Professional Notes

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To December 31, 1941

United States ...........................................................................................  262

Invention for Defense—Quantico—The Marine School of Warfare—

Naval Progress in Use of Plastics

GreatBritain................................................................................................... 271

The New Battle Drill—Prince of Wales and Repulse Loss—Ark Royal—Navy’s Tobruk Exploit

France............................................................................................................. 278

German Grip on Industry

Germany . ........................................................................................................  280

Aircraft Developments

U.S.S.R............................................................................................................. 281

Air Force—Black Sea Fleets and Bases—Supply Link

Aviation........................................................................................................... 285

The Bristol Turrets—The Air Crew Pattern for Ground Crews—The War in the Air—Various Notes

Merchant Marine........................................................................................... 290

More Training Ships—Sea Otter II—Various Notes

Miscellaneous ...............................................................................................  292

To Young Officers—4-Pound Radio Telephone—Various Notes

262                                    U. S. Naval Institute Proceedings                        [February

UNITED STATES                                              The invention of gunpowder made all

Invention for Defense[1]

Mechanical Engineering, January, 1942, by L. B. Leut, National Inventors’ Coun­cil, Washington, D. C.—I am sure there is no particular significance in the order in which these topics appear on this morn­ing’s program, but I submit that it all begins with invention; at least with that dictionary definition which says that in­vention is “mental fabrication or concoc­tion.” By this definition, every fresh idea is an invention. Since human beings en­gaged in mortal combat, those with the best weapons and smartest ideas usually

There are many ways in which engineers can help invention for defense.

In the first place, keep in mind that inventive ideas which you may develop in connection with your own job may have some application in problems of de­fense.

Next, give assistance to subordinates with inven­tive ideas. Help them to organize their ideas and pre­pare their material for orderly consideration by others.

Also discuss inventive ideas of your subordinates with them. A large percentage of inventions coming to us are found useless because the inventor is not familiar with the prior art nor is he well grounded in the fundamental physics or mechanics upon which his invention is based.

Some companies have a suggestion box into which employees may drop suggestions for more efficient plant operation.

And finally, don’t forget that some ideas, which may not be useful in connection with a particular device, may find a most useful application in some other field.

emerged victorious. This has been true for thousands of years. In modern warfare, it is still true. One has but to recall a few of the significant inventions to realize that the whole art of warfare (so to speak) has been changed as the ideas for new weapons or devices emerged from men’s minds and were transformed into useful realities.

previous weapons impotent. Smokeless powder and rifled guns greatly enhanced the effectiveness of those who possessed them. Ericsson’s invention of the armored revolving turret made all previous types of naval vessels obsolete. The submarine has certainly changed orthodox naval tactics.

In more recent times, the development of the airplane into a combat vehicle and the development of the caterpillar tread into such a terrifying monster as the modern tank has completely changed our mode of warfare. It is not too much to say that modern warfare is largely a battle of inventive ideas. In the past, American inventive genius has been largely respon­sible for the development of our industries and the constant betterment of our stand­ard of living. If turned from peaceful pur­suits to the problems of national defense, it should contribute powerfully, perhaps decisively, to the success of the present efforts in the preservation of our kind of civilization. In times of emergency, such as we now face, the number of inventions and suggestions submitted by the public for governmental use increases to such an extent that some special agency is clearly needed—an agency whose only job is to give immediate and sympathetic attention to every invention, suggestion, or idea which might have any possible value in our scheme of national defense. The National Inventors’ Council was created for that purpose. It has been in active operation since about October 1, 1940. Results to date show that it is of very real value to the military services and other bureaus con­cerned with the national defense program. Its value, however, is in almost direct pro­portion to the number of contributions which come from the trained minds of those who comprise the membership of our technical professions—particularly the members of The American Society of Me­chanical Engineers. The National Inven-

tors’ Council has just finished a little more than a year of active operation. During that time, more than 38,000 cases were examined by the Council staff. Of the many inventions and suggestions received, most of those found useful have come from members of the technical professions, as might be expected. Some of these may soon prove to be very potent in our scheme of national defense. It is important, therefore, that this flow of worth-while inventive ideas be not only continued, but increased if possible. For this reason, I bespeak your interest in what our Council is organized to do and to make full use of its facilities. The Council was created late in August, 1940, by the then Secretary of Commerce, Mr. Harry Hopkins, with the full concur­rence and approval of President Roosevelt. Dr. Charles F. Kettering was asked to be­come chairman and the Council members were selected. Mr. Conder C. Henry, now assistant commissioner of patents, then organized a service staff and the Council began active operations about October 1, 1940. Its primary purposes are: (1) En­couraging the public to submit inventions and inventive ideas having any possible value in our plans for national defense. (2) Prompt examination and evaluation of these inventions by a staff of engineers and by a system of technical committees, so that useful ideas may be promptly placed ^ln the hands of the proper military branches and naval bureaus and such ether agencies as might find them of po­tential value.

