be about 40 m.p.h. They are provided with flaps in the form of spoilers on the upper surface of the trailing edge of the wings which decreases the lift instead of increasing lift in the manner of the normal flaps. The result is that they increase the sinking speed of the glider very materially. Undoubtedly the greatest threat from gliders is at night. They are one of the few means of military transport whose bite is worse than their bark. — The Aeroplane, July 11.
Italy
Lack of materials has caused Italy to stop construction on two 35,000-ton battleships, advices reaching maritime circles said today. The ships— the Impero, scheduled for completion at Genoa in 1942, and the Roma, reported last year as ready for launching at Trieste—were of the 4-ship Littorio class, heralded by the Italians as being “unequaled in any other navy.”—The Baltimore Sun, August 30.
Mexico
The smart Mexican naval training ship, the 1,600-ton Durango, arrived today with 148 cadets in a good-will and educational cruise. As the Durango swung into a berth at the Philadelphia Navy Yard dock, her guns were fired in a 21-gun salute to the United States. The tribute was returned by shore batteries. Navy Yard and Philadelphia officials greeted the visitors along with Commander Zeremeno Araico, Mexican Naval Attaché at Washington; G. V. Herman, Mexican Consul for Philadelphia, and Vice Consul Ernesto Zarrilla, Commander R. P. Guiler, Jr., representing Rear Admiral A. F. Watson, commandant of the Navy Yard, boarded the Durango as she entered the Delaware River. The ship is commanded by Lieutenant Commander Gonzalo Montalvo Salazar. The cadets are under the command of Lieutenant Commander Alvaro Sandoval, director of the Mexican Naval Academy. During their visit here, the cadets will tour the navy yard, inspect the naval aircraft factory and visit historic Philadelphia places, including Independence Hall. The tour is under the auspices of the Pan American Association. The Durango will sail Wednesday morning for Key West, homeward bound. —New York Herald Tribune, August 11.
Spain
The Spanish Government, having completed the reconstruction of several of the warships remaining from the civil war, has recommenced the building of two 1,700-ton destroyers, the Alava and the Liniers, and of three submarines. Meanwhile there should have been completed and put in service two mine layers of 1,700 tons, the Eolo and the Triton. —Revista de Marina.
Sweden
With the exception of Japan and the United States, without doubt the largest neutral building program is that of Sweden. Two 8,000-ton cruisers, 4 destroyers, several submarines and mine sweepers are being built as rapidly as possible. — Revista de Marina, May-June, 1941.
Since the war broke out there have been several Swedish inventions which aim at improving the life-saving equipment on board ship. Perhaps the most widely known and adopted of these inventions are two types of life-saving suits of rubber, which keep the shipwrecked man afloat, dry and warm for a considerable time. These suits, which can be put on very rapidly and allow enough freedom of movement to be worn while in the danger zone, are at present used on board a very considerable number of Swedish vessels. Other foreign ships have also been equipped with them. Readers of The Shipbuilder and Marine Engine- builder will recall that reference to one of these suits, viz., the Morner type, has already appeared in these columns. In addition, a steel lifeboat of pontoon type has been invented by Mr. E. Sivard, a Swedish engineer. This craft, which can accommodate 32 persons, is entirely covered in, and it is stated to be practically unsinkable through the provision of a large number of watertight compartments. The boat is self-righting, and is equipped with a watertight enclosed Diesel engine giving her a speed of 5f knots when fully loaded. There are also provided a wireless plant, special stoves for preparing warm food, etc. The Sivard lifeboat has undergone comprehensive tests in the presence of Swedish shipping authorities, who have approved the construction. The latest Swedish improvement in this field is a new type of lifeboat covering, which was described recently in the Stockholm press. This covering consists of watertight impregnated fabric, and is closed by means of a simple system of zip-fasteners, which it is possible to handle both from the inside and the outside. The cover is supported by a frame structure. When not in use, the cover, which has openings for mast, oars, and steersman, is furled on the sides of the boat to which it is fixed watertight. This invention, too, has been approved by the Swedish Ship Inspection Board, and a number of lifeboats have been equipped with it. —The Shipbuilder and Marine Engine- Builder, July.
AVIATION
Lighter-than-Air Lines Between Americas
U. S. Air Services, August (by Doris S. Hunt). —At a time when the “good neighbor” policy is being stressed in this country as never before, it is peculiarly fitting that Miami, through one of her citizens, should take the lead in another forward step looking to this end. A cheerful “Howdy, Neighbor!” which is the habitual greeting of Colonel N. P. Lowrey, practical aviation enthusiast, county commissioner, and worker for all general civic and national advancement and welfare, will be by way of becoming an actual greeting to those inhabitants of the countries lying to the South, as well as to those encountered in the course of a busy day, when tentative plans come to fruition. Just returned from Washington where he has conferred with Chairman Carl Vinson, Chairman David I. Walsh, and other members of the Naval Affairs Committee, “Neighbor” Lowrey is actively engaged in putting across a factual gesture of friendship toward the peoples of the other Americas. This friendship is no sudden idea born of the exigency of the times, but one in which he has been deeply interested for many years. Naturally, aviation in one of its phases is the medium for the present gesture. But this time it is not aviation in the terms which we have been thinking so intensely these last several months, huge bombers, fighter planes of all types, and big commercial airliners, but the more neglected branch of our air progress, the lighter-than-air craft. Establishment of a commercial airship line to connect the United States with the Latin American countries is recognized as no idle dream but a practical proposal in accordance with logical reasons advanced by Colonel Lowrey. However, it might be well to state first that this proposed service would in no way conflict with the recognized speedy and efficient service of the company which pioneered and is now so successfully flying the air routes among the Caribbean Islands and those in Central and South America. Rather, it would complement it with a different type of transportation. Many people are known to be hesitant today about traveling between North and South America by steamship due to the suspected presence of submarine and raiders. Some are still timid about flying in the accepted term of the airplane, and others fear air sickness. It is for these, as well as persons desiring the luxury, quiet, comfort, and unbroken journey afforded by the modem airship that such a service is designed.
There are underlying causes which have brought this proposal to the fore at this time, according to Neighbor Lowrey. Foreign commerce has necessarily become restricted in the interests of national defense, as has the production of surface ships and planes for customary uses because of their need for the protection of our own democracy and those others struggling against totalitarianism. Furthermore, it is conceded that national defense is more than military in scope, and that the common defense of the Western Hemisphere requires a bond of mutual understanding and friendship for the protection of economic standards and citizen morale. Unrestricted trade must be carried on between the countries of North, Central, and South America and in this manner the good neighbor policy extended beyond governments to reach the rank and file of all those who constitute the democracies of the Western world. In the present struggle for the control of the commerce, and thereby the economic standards of the world, the important functions of the steamship and airplane are being dramatized daily. Their construction, both for military and commercial purposes, is being pushed through with all possible speed. But in this race the United States has at hand raw materials to build yet another class of ship unavailable to any other nation and without the use of such materials seriously handicapping plane and surface craft production. Not only is this material available but the monopoly of the noninflammable helium gas which this nation enjoys makes practicable the construction and use of lighter- than-air craft, the airship, for both military and commercial purposes.
Captain C. E. Rosendahl, recognized as a foremost authority on lighter-than-air, with some 14 years’ experience in this branch of service, who inspected and approved the proposed naval blimp sites in South Florida, one of which is expected shortly to receive the go-ahead signal, is heartily in accord with the idea of the proposed airship line between the Americas. It was he who pointed out long ago that possession of the only known adequate source of helium supply had made of the airship a unique and exclusively American type of aircraft even though first developed in another country. Captain Rosendahl has repeatedly called attention to the important role the airship played in the first World War, in patrol work, in the convoying of merchant ships and in the location and destruction of submarines and mines. He has pointed out that contrary to popular conception the airship is no more vulnerable than other aircraft or surface craft, the really vital vulnerable area being about one-fifth of its total. Also it should be realized that the huge envelope contains many separate cells filled with helium gas, any number of which could be penetrated by enemy bullets with no serious resultant damage from leakage and none whatsoever from fire, as helium will actually extinguish flames. And, of course, the airship can and should perform its special duties without deliberately running into enemy gun and airplane attacks, even though adequately armed for defense. The long range of the airship makes it an ideal instrument not only for war but for commercial purposes. Any lack of speed is more than compensated by continuous flight, both by day and by night, refueling stops being unnecessary except at long intervals. The pay- load capacity of this type of carrier is well recognized and its efficiency as a means of passenger transportation has long since been clearly demonstrated. It offers the utmost in comfort, commodious quarters enabling passengers to unpack and settle down for a pleasant and uninterrupted journey. Large windows furnish ideal facilities for sightseeing, flying not being done at too great a height to preclude a view of what is passing beneath. Promenade decks offer an opportunity for exercise and spacious lounges provide for restful relaxation.
Dirigibles are no novelty to Miamians. Each winter since 1929 the blimps of the Goodyear Corporation, now engaged in building military craft for the United States, have been a familiar sight drifting in the blue skies of this area. Capt. Jack Boettner, Gordon Bennett Cup contender and lighter-than-air man of long experience, in command of these blimps, not only is enthusiastic about their possibilities here but has stated unequivocally that the air route from South Florida to Spain is a practical one at all times. This is a factor worthy of consideration when the present turmoil shall be ended and peaceful pursuits once more occupy the world. Airships of 10,000,000 cubic feet capacity, two and one-half times the size of the Graf Zeppelin which touched here on one of her famous long-distance flights, half again larger than the Hindenburg, can easily be constructed by Americans and successfully operated by Americans, says Captain Rosendahl. He also points out that the previous record of commercial airship operations overseas is actually a brilliant feat. The feasibility of landing and picking up passengers at intermediate ports by means of a small plane carried in the airship is called to attention by Colonel Lowrey. The practicability of such procedure was demonstrated in Miami by the Macon which carried a fleet of five fighter planes which she released and gathered in at will. In a locale where the man in the street has long been cognizant of the importance of our neighbors to the South, due to close proximity and association with them, it is not surprising that the men at the head of the state, county, and city governments should evince a keen interest in any proposition to further good feeling and to better trade relations. Even as the City of Miami co-operated with Pan American Airways in the establishment of an international base for its far-flung operations, this and the other agencies stand ready to co-operate in inaugurating another important branch of aeronautics in a district which has for 30 years been alive to the importance of aviation.
The stand that commerce and contact between the nations of the Western Hemisphere must be not only maintained but extended for the protection of standards of life essential to democracies is taken by Mr. Lowrey in discussing the projected airship line. He contends that while it may not be possible to build additional ships and planes for commercial uses now since they are so urgently needed in the struggle with the dictators, yet it is possible to construct airships for this purpose. Experience has shown that production for commercial needs and defense is mutually beneficial so long as the needs of both are adequately supplied, and that plants called upon to build military craft can best serve the nation if they have use after the emergency is ended, as would plants engaged in the construction of airships. When one considers that an American, Benjamin Franklin, was an observer of the first successful lighter- than-air flight, that of a balloon of the Montgolfier brothers in France in 1793, and that two years later another American, a Dr. Jeffries, accompanied a French balloonist in the first air crossing of the English Channel, it is not to be wondered that other Americans are so actively engaged in an effort to enlarge the lighter-than-air scope of their day by establishing at a logical and strategic location the base for a commercial airship line.
Gliders
U. S. Air Services, August. —The twelfth annual national soaring contest came to a close on July 13 after a 2-week meet at Elmira, N. Y. Speaking at the banquet in the Mark Twain Hotel that evening, Major General Henry H. Arnold, Chief of the Army Air Forces, advised this nation to become as adept as Germany in mastering gliders, and reported that the Air Forces were procuring several types ranging in size from 2-place to 15-place models for experimental purposes. John Robinson, 26 years old, of San Diego, Calif., successfully defended his national soaring title by amassing 2,130 points during the meet to qualify for the $1,500 Edward S. Evans championship trophy. William Putnam, of Dearborn, Mich., finished second with 1,506 points and Chester J. Decker, of Glen Rock, N. J., who withdrew from the contest when called for Army induction, was third with 1,409. After making a glider flight from Harris Hill on the last day of the meet, General Arnold delivered the following radio address over Station WENY:
In Napoleon’s time, armies fought on their stomachs. As long as combat was confined to water and land, warfare was not a very complicated matter, but when the Wright brothers proposed to the War Department, 33 years ago, that there was a place in warfare for a power-driven glider, very few military authorities realized it, but the whole scheme of combat changed. From that time on, to be effective, armies had to be equipped with all the scientific devices that the ingenious brain of modern man could evolve and produce.
This afternoon we witnessed the closing events of the national soaring contest here in Elmira, the “glider capital of the Nation.” For the first time since the Wright brothers put an engine in a glider and sold it to the War Department, a powerless plane bearing the red, white, and blue insignia of the Army Air Forces, and flown by an Air Corps officer, soared over these hills alongside those competing in the contest. It happened here because, for more than 6 months, the Army Air Forces have been engaged in engineering research and training in connection with the prospective use of troop-carrying gliders. Once again we are embarking upon a new form of warfare. The glider has become a weapon. Within 90 days we hope to have experimental troop-carrying gliders delivered to the Army Air Forces, so that we may determine by actual experience how best they may be employed in this country’s defense. Already two groups of Army officers, expert airplane pilots, have successfully completed courses in glider instruction. Additional classes will be started in the immediate future. Our decision of months ago, to study the use of gliders in warfare, was horribly justified just a few weeks ago when German troops swarmed down in gliders onto the Island of Crete and captured the historic Greek island after bloody fighting.
They came in gliders carrying from 12 to 30 soldiers. They were towed by lumbering old transports unsuited for aerial combat but ideal for this new purpose, with as many as 10 or 11 gliders strung out behind each plane. In an incredibly short time, the Germans, by air transport and gliders, landed 15,000 troops on the island, together with their rifles, light machine guns, heavy machine guns, and field pieces. They even brought medical supplies and radio equipment. If we ever had doubts about the military usefulness of the glider, those doubts certainly would have been dispelled by the awful lesson of Crete. We in the Army Air Forces have never denied or failed to appreciate the military possibilities of the glider. Power-driven planes have been our first consideration, because our geographical position has made that necessary. Our first priority must go to the long-range, heavy bomber, a weapon so necessary to carry out our policy of hemisphere defense. But that did not and does not now mean that, merely because our great distances make our military situation different than that of Europe, we have ignored the glider. Far from it—we knew that a modem army must have all new implements of war to be effective. Tanks, armored divisions, air infantry, parachute troops—all of them are necessary if we are to defend ourselves successfully. We can’t expect to tow strings of gliders behind airplanes over 3,000 miles of ocean, but we are certain that there are many missions for gliders which may develop in the future. For this reason, we don’t know today what final form our glider force will take. We won’t know until we have completed our studies, which are being undertaken here, at other gliding centers and in our laboratories at Wright Field, in Dayton, Ohio. We do know that we must have gliders, perhaps hundreds and possibly thousands of them, capable of carrying at least 15 men each, together with full equipment, including rifles, machine guns, and even light cannon. Here in Elmira are gathered men and women who have kept the art of glider flying alive in this country, where restraint never has made it necessary, as was the case with Germany, for us to find a substitute for the expensive powered plane. This little band of soaring enthusiasts already has helped us in our studies, plans, and training. With their continued help, we have a glider force second to none, ready for service whenever and wherever it may be needed. That we all hope will never be. We have not been caught napping, nor will we be. We shall have such a force, and we will have it when we need it.