It is also thought that a central library °f suggested inventions is of considerable continuing value. An obvious reason for this lies in the fact that good ideas, no Matter how good, seem to require a period °t rest, so to speak, before someone dis­covers their real value and puts them to ^w°rk. Call it mental inertia or mental ^Vlscosity, if you like. But whatever its ⁿ.^aitle> it seems to have delayed the adop­tion of many useful ideas in the past. The

Council is striving to improve this situa­tion.

The present members of the Inventors’ Council, all of whom serve without pay, are as follows: Charles F. Kettering, chair­man, Thomas Midgley, Jr., vice-chairman, Lawrence Langner, secretary, George Baekeland, Rear Admiral H. G. Bowen, Hon. Conway P. Coe, William D. Cool- idge, Watson Davis, Frederick M. Feiker, Webster N. Jones, Brigadier General Earle McFarland, Fin Sparre, Major General W. H. Tschappat, Orville Wright, and Fred Zeder. Our technical staff is com­posed of seven engineers and a chief en­gineer. Each is a specialist in one or more fields.

To handle efficiently the work of exami­nation and evaluation, inventions and sug­gestions are considered under twelve main headings, which follow Patent Office clas­sifications, and which have been found very convenient.

Each of the committees covering these twelve general divisions is chairmaned by a Council member or by one of the indi­vidual members of the committee. Each committee chairman may nominate his own members, who are later approved by the chairman of the Council and serve without pay, after taking the federal oath of secrecy. These subject headings (12) are as follows:

(1) Ordnance and Firearms

(2)    Land Transportation and Armored Vehi­cles

(3) Aeronautics

(4)  Remote-Control Devices

(5)  Instruments

(6)  Naval Warfare

(7)  Signals and Communications

(8)  Chemicals and Chemical Warfare

(9)  Internal-Combustion Engines

(10)  Metals and Metallurgy

(11)  Forts, Fortifications, Other Structures, and Camouflage

(12)  Clothing, Sanitation, Health, and Com­missariat.

The Council receives inventions, sugges­tions, and just plain ideas, by mail and

through the personal calls of inventors. Many inventors seem to think their ideas are so important that no one but the Presi­dent should know about them. Others send their inventions to Senators, Congressmen, members of the Cabinet, and to ranking officers of the Army or Navy. But all are forwarded to our office for primary exam­ination. Each invention, suggestion, or idea received is acknowledged, then classi­fied, and referred to one or more staff engi­neers for careful examination and evalua­tion, particularly for its possible value to the national defense. Those appearing mer­itorious are then referred to the appropri­ate Technical Committee Chairman for his consideration and report. An invention thought to be of value is forwarded to the Army or Navy, or other appropriate de­fense agencies, for their consideration— and ultimate adoption if they find it ac­ceptable. In such event, the appropriate department of the Army or Navy then deals directly with the inventor in making the necessary arrangements for the use of the invention. The Council itself does not consider the question of compensation or of contracts between inventors and the Army or Navy.

Now, some who submit inventions seem to misunderstand the relations between the Council and the Patent Office. It should be mentioned here that submission of an invention to the Council does not, in itself, fully protect the inventor’s rights. Those submitting inventions or inventive ideas of value are usually advised to make application for a patent, if they have not already done so. The Patent Office makes no distinction between applications sub­mitted to it direct and those previously presented to the Council. Submission of in­ventive ideas to the Council does not preju­dice the inventor’s interests, should he at any time desire to apply for a patent. All material submitted to the Council is held in strict confidence.

The kind of inventions which have been found useful to one or more of the defense agencies can be classified roughly in two broad fields, namely: Improvements in present devices or present methods; and ideas which are entirely new, but which may be so promising that military require­ments and strategy can be planned to utilize them.