Colonel Edward S. Evans of Detroit, one of this country’s sailplane pioneers predicted strings of gliders in tow would be the freight trains of the future.
“When this emergency is over I can vision the day when great glider freight trains will cross the country at speeds of 100 to 200 miles an hour,” he said. “It will be the fastest, cheapest, and most satisfactory freight transportation the world ever has known.”
The Brewster “Buffalo”
U. S. Air Services, August. —A warplane named for one of the most formidable fighters in the animal kingdom—the water buffalo of the Far East—is playing an important role in the defense of the native haunt of its namesake, according to dispatches received from the British Royal Air Force at Singapore and the Netherlands East Indies Air Force at Batavia, Java. The plane, a powerfully armed single-seater fighter, is the Brewster Buffalo, built by the Brewster Aeronautical Corp. of Long Island City, N. Y., and Newark, N. J. A midwing monoplane, powered with a supercharged 1,100 to 1,200 hp. Wright Cyclone 9 engine, the Buffalo is an adaptation for land-based operations from the Brewster F2A-2 Navy shipboard fighter now operating from aircraft carriers of the fleet. Both the Netherlands East Indies Buffalos and the Navy F2A-2’s are equipped with the Curtiss Electric propeller, while the English Buffalos are partly equipped with the Curtiss propeller and partly with Hamilton Standard. Completely flush riveted, the Buffalo has a top speed of about 350 m.p.h. and is equipped with four .50-caliber machine guns, two inside the engine cowl firing through the propeller and one in each wing. These four guns provide the ship with a fire-power greater than that of the eight .30-caliber weapons which are standard equipment on English Hurricanes and Spitfires. Fuel and oil tanks are of the self-sealing (bullet-proof) type while the pilot is protected by a bullet-proof windshield and an armor plated cockpit. Exceptionally good visibility is provided by the extension of the glass enclosure of the cockpit well aft, while down vision is enhanced by a window in the floor. The exact number of Buffalos which have been shipped to the English at Singapore and to the Netherlands at Java is a military secret, but accounts from both strategic defense points in the Far East indicate that the number is considerable. Hangars of the English Royal Air Force at the Fleet Base at Singapore are reported to have taken on the appearance of aircraft factories in mass production as the Buffalos, arriving from the United States via ocean transports, are removed from their packing cases and reassembled for service. Accounts of their arrival appearing in Malayan newspapers state that there are “hangar after hangar of Buffalos in assembled and disassembled state” at the Singapore base.
Technically designated as the Brewster 339 by its manufacturer, the fighter was renamed the Buffalo by the R.A.F. Contrary to popular belief, however, the ship does not get its name from the American bison but from the water buffalo of the Far East. The water buffalo, while easily manageable by its master when domesticated, is one of the most formidable fighters in the animal kingdom when aroused. Even the tiger is said to slink away from an encounter with this muscular, long-horned quadruped. R.A.F. pilots have pointed out that the Buffalo fighter, which has been lauded for its extreme maneuverability and its firepower, has more in common with its namesake than a name. Recent dispatches from Singapore tell of squadrons of Buffalos flying in formation to greet the arrival of American-built bombers flown across the Pacific to bolster Singapore’s defenses. These same squadrons also saluted the Pan American Airways Clipper which inaugurated service between the U.S. and the Malayan peninsula. Mention was made in these reports that the Buffalos had been assembled and placed in operation “within 24 hours after arrival.” Officials of the Brewster Company have stated that despite the fact the warplanes were shipped disassembled, this constituted no unusual feat. Only 10 hours of labor or less, with a normal crew of mechanics and the standard facilities available at a military airbase are required to remove fuselage and wings from the packing boxes and assemble a Buffalo for flight. This quick assembly is made possible by the design of the ship and scientific methods of packing. Each ship is packed in two cases, one of which contains the fuselage with engine mounted in place, the wheels and landing gear and miscellaneous parts. The wing is packed separately with the Hamilton Standard propeller and the tail surfaces. Both cases are water and spray tight to guard against corrosion during the ocean voyage but are easily taken apart by the removal of strategically located bolts with a common lug-wrench similar to that employed to remove an automobile wheel. The box containing the fuselage is fastened to the bottom of the case in such a manner that it may be turned upside down without damage. All stress and strain are centered on the three points where the plane was designed to take this stress and strain. In a rough sea the movement of the plane is taken exactly as if it were landing or taxiing on rough ground. Unless the box is dropped from a considerable height or otherwise mishandled, damage in transit is rare. The box for the wing is similarly constructed. In assembling the Buffalo after removal from the shipping boxes, the single-piece wing is placed on holding fixtures and the fuselage lowered over it and bolted into place. Connection of fuel lines between the fuselage and wing and the control cables is a comparatively simple task, as is the attachment of the landing gear and the tail control surfaces. Incidentally, the ship is provided complete with machine guns, armor plating, and bullet proof gas tanks and is ready for combat service immediately upon assembly. The personnel of the R.A.F. squadrons to which the newly arrived Buffalos have been assigned at Singapore is composed for the most part of experienced fighter pilots detached from operations in the various theaters of war. These pilots are now undertaking the training of members of Malayan flying clubs who enlisted with the R.A.F. since the outbreak of hostilities. One of the newly arrived contingent of experienced R.A.F. pilots is reported by the Malayan Tribune to have downed 10 enemy aircraft in combat over the British Isles and the English Channel. The average age of the pilots, the Malayan Tribune states, is 22 years. The performance characteristics of the Buffalo have created much favorable comment among the pilots at Singapore as they have at other R.A.F. bases to which they have been assigned. The Straits Times, quoting one of the pilots says, “The pilots declare that the Buffalo is a delight to handle. ‘There’s nothing like it for really close-quarter combat,’ one of them declared; ‘it can turn on a cent.’” This high maneuverability of the Buffalo is due in part to the mid-wing design and partly to the comparatively light wing loading of the plane when employed as an interceptor.
The Pre-Flight Reflex Trainer
U. S. Air Services, August. —An odd shaped, peculiar looking gadget, so new it has not even acquired a nickname, has passed its first tests at Wright Field where it was born and is now attracting favorable attention at the Air Corps flying school at Randolph Field where tests to determine its ability to cut flying training time are now being conducted. Pending acquisition of some more convenient title, the gadget has been designated the pre-flight reflex trainer and consists principally of a canvas-covered cockpit suspended in a triangular frame which is mounted on wheels and powered with a I5 h.p. motor. Seated at the controls, the student put-puts around a large concrete platform, making turns and banks, glides and climbs and figure 8’s trying to avoid tripping the warning horn which blares forth whenever he overbanks or makes a mistake in co-ordinating the controls. The trainer originated in the fertile minds of Colonel William C. Ocker and Major Carl J. Crane, who together were responsible for several other aids to flight training, and was built under Major Crane’s direction while he was at Wright Field. While still in somewhat crude form, the working model really works well enough to illustrate the function it is designed to perform, teaching student flyers the rudiments of operating the controls of an airplane and co-ordinating the action of their hands and feet to direct its course. When Colonel Ocker learned to fly back in 1912-13 at the Curtiss Flying School on North Island, San Diego, he had never driven an automobile. Consequently, he was not hampered by any preformed habits when it came to learning how to guide his machine to right or left. Such is not the case today, however, when few or perhaps none of the thousands of young men undergoing flight training have not had the experience of driving a car, most of them for many years, so that their reactions have become almost automatic. In a sense, student flyers today must unlearn many of the things which have almost become instinctive when they make the transition from an automobile to an airplane. How the present method of rudder control originated, whereby pressure of the right foot causes the plane to turn to the right, not even the oldest pilots can explain. It simply is and always has been that way and to change now would mean reforming the habits of the entire flying fraternity. In steering ground vehicles, however, the turning impulse, whether applied by hand or foot, is invariably in the same direction as the arc of turn, instead of across it as with the airplane. This simple difference is one of the first with which students must be inculcated in teaching them to fly. Then there is the problem of lateral control and the mystery of the third dimension, all of which must be solved by a delicate balance between hand and foot manipulation entirely new to the student and quite contrary to any previous experience. The fact that an airplane cannot be stopped by relieving pressure of the right foot on the accelerator and applying it to the foot brake is of itself quite a wrench on a student’s mental mechanism.
This superficially simple problem of teaching a student pilot properly to co-ordinate his hands and feet with his brain actually is one of the fundamentals of flying instruction. While it is only one, and in proportion to the whole curriculum of flying training far from the largest part, a saving of no more than an hour or two during a training program as vast as that now under way would in the aggregate be a saving worthy of considerable effort. This was recognized as early as the World War, when our first experience with a large-scale training program was suddenly thrust upon us. The first attempt to solve this phase of it synthetically was the now almost forgotten orientator. The orientator, Air Corps historians will recall, was a tremendous device, consisting of a cockpit furnished with the conventional controls such as stick and rudder bar, which was suspended within two sets of gymbals to permit it to turn in any direction, the whole in turn suspended in a frame mounted on a square platform mounted on wheels, to allow it to be moved about. The instructor by operating a set of controls at one side of the frame turned the student in the cockpit in various positions from which he was supposed to bring himself back to normal level flight by operating the stick and rudder bar. However, the mechanism was cumbersome and gave small simulation of actual flight, and consequently never gained any wide acceptance. After several years of experimentation, a modified version of the orientator was developed which eliminated gears and operated by the force of the slipstream of the propeller on eight cowling flanges and standard tail assembly. The student received instructions from his instructor on the ground through a set of earphones and responded by putting his “plane” through the directed maneuvers. While the activation by means of a propeller was a considerable improvement over the cog and gear method of the earlier orientator, it was still far from satisfactory in its simulation of the feel of a plane. Moreover, the new device was too large to be moved about and occupied a large section of a hangar, making it even less desirable from that point of view without sufficient compensating advantages. It, too, was abandoned as impractical after a thorough test.
The final development in synthetic flight before the advent of the pre-flight reflex trainer was the Link trainer, which has only recently been accepted but is now in general use, for primary and instrument flying training. The Link trainer is a far cry from the old orientator, about the only resemblance being the cockpit. The massive frame has been eliminated and replaced by a pedestal mounting. The design has been so radically changed that it will perform much as does a plane in actual flight in response to the controls. The instructor may either give directions by means of earphones or by remote control so that the student can be required to correct for impulses not known in advance. A useful attachment is a tracing device which makes a graph of each “flight,” and enables the instructor to point out afterward the mistakes as they occurred and point out where improvement is most needed. One of the desirable features of the preflight reflex trainer is its mobility. Twelve miles an hour is a long way from even the moderate speed of the modem primary training plane, but the combination of forward motion together with the turning and banking of the cockpit gives the student the feel of a plane in a way that a stationary device cannot do. And to the student concentrating all his mental effort on trying to make his hands and feet work together instead of at cross purposes, 12 miles an hour may seem fast enough, even too fast. Another advantage of the device’s mobility is its adaption for machine gun practice. The gun trigger operates a .22 caliber weapon mounted on the forward part of the cockpit, so that control and operation of a machine gun can be practiced in conjunction with operation of the usual flight controls. With installation of certain instruments and a hood, it also can be adapted to instrument flying training, its inventors point out. And half a dozen trainers could be supervised by one sergeant. Just how much time could be saved by widespread use of such a device as the pre-flight reflex trainer, of course, only a test will show. The importance of saving even an hour or two in a vast training program affecting 10,000 and more students is obvious. In this connection an observation by a former Army flying instructor, Harry T. Rowland, now with The Glenn L. Martin Company, of Baltimore, who was employed by the Central Government of China several years ago in charge of the Central Aviation School at Hangchow, may be of interest. In describing primary instruction there to Colonel Ocker, he said:
During my past instructing experience I found very few students who had difficulty in learning to hold an airplane straight on the ground while taking off. However, the take-off is the most difficult part of primary instruction to teach the Chinese. In their childhood they have never been taught to co-ordinate their minds and feet. As a result, if an airplane swerved to the right in taking off they did nothing whatsoever to correct it. After many hours of worry I finally devised a scheme to teach students this co-ordination. For this purpose I had built a reverse tricycle. In other words, I had two wheels in front and one in the rear. An airplane rudder bar was installed on the axle between the two front wheels. A regular airplane seat was used whereby the student would be in the same position as he would be if actually in an airplane cockpit. As there was no means of power for such an article in China I had a cross rail attached to the back of the cart whereby it could be pushed by either one or two people. I ran an experiment on one class by requiring all students to have at least 5 hours on this contraption before beginning flight training. From actual records we saved an average of 4 hours per student of the required time for their first solo flight. This device was to teach take-off only. I can easily understand if such a machine were built, to combine the take-off and landing characteristics with actual flight characteristics whereby a student could be taught to maintain level flight or actually to co-ordinate hands and feet in banking an airplane, that a great deal of time could be saved in primary flight instruction.
The first working model turned out in the engineering shops at Wright Field will hardly recognize itself after it has been streamlined by engineers of the patent section of the Adjutant General’s Office, which is busy patenting the device for the Army’s protection. Present plans call for revising the design to follow more nearly the general appearance of a real airplane, with stub wings but a standard landing gear and tail assembly. The present limit of movement, about 18 inches upward or downward to simulate climbing or gliding, will be greatly increased and other refinements wall be introduced. Should this new brainchild of the Ocker-Crane team justify the hopes held out for it, another mark can be chalked up to their credit beside those already earned with their other inventions in behalf of the science of flying.