Many of the first class have been re­ceived and a few of the latter. It might en­courage you to know that a few of the de­vices or weapons submitted might be classed as revolutionary. They are now under development and test and may, some day soon, be heard from in tones not pleasant to the Axis powers. Obviously, the nature of these cannot be disclosed. And it may also interest you to know that of the ideas having potential value to the armed services: About 40 per cent are in the general field of ordnance, which in­cludes all kinds of guns and ammunition and also tanks, amphibians, and fire-con­trol devices; about 20 per cent are in the field of aircraft, including power plants and flying equipment; and the remaining 40 per cent encompass all other phases of warfare. A relatively large number pertain to geometric and optical instruments and to radio and other electrical devices. The number of devices and ideas which are of potential value is quite surprising and in­deed most encouraging.

As you may imagine, we do have many suggestions of what are sometimes called “crackpot” variety. Such suggestions, however, receive full consideration, for in them may lie the germ of the worth-while idea. Those who submit them are obviously working in an unfamiliar field or are unin­formed respecting even the fundamentals which may underlie their invention. Many such suggestions are, of course, most amus­ing. If time permitted, one might mention a few for entertainment purposes. How­ever, the daily consideration of these cases brings a growing conviction of the need of a larger percentage of ideas coming from

those who know their subject. Of course, we have had “death rays,” but none which have yet killed anybody. We’ve had sev­eral schemes for robot airplanes or projec­tiles which chase other airplanes, but the inventor’s ideas are usually general sug­gestions, the details of which must be worked out by others—if the thing is to work as the inventor thinks it should. However, there is hope, at least, in this field. And, as in the last war, we still have all kinds of plates and nets to keep tor­pedoes away from naval vessels, but which would slow the speed down to a walk and make the ship unmanageable in rough weather. But, as previously intimated, don’t be too surprised if something radi­cally new and potent comes to light before this present scrap is over.

_ It should be encouraging to the prospec­tive inventor to know that many of our most useful items of military equipment have been devised and developed by civil- mns; in some cases by those who have had no experience in military affairs. Well- known examples, useful in warfare, that have proved to be revolutionary are the screw propeller invented by Stevens in 1804; the revolver pistol invented by Colt m 1835; the revolving-turret warship Monitor, invented by Ericsson in 1861; the motor-driven airplane invented by Orville and Wilbur Wright in 1903; smokeless powder invented by Schultze in 1863; the torpedo invented by Whitehead in 1866; smokeless powder invented by Vielle in 1886; the submarine invented by Simon Cake; and the internal-combustion engine mvented by Dr. Otto and developed by others. The list might be extended to in­clude other inventions which have had a powerful effect on modern warfare and military tactics. It should be noted here hat most of our noted military inventions ^ave come from those outside the military services. Many of these revolutionary in­ventions were rejected by the military ^authorities when first submitted. Erics­son’s Monitor failed at first trial because it did not meet speed requirements and was not fitted with sails. However, don’t let this deter you from submitting your in­vention for both the Army and Navy are now keen to utilize any helpful suggestion. Peace-time lethargy has been swept aside by the dictator’s ruthless march.

You may well ask—what kind of inven­tions do you want? Many who write to us do. It’s not always easy to answer this question. If we were to tell in detail just what is wanted, it would disclose what we lack. And such information may be just as valuable to an enemy as knowing what we have—at least, so say the War and Navy Departments. However, it’s hardly neces­sary to say that any kind of inventions may be found useful in our national-de­fense scheme. One thinks first of those which have direct application in warfare. Such inventions are, of course, of prime im­portance and of much interest to the mili­tary authorities. Entirely new conceptions may be found sufficiently potent as to jus­tify a change in present strategy and tac­tics. But present military requirements must usually be met. Many inventions re­ceived by us have been found useful in ex­pediting some part of our vast production program. Others have to do with the sub­stitution of some more common material for materials which are now on the critical list. For example, many think of substitut­ing plastics for metals, but the materials for making some plastics are now getting scarce. So we are now seeking substitutes for yesterday’s substitutes. I mention these things to show how complex is the field in which new ideas may find applica­tion.