Training Bomber Pilots
The Aeroplane, July 11. —Aircraft factories in this country and in the United States are producing an ever increasing flow of airplanes for the R.A.F. For these there must be trained pilots and crews. They must be trained to the standard of those who fought and won before them. Training, as much as tradition and native courage, is the secret of past R.A.F. successes against an enemy numerically stronger. The training is thorough and despite the numbers of pilots and crews wanted now for our rapidly mounting resources the same standard is rigorously maintained. After having passed through the first three stages of the well-known 4-stage instruction; the Initial Training Wing, the Elementary Flying Training School and Service Flying Training School the pilot and air crew pupils come to their last stage of instruction, the Operational Training Unit, the purpose of which is to form the crews and to train them for air warfare. At an Operational Training Unit of the Bomber Command which we visited recently, instruction and training are solely for crews of Bristol Blenheim bombers. The pilots, observers, and wireless operator-air gunners, when posted to this unit are already qualified and have their various “wings.” The courses last several weeks and at their conclusion the pupils are formed into crews and are then ready for active service. The forming of the crews, as throughout the service, is left to the pupils to decide. This procedure is popular and has proved successful. The instructors are taken from air crews, and are either withdrawn or temporarily rested from operational duties. In this way the pupil gets at first hand the experiences of those who have flown over and bombed enemy territory. The O.T.U. visited was divided into three parts: the Administrative Wing, the Maintenance Wing, and the Training Wing. The first two deal with the general organization of the station and repairs of aircraft, both vitally important. The Training Wing is the hub around which all the organization revolves. The Training Wing comprises four flights, each one dealing with the various duties of the air crew. First, there is the Conversion Flight; this is for pilots who are trained or “converted” to the Blenheim. Secondly, there is the Navigation Flight; this is for observers and gunners. In this flight for flying instruction the spacious Avro Ansons are used. The flight is divided into two sections, pilots and observers for the Bombing Section and gunners for the Gunnery Section. Finally there is the Operational Flight. When the whole crew, pilot, observer and air gunner, have passed through the other three Flights they finally join up in the Operational Flight as a crew. Henceforth they finish their training together. The Training Wing specializes not only in instruction in the air; there are also various ingenious devices by means of which flying conditions are reproduced on the ground. In a large hangar three Blenheims are placed in “V” formation and in flying position. Here each member of the crew can practice his allotted duties. For the pilot there is cockpit drill, for the observer, bomb aiming and navigation. Dummy bombs can be dropped from one of the Blenheims on well-padded sacks below. Power for practice in operating the retractable undercarriage and the gun turret is provided by electric motors alongside one of the Blenheims. The air gunner has special facilities. Behind the formation at fixed positions on the wall are head-on views of Me 109s and Me 110s as though attacking. Behind these are colored lamps, green for starboard, red for port. These are flashed on by a controller in a separate room. The gunner reports the position and type of fighter by “R.T.” to the controller who checks with his dashboard. This exercise gives the gunner excellent practice. In actual combat it is on the air gunner and the accuracy and speed of his report that the pilot relies to take the correct defensive action to save his airplane. For instruction in bomb-aiming there is the Air Ministry Laboratory Teacher. The observer, who acts as the bomb aimer, and the pilot take up position on a stand 8 ft. above the floor of a darkened room. The floor is, in fact, a cinema screen and films taken from the air are projected upon it. Thus the observer, looking down on the floor, sees the “ground” pass beneath him as though in flight. The instructor indicates a certain target on the landscape and the observer then guides the pilot to it with the customary instructions, “Left, left, right a little,” and so on. The observer thus brings the target into his bomb sight and “bombs” it. An indicator on the floor shows how near to the target the bomb would have fallen. The Harwell Trainer deals with the instruction of wireless operators. A box-like receptacle is designed to represent the wireless equipment in a Blenheim. It is complete to the smallest detail. The operator is enclosed within the trainer and keeps touch by “W/T” with the instructor outside. Many cubicles are used together and the wireless operators keep in touch with each other as in a large flight in formation. Their base is represented by more operators in a separate room. This training familiarizes the operator with the manipulation of his various instruments.
The Link Trainer is perhaps the best known of the “synthetic flying trainers” and is used for “blind” flying instruction. As the pupil moves the “controls,” a series of powerful bellows on a pivoting pedestal, which supports the fuselage, operates in such a way as to move the Trainer into positions corresponding to those of actual flight. At the same time instruments on the dashboard register as if the maneuvers had been done in the air. At a table near by the instructor, who is in “wireless” communication with the pilot, watches the course by means of an electrically-driven trolley or “crab” which traces the movements of the airplane’s flight on a chart. Any deviations from the true course, previously briefed are accurately recorded on the map. When the “flight” is accomplished the instructor is able to inform the pilot precisely how, when, and why these deviations occurred. In this way the pilot is helped to correct any errors or faults in his flying.
The Spotlight Trainer is for instruction of air gunners. A Blenheim turret, dismantled from the fuselage, is placed in the middle of a large darkened room. An electric motor provides power for the operation of the turret. The instructor moves a shadow silhouette of an airplane, usually showing a head-on view of an Me 109, across a large white screen. When the gunner has the target in his sights he presses the trigger and a spotlight attached to his guns throws a small white circle of light on the silhouette. The target is moved as though it were an attacking enemy fighter. In this way realistic practice can be had by the gunner.
When the crews have finished their individual training they join forces for their final stage of “synthetic” training. Here the Cubicle Trainer is used. About half a dozen cubicles, each containing one crew, are ranged along one side of a large room. On the other side of the room is a lantern screen. Before going into their cubicles the crew are briefed exactly as though they were going on an operational flight. They then retire to their cubicles and except for wireless contact with the instructor who remains outside but in the room, they are cut off until the “flight is finished. Each member of the crew does his job exactly as he would in the air. The pilot is at the controls, the navigator plots his course on his maps, and the wireless operator gets his instructions from the ground. Slides are thrown on the screen to represent various incidents. For example, on a reconnaissance over the North Sea, submarines, a destroyer, or a convoy are shown. A light at the side of the screen represents the signalling of the vessels. If the wrong recognition signal is received the base is immediately informed that an enemy has been sighted. One was impressed by the thorough and individual nature of the training given to the crews. Germany in the past has had numerical supremacy. When this disadvantage has been overcome, those who have seen the training of British air crews will confidently predict for the R.A.F. as much success in defeating the enemy over his own territory as it had last September in the Battle of Britain.
Most Powerful Air-Cooled Aircraft Engine
U. S. Air Services, August. —It is interesting to note that when the giant Douglas B-19 made its initial flight on June 27, it was the first time that engines totaling 8,000 hp. had ever been placed in one plane. The four Wright Cyclone 18-cylinder engines installed in the B-19 give it a combined power plant that is 25 to 50 per cent more powerful than is now used in any other bomber. In contrast to the power available in the B-19, the other multiengined bombers of today have from 4,000 to 4,800 hp. available at take-off. In the commercial field the largest aircraft in service are the transoceanic clippers of Pan American Airways. They have a total of 6,400 hp. from four Cyclone 14-cylinder engines at 1,600 each. The almost forgotten DO-X, Dornier flying boat, was the highest powered aircraft until the B-19 was produced. The DO-X had 12 Curtiss Conqueror engines of 600 hp. each, or 7,200 hp. at take-off. However, it could not carry a pay load of any size for more than a short distance and it had almost no payload on flights of several hours or more. The B-19 has a bomb load capacity of 18 tons for extensive flights. The Cyclone 18 is the direct descendant of a long line of Cyclones of the 9- and 14-cylinder types. Developed by engineers of the Wright Aeronautical Corp. and the Army Air Corps, the Cyclone 18 made its first public appearance two years ago in May, in a huge twin-engined seaplane which since then has been undergoing extensive service tests. Due to the enormous total of man hours of labor necessary to produce a giant aircraft—700,000 man hours in the B-19—the engine was available before the plane.
MERCHANT MARINE
Merchant Marine Reserve Midshipmen
Navy Department Release, August 13. —The Navy Department today announced arrangements have been completed whereby Merchant Marine cadets appointed by the Maritime Commission and serving on merchant vessels taken over by the Navy in the present emergency may be appointed midshipmen in the Merchant Marine Reserve provided they volunteer for active duty. Under provisions of the Maritime Commission program for officer training the cadets are in training to become licensed officers. They are required to pursue a course of instruction for 4 years, which is carried out on board merchant vessels, except for the first 2 months and the third year, which are spent in cadet schools ashore. When the Navy took over several merchant vessels the cadets assigned to those vessels had their training interrupted, because at that time there was no provision for the Navy to continue the schooling. The appointment as midshipman changes that status and permits continuation of the training. Midshipmen in the Merchant Marine Reserve will receive the same pay and allowances as midshipmen of the regular Navy while on active duty. The present rate of pay is $780 a year with a ration allowance of 75 cents a day. The program for training includes work in both deck and engineering divisions comparable to that carried out by the Maritime Commission program. Every opportunity will be utilized to give the midshipmen in the Merchant Marine Reserve experience in standing watch as junior officers in both the deck and engineering departments of the ships they are serving on. A Midshipman, Merchant Marine Reserve, will be eligible for appointment as Ensign, Class D-M or E-M, U. S. Naval Reserve, when he has obtained an unlimited ocean license as Third Mate or Third Assistant Engineer, and is recommended for commission by the Commanding Officer of the vessel in which he is serving.
Faster Vessels Urged
New York Herald Tribune, July 30.— Declaring that the slow, uneconomical freighters that have been ordered in large numbers by the United States government “are not the most suitable for emergency conditions,” J. Lewis Luckenbach, president of the American Bureau of Shipping, speaking yesterday at the bureau’s semiannual meeting at 47 Beaver Street, urged the government to look ahead and plan faster vessels as soon as facilities now under construction for the production of turbine machinery would permit. Mr. Luckenbach indicated that he supported the views of British experts who favor speeds of 17 knots as compared with 7- or 8-knot ships building in England and the 10-to-l 1-knot “emergency” ships building here. The British experts, including Lord Rotherwick, hold that the high-speed freighter not only speeds up Atlantic crossings, but operates without convoys, thus reducing the need of destroyers. The faster vessel also will be valuable at the end of the war whereas the slow ship will be obsolete.
“I have quoted from the press of the country more involved in this war than we are, where it is agitated that ships of a faster type be constructed,” Mr. Luckenbach said. “Apparently, others are thinking ahead, and I strongly recommend that we do the same.”
Those who attended the meeting of the bureau’s board of managers included Rear Admiral Emory S. Land, U. S. N., retired, chairman of the Maritime Commission, and Captain Howard L. Vickery, U. S. N., a member of the commission. They are in charge of the government’s big shipbuilding program, including the “emergency” ships. Mr. Luckenbach, in his semi-annual report, asserted that “it may be desirable for certain services to revert to such expedients as the concrete ship, if only to save steel.”
Reviewing the shipbuilding program, he said that as a result of the speeding up of work “we should produce this year 110 to 115 seagoing merchant vessels totaling close to 1,000,000 gross tons.” In his report last January, he indicated that 100 vessels would be completed in 1941.
“As of July 1 last, contracts were in existence for the construction of 751 seagoing merchant vessels for the Maritime Commission, the British government, and private interests, totaling about 6.000,000 gross tons,” Mr. Luckenbach continued. “Since then, the commission has announced a further expansion of their program contemplating the construction of 56 additional vessels. Of these, 541 will be in the seagoing merchant ship category, making a total of 1,297 such vessels under contract and adding approximately 9,650,000 gross tons to our Merchant Marine. This construction program will place the United States far in the lead as a producer of merchant tonnage and more than double our pre-war (September, 1939) merchant fleet.”
Since the start of the war in Europe, the number of ships and tonnage of the American Merchant Marine has steadily declined, although 106 vessels of 872,647 gross tons have been built in the United States since September, 1939. This is explained by the fact that during the same period 197 vessels of 1,261,575 tons were sold, transferred to foreign interests or requisitioned by the Navy and War Departments.
Discussing the cost of shipbuilding in the United States, Mr. Luckenbach pointed out that early in 1917 a merchant vessel cost between $60 and $70 a deadweight ton to build. This figure rapidly increased from then on to about $220. The cost of the modem fast C-2 and C-3 types in the commission’s long-range program has been around $240 a ton, and for the “ugly-duck- ling” or “emergency” type around $160 or $170. On recent tenders for the smaller coaster type vessel for the commission, the bids averaged over $400 a ton. The number of vessels under construction or contracted for to the American Bureau of Shipping classification on July 1 was 829 ships, of 5,462,895 gross tons, or nine times greater than the comparable figure of 3| years ago when there were 92 ships of 283,115 tons.
Merchant Shipbuilding in America
The Engineer, July 25. —Elsewhere in today’s issue we give some particulars of the two recently constructed shipyards at Richmond, California, at which ships for British and American mercantile services are being rapidly built. In our next issue we hope to deal with the Todd-Bath Iron Shipbuilding Corporation’s yard at South Portland, Maine, where a further 30 cargo ships are being built to British account. At the end of last week Mr. Harry Hopkins, the supervisor of the American Lease and Lend program, arrived in Great Britain in a bomber. Speaking at a press conference on Friday afternoon, July 18, Mr. Hopkins gave some interesting figures with regard to the great drive now in force in the United States of America for the assistance of the Allied mercantile fleets. He said that he did not think he was giving any secret away when he said that America would build at least 6,000,000 tons of new ships in 1942, and substantially more than that in the following year. Those ships would be ready for service in those years, and during the present year about 1,000,000 tons of new ships would, Mr. Hopkins stated, be completed and ready for service. All the ships, he continued, which America was going to build would go into the war effort, and would include tankers and merchant ships of all kinds. The figures he had given did not include warship construction. The figure of 6,000,000 tons he had referred to as being completed next year would be nearly 2,000,000 tons more than was built in the United States shipyards during the peak period of the last war. The program the American shipyards were undertaking was, he said, the biggest ever embarked upon by any country in history, and they were going to build enough ships to bring goods into the United Kingdom, and, indeed, into every theater of the world where the democracies were fighting Hitler. All the Axis ships in America had been seized, and all United States owned ships were being directed to the war effort. That, he concluded, was being done in the closest co-operation with the British Ministry of War Transport, and its representatives in the United States of America. Iceland, Mr. Hopkins recalled, had been occupied, and it was legal for American merchant ships to go to that country.
MISCELLANEOUS
New Ideas on Coast Defense
Boletin Del Centro Naval. —The new ideas of coast defense which are herein commented on revolve principally around replacement of fixed and railway artillery by some other moveable form. Also we touch lightly on other methods already well developed which will perhaps be called upon for greater use in defense of bases and other coastal points against attack from the sea. With respect to the replacement of fixed artillery there will be remembered the first successful trial in modem war, that of the fortified area of Ivangorod, Russia, during the war of 1914 and its author, then Colonel of the Imperial Russian Army, Alexis von Schwarz. The experiences of this officer in the Russo- Japanese War, which took place 10 years before when he was a military engineer through the whole siege of Port Arthur, must have convinced him that permanent fortifications whose location becomes known to the enemy (if not known to him beforehand) are incapable of resisting the attack for any great length of time and sooner or later will be destroyed by intense artillery fire of the enemy.