But to get back to cases. It would seem almost obvious that the birth of such an invention as may be classed as revolution­ary must be preceded by the incubation of an entirely new and unknown conception. In other words, we may have to invent the problem and then find the solution. For

example, away back in 1620, Cornelius Van Drebel, a Dutchman living in Eng­land, had the idea that an underwater boat would be a fine thing and he built one pro­pelled by oars—so it is claimed. During the Revolutionary War, David Bushnell had the same idea and also built a man- powered submarine, with which Sergeant Ezra Lee of the Continental Army at­tempted to destroy a British ship anchored in New York Harbor. Finally Simon Lake again picked up this idea and worked out the engineering problems to produce the prototype of our modern deadly power- driven submarine. Thus the brain storm of the Dutchman in 1620 finally became a reality. He invented the problem; others worked out the solution. Many have written to tell us that we should have some method of making ships immune from tor­pedo attack, but the real problem is how to do it. Again we have several suggestions that a proper application of the so-called “electric eye”—the photoelectric cell— would permit us to steer aerial bombs and many other forms of projectiles, but again the method of doing it is the real problem and may involve several inventions. There are still many possibilities in increasing the effectiveness of airplane attack and, of course, the defense against it. The detec­tion and precise location of submarines and defense against submarine attack is a field in which invention may find ample use and adequate reward. Time does not permit mention of any but the few examples just mentioned. Most of the inventions re­ceived by us are essentially improvements in what we now have. But many have al­ready proved their value. And so the field in which useful defense inventions may lie is just about limitless. And so we come finally to the question: How can the engi­neers, the members of this Society, help? There are so many ways in which engineers can help that only a few may be men­tioned.

In the first place, keep in mind that in-

ventive ideas which you may develop in connection with your own job may have some application in problems of defense. Examples of this are innumerable. A meth­od of rolling steel tubes, now in wide use, has recently been found applicable in the rolling of liners for big gun barrels. An automatic control system for use in a fac­tory may be applied to remotely control the aiming and firing of guns. And so it goes. Next, give assistance to subordinates with inventive ideas. Help them to organ­ize their ideas and prepare their material for orderly consideration by others. Don’t forget that it was a woman who planted in the inventive mind of a young tutor named Eli Whitney the idea that a machine was needed to remove cottonseed from the fiber. You never can tell where some worth­while idea may come from. Also, discuss inventive ideas of your subordinates with them. A large percentage of inventions coming to us are found useless because the inventor is not familiar with the prior art nor is he well grounded in the fundamental physics or mechanics upon which his in­vention is based. For example, many in­ventors think of sound waves or light waves as a prime medium for energizing a projectile for chasing airplanes—“blood­hound projectiles” we call them. But they forget that airplanes now race through the air at about half the speed of sound. By the time the sound from airplane engines reaches the sound detector, the airplane may be two or more miles away from where it was when the sound left it. Neither visi­ble light waves nor infrared rays penetrate fog or dense haze; so that source of detec­tion is not so good. Radio waves seem to be most promising as an element in remote- control devices. So let your younger asso­ciate have the benefit of your more experi­enced knowledged, if a worth-while idea is being hatched.

Some companies have a suggestion box into which employees may drop sugges­tions for more efficient plant operation. It might prove helpful if another question box be added into which employees might put inventive ideas which they think would be of assistance in the national de­fense. And finally, don’t forget that some ideas, which may not be useful in connec­tion with a particular device, may find a most useful application in some other field. Examples of this are numerous. One, very much in our minds at present, is that the same jet reaction which some have pro­posed for propelling rockets may find use­ful application as an added force in assist­ing airplane take-off from landing fields of small area or where runway facilities are inadequate.

The Chicago Section of your Society has recently circulated a most commendable bulletin—a message concerning National Defense from the Defense Inventions Com­mittee. In it, the privileges and, indeed, the duties of the mechanical engineer are de­scribed in a manner which should challenge the attention and interest of all who may ^read it. If the entire membership of A.S.M.E. could receive this message, it should have most gratifying results.

, D would seem to be the privilege and indeed the patriotic duty of the inventive minds of our country to transmit the re­sults of their creative thought to that gov­ernment agency charged with the duty of making them useful in this time of national emergency.—The National Inventors’ Council.