Be that as it may, we know that Colonel Schwarz, when he arrived at Ivangorod as commandant, immediately proceeded to withdraw the major part of his artillery from the existing fortifications and transported it to new positions, effectively using forests for concealment. For the purpose of deceiving the enemy he left the requisite number of guns in their old emplacements. With the first frontal attack of the enemy his success exceeded his fondest hopes. By means of a most intense bombardment the enemy had silenced the remaining guns and reduced the permanent fortifications (whose locations he knew) to rubbish, and then the attacking columns, sure of having broken all the resistance of the defenders, advanced only to be subjected to an annihilating fire from the batteries which had been moved and hidden in the woods, obliging them to retire with enormous losses. Such a success must have strengthened the idea that to always conserve the efficiency of heavy and medium artillery of a defense it is necessary to give it facilities for easy movement or to make it of moveable character. During the remainder of the war similar ideas arose in other countries and as a result heavy railway artillery made its appearance. At present this system is very widespread, and although the idea of fixed fortifications cannot be said to have been completely forgotten, it is undeniable that its replacement by heavy mobile artillery is gaining in all countries. The problem of replacing fixed positions by moveable artillery acquires considerable importance in any study of coast defense. With modem fire control systems the results of fire of warships against fixed targets usually surpasses results of fire against moving ships. The importance of not offering the enemy any possibility of good regulation of his fire is apparent in coast defense work, and it is undeniable that in the majority of cases we can best complicate his ballistic problem by giving him a mobile coast defense artillery as a target. The enthusiasm for mobile artillery was not lost by General Schwarz, who had been so impressed by the aforementioned action. Having come to our country (Argentina) he outlined in 1926 a project for defense of certain coastal points in which permanent fortifications were not included, and all invulnerability to attack was based on certain railways, over which should move platforms with heavy guns which could be set up at will on reinforced concrete bases hidden in forests. With such a system the heavy artillery considerably augments its effectiveness and invulnerability (conservation of offensive power) but, as always, the system does not provide a perfect answer to the problem. The railway tracks, which are fixed and therefore open to attack and destruction, become the vulnerable point. However this system, even if not perfect, shows progress in solving the problem. The road to follow to arrive at the solution nearest perfection is defined as follows: “There must be provided for the coast artillery a means of movement in any direction such that the terrain will not prevent all pieces from arriving at their desired firing positions.”
An interesting study of this latest aspect of the question is made in a series of projects made since 1926, treated in a book titled The Defense of Coastal Areas (1940) written by General von Schwarz and Naval Engineer Ivan A. Gavrilof. Some of these projects present great originality and offer a quantity of details of appreciable interest. We believe a brief review of two worthwhile.
The first is a system of mobile heavy guns of 12-18 inch with central fire control for use against naval forces bombarding coastal cities and naval bases. The second is a system of mobile medium guns of 6 to 10 inch with independent fire control for use against landing forces.
To give a picture of the form in which they believe the defense of a naval base should appear the authors offer the concrete example of the defensive organization imagining it based on a group of four 18- in. guns and twenty 6-in. guns. In their imaginary defense the area is fringed with forests in which are located many reinforced concrete bases for the emplacement of the heavy guns. These platforms would be moved from place to place by caterpillar tractors, one forward and one aft. To provide ammunition supply each gun system would have 4 “magazine” tanks, each carrying seven complete rounds, which would moor astern of the gun emplacement in turn and deliver the shell and powder to the gun by means of their own crane. The authors consider that four of the “magazine” tanks could maintain a steady ammunition supply by returning to the central supply center after a new load. In time of peace this organization would be kept hidden by camouflaging of the concrete emplacements and storing the mobile equipment, guns, gun movers, and magazines in special shelters, and the countryside would present a peaceful undefended appearance. As soon as war breaks out the emplacements would be made ready and the mobile equipment placed in commission and stationed to best advantage. For general coast defense mobile units of 10- in. guns are envisioned, each unit for best co-ordination of action consisting of three 10-in. guns and four “magazine” tanks, each carrying 96 rounds. The particular point of this battery is its ability to fire from any point, that is, it will not need to have special emplacements prepared for it beforehand. As before, on arrival at the firing point the magazine tanks would moor astern of each gun and commence "servicing it. The other system of medium caliber guns, the 6 inchers, is designed for use around fortresses as well as other coastal guns, and presents several interesting aspects. It employs a gun tank of high speed and self-sufficiency, somewhat of an independent land cruiser; radius of action about 600 miles and provided with 160 rounds of ammunition, protected by l-inch armor plating.
Methods of fire control for these units are suggested by the authors. Different methods are to be used by the two classes. For the heavy artillery with fixed emplacements they adopt the well-known method of observation stations and central plotting-room sending data to the guns. The plotting station uses a large movie screen which serves as a large map of the coast defense area concerned. Observation stations are correctly located on this screen and by means of synchronous motors the bearings of these stations are projected on the screen as light rays. The intersection locates the enemy and the necessary data are computed and sent to the guns. For the medium and light artillery the authors suggest a small director mounted in a short tower at the stem of the tank. For complete safety under modem conditions of war, the large coastal defense system would have to be provided with some means of determining bearings of enemy ships which cannot be seen, either due to long range or to the use of artificial fog or smoke screens.
Air and Sea
The Engineer, July 18. —Much light is being thrown in the course of this war on the long-debated problem of the respective fighting powers of ships and airplanes. In many of the encounters that have taken place both types of craft were present on the two sides, and it is difficult to disentangle their respective offensive and defensive qualities, but in the struggle round Crete nearly all the ships were on one side and nearly all the aircraft on the other, so that one can expect some definite answer to the question how far air attack can do vital damage to a warship which knows how to defend itself. One does not, of course, expect the Cretan episode to throw light on the battleship question, since capital ships were not involved; in any case we know already from the sinking of so modem a ship as the Bismarck that the torpedo airplane is certainly capable of winging the largest quarry and causing it to fall a prey to naval power in pursuit. Also there is good evidence that the armored deck of some modern capital ships can resist a bomb from whatever height it is dropped. What the Cretan experience throws light on is the relationship of air attack to the defensive power of the lesser ships, the cruisers and the destroyers, of which we lost several. The penetrative power of a given bomb is a function of its striking velocity. This is at its maximum when the airplane makes a level attack from a great height; but, owing to the enormous increase in air resistance when the velocity of sound is approached, no greater striking velocity than about 1,000 ft. per second is attainable whatever the height may be. To beat an A.P. bomb coming at this speed a certain thickness of armor is necessary and this the armored deck of a modem battleship aims at providing. The armor of a cruiser is less thick, and it is not difficult to see why. If one considers the simple case of an exact half-scale model of a 48,000-ton battleship the displacement of the model would be 6,000 tons, about that of a small cruiser, and its plating everywhere would be of exactly half the thickness. Hence if the armored deck of the battleship were just strong enough to withstand bomb penetration that of the model would be too weak. The remedy is clear, one needs either to fit thicker protection— at some sacrifice in weight elsewhere—or to discover tougher armor. Better armor is at all times no doubt sought for diligently, but one cannot now wait for that way of escape to be available. So it is necessary in the design of new ships that naval architects should consider every possible means by which weight can be saved, whether by the use of light alloys or otherwise, in order to add to the existing armor protection against attack from the air. Cruisers are smaller targets than battleships, and are more difficult to attack, but they are vastly easier to hit than destroyers, whose power of rapid maneuver added to the smallness of deck area makes them elusive objects. Airplanes of the dive bomber variety are a lesser menace since, although they are much more likely to get hits, especially on small targets, the striking velocity is much less and the angle of impact far from vertical—unless the falling bomb hits by chance some part of the superstructure and is deflected to a more nose-down altitude. Incidentally, such deflections are common and may make the bomb take up almost any attitude; once an unexploded bomb was found in a ship with its nose pointing up to the sky! The opinion is sometimes expressed that a higher striking velocity must surely be attained when the bomb is released from the very fast power dive than when dropped during a high-level attack. This can be seen to be fallacious, since the terminal velocity of any bomb is much higher than that of any aircraft, and on a long fall the sooner they separate the more rapidly will the bomb gain speed. Repeated hits from bombs dropped by diving aircraft are a nuisance and a danger to personnel, but great penetrative power they have not, and it is therefore possible for the vitals of the ship to be protected. Moreover, diving aircraft are much easier targets for the defending guns than are high-flying craft and their losses are usually large. It must be conceded that great courage is required in making of such attacks, and great steadiness on the part of the defending gunners. The best deterrent of all, however, is the presence with the ships of an adequate number of fighter aircraft. Co-operation of that kind is valuable beyond measure; the supreme importance to the Navy of the Air Arm is one of the greatest of the lessons so far taught to us by the war.
The Douglas B-19 Bomber
The Engineer, July 4. —According to news from America, the new B-19 experimental bomber monoplane, which has been designed and constructed by the Douglas Aircraft Company, Inc., of Santa Monica, California, for the service of the United States Army Air Corps, left the ground on Thursday, June 26, for the first time, when a successful trial flight was made from Santa Monica to Riverside, California, a distance of about 75 miles. According to Jane's All the World's Aircraft, 1940, the machine has been under development for the last years, and it is reputed to be the largest airplane to be built in the United States. It is equipped with four 2,000-hp. Wright “Duplex-Cyclone” engines, and when taken over by the Army Air Corps will, it is expected, be used as a flying laboratory for assembling structural and technical information, which will serve as a guide to the design and construction of future very large aircraft. The machine is an all-metal low-wing monoplane, with the characteristic back-swept leading edge, associated with the Douglas D.C.2 and D.C.3 designs. It has a single fin and rudder, and is fitted with a tricycle undercarriage. The entire covering of the machine is of flush-riveted “Alclad.” It is designed to carry a crew of 10, and sleeping accommodation for 8 of the crew is provided. If equipped as a troop transport machine, it can carry 125 fully armed troops. The principal dimensions are as follows: Span, 212 ft.; length, 132 ft.; height over rudder, 42 ft. 9 in.; and span of tail plane, 61 ft. The diameter of the main landing wheels is 8 ft. 4 in., and that of the nose wheel 4 ft. 6 in. The weight of the bomber empty is 83,353 lb., when normally loaded 140,000 lb., and when loaded with the maximum weight 164,000 lb. Designed performance characteristics are as follows: Maximum speed, 310 m.p.h.; cruising speed, 185 m.p.h.; and landing speed, 69 m.p.h. The B-19 has a service ceiling of 22,000 ft., and a normal flying range of 7,500 miles.
“Scharnhorst’s” Escape
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, July 26. Washington. —The escape of a German warship from Brest to a French port less menaced by British bombers is a serious development fully warranting costly Royal Air Force operations to deal with it. London reports say the escaped ship, described as the 26,000-ton battle cruiser Scharnhorst, has again been struck by bombs in sustained daylight air raids. She now lies at La Pallice, 240 miles southward down the Bay of Biscay—and therefore she is much farther from British air bases than she was at Brest. The disconcerting fact from the British viewpoint is that despite incessant British bombing at Brest since last March, the ship was repaired and put to sea, presumably at night and under her own power, for the dash to La Pallice. British information indicates that her sister-ship, Gneisenau, still at Brest along with the 10,000-ton cruiser Prim Eugen, is in worse case and probably out of action for months. The condition of the cruiser, which was the consort of the ill-fated Nazi battleship Bismarck and which took refuge at Brest after the sinking of the Bismarck, is not clearly indicated.
In these three fast and powerful surface craft and the uncertain number of other heavy ships still available in German waters, the Nazi High Command holds a weapon that could increase British sea losses in the Atlantic. As winter approaches and longer hours of darkness and bad weather combine to render submarine and air attack less effective, roving raids by big and powerful surface fighters would hold a special menace. Having reached La Pallice, a long step farther for British bombers to go across German occupied territory to strike at her, the Scharnhorst becomes a greater danger than she was at Brest. If she is not quickly put out of commission there, it follows that a redisposition of British battleships and battle cruisers to guard against her escape to sea where she might be refitted without British molestation would be necessary. And any naval craft withdrawn from Atlantic convoy duty to keep watch on the Scharnhorst would impair the convoy system.
Once they reached Brest, the three heavy Nazi ships became the responsibility of the British air force, not the British Navy. They have been bombed so frequently night and day that news readers have long ago lost count. Major repairs and replacements were necessary and in the case of the Scharnhorst have been accomplished sufficiently for the ship to get to sea again despite the bombardment. That testifies both to the intensity of Nazi anti-aircraft protection, which forced British bombers to high altitude attack, and to the relative ineffectiveness against small targets of that form of air attack. There can be small question, however, that British air-force orders now call for sustained daylight blasting at the Nazi ships both at Brest and La Pallice. That means British plane losses, as the admitted toll of 15 bombers and 7 fighters missing in the Brest-La Pallice attacks indicates. To offset it somewhat London claimed a dozen German fighters downed. Whatever the risks or losses, however, the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau and to a lesser extent the Prinz Eugen are such important factors in the sea war that they call for every British effort to smash them beyond repair. Until they are, they will remain a deadly threat to Britain’s sea life lines.
Naval R. O. T. C. Units
Navy Department Release, August 17. —The Navy Department today announced that arrangements are being completed for enrollment of selected Freshmen entering 27 of the nation’s colleges this fall into the first year of the basic course in naval science and tactics offered in the Naval Reserve Officers’ Training Corps Units conducted in the colleges. The full 4-year course is open to young men who are over 14 years of age. The course is divided into two parts, each of two years’ duration. The first part is the basic course and the second the advanced course. Uniforms and equipment are provided for all enrollees, while those who have successfully passed the basic course and are enrolled in the advance course receive a subsistence allowance of $7.50 per month and are exempted from operation of the Selective Service Act. The head of the department of naval science and tactics is a captain or commander of the regular Navy, with many years’ experience afloat. He is assisted in the administration of his duties by naval officers of from 7 to 15 years’ service, who are assigned to this duty by the Bureau of Navigation.
Subjects included in the course are ordnance, gunnery, engineering, electricity, navigation, communications, seamanship, aviation, drills, naval history, military law, administration, Navy Regulations, Naval Reserve, naval leadership, international law and tactics.
During the summer vacation a cruise of about 25 days is arranged for members of the unit. On this cruise advance course students receive $21 a month as pay, in addition to the subsistence allowance paid each month of the school year. On these cruises the food, lodging, and transportation are provided by the Navy. Week-end cruises are made during the academic year when vessels for such training are available.
Schools having Naval Reserve Officers Training Courses are:
Brown University
Univ. of California, Berkeley
Univ. of California at Los Angeles
Univ. of Colorado Duke University
Georgia School of Technology
Harvard University
College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, Mass.
Marquette University
Univ. of Michigan
Univ. of Minnesota
Univ. of New Mexico
Univ. of North Carolina
Northwestern University
Univ. of Notre Dame
Univ. of Oklahoma
Univ. of Pennsylvania
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Rice Institute
Univ. of South Carolina
Univ. of Southern Calif.
Univ. of Texas
Tulane Univ. of Louisiana
Tufts College, Medford, Mass.
Univ. of Virginia
Univ. of Washington
Yale University