Marine Corps School

°J Warfare

T/ze Marine Corps Gazette, November.— he first and obvious reaction to the title w ich graces this one-sided discussion is: hy a Marine Corps High School of War? hy not a college? The answer is self-evi­dent: War itself is its own college, all else Preparatory. And it is as a preparatory ^c °ol that we must consider the recently i^^an^ed Quantico Training Center. Man­^s v it has been brought into existence to

attain the objective envisioned as far back as 1934 by General Charles de Gaulle in his “Toward a Professional Army.” In this prophetic, and until recently widely ig­nored study, he enunciated:

Modern conditions of military action demand . . . constantly increasing technical skill from fighting men. The equipment which the force of events has introduced into the ranks, demands the gift, the taste, the habit of serving it. This is a consequence of evolution, ineluctable in the same way as the disappearance of candles or the end of sundials. The era of picked soldiers and selected crews has arrived.

In the light of today’s myriad changes in the art of the prosecution of war no one can deny this, and least of all the Marine Corps, which rightly prides itself upon the reputation of being professional soldiers. Therefore, carried to its logical conclusion, the theory of “picked soldiers and selected crews” applies not only to those who man the weapons but also the myriad others who perform those highly specialized func­tions which make for the efficiency of the whole. And this “efficiency of the whole” is the primary objective of training in the Marine Corps, itself a small, integrated professional army, which when the time occurs will be called upon to perform a mission demanding that it contain within itself all of the specializations and all of the skills which go to constitute a superbly functioning combat team. Recognition of this requirement makes for an intensified interest in the development and progress of the Training Center upon which the Corps must rely for the practitioners of the component skills. Great strides already have been made toward this important ob­jective at the Training Center under the direction of General Julian C. Smith as­sisted by an able staff of aides.

Briefly: Included in the courses under the generic head of “Engineering” are classes in water distillation and refrigera­tion, both of fundamental importance if some future mission demands combat on arid, torrid terrains; the art of camouflage; demolitions; the construction of Nissen huts; a motor transport school as detailed and professional as that of a specialized private institution; a Higgins boat school and an Amphibian tractor school.

The curriculum and activities of each of these schools is deserving of a detailed study, but time and space does not permit such an excursion. Valuable as the Train­ing Center already has demonstrated itself to be it could be of still greater value if the curriculum were enlarged to include train­ing in other fundamental activities of the military profession. But before entering upon this phase of the discussion it first is necessary to consider the manner of re­cruitment of the students in the various schools. At the present time its classes are obtained from those men in organized units who either request or are selected by the organization commanders for specialist training, together with a number of ma­rines who are sent to the Center for further assignment from the recruit depot at Parris Island. These new marines are asked to fill out placement questionnaires at the Center and an effort is made to se­lect properly equipped human material by this means—a step in the right direction. But often orders are received to organize a replacement detail for some provisional company on detached duty and in the need for speed the regular procedure cannot be attempted.

As the first and fundamental step in making the Training Center achieve the objective for which it is created all marines who have finished their recruit training should be sent to the Center. There they should be interviewed and the question­naires filled in. During a preparatory pe­riod of, for example, one month they could be put through a thorough grounding in the basic infantry weapons at the rifle range. This would be a comparatively sim­ple matter for a part of the Training Cen­ter organization at the present time is the

Rifle Range Detachment which for many years has been a model organization of its kind. Efficiently staffed and operated it has performed invaluable service in the teach­ing of musketry. Its facilities and equip­ment could be augmented and thus every new marine no matter what his future spe­cialty would have a working knowledge of infantry weapons. Those who exhibited outstanding proficiency could be given more detailed training and then assigned to organizations where the need for spe­cialists in these weapons is greater. Thus at the expiration of the preliminary month it would be possible to sort out those marines who possess the requisite talents, mental­ity, and skill to be specialists from those who by virtue of their own inherent capa­bilities are best suited for line duty. This latter group would be sent to already or­ganized units while the others could then be enrolled in the classes for which they have indicated aptitude. It is with this group that we most are concerned for it will be composed of those upon whom the Corps will depend for its skilled craftsmen. At present somewhat of a similar procedure in selection is followed by the Communica­tions Battalion School at Quantico, which is well worth a visit by any officer, not only for its advanced method of technical train­ing but for the high standards of orderli­ness and neatness maintained in its bar­racks and schools. Many of the students are selected at Parris Island after aptitude tests which seek to ascertain not only a definite bent for the technical aspects of communications but the possession of a requisite educational background. This Communications Battalion and school rep­resent to the maximum degree the high standards which should prevail for any Marine Corps School.

Staffed by officers and noncommissioned officers indoctrinated with the importance of their mission it well is worth comparison with similar units in any military force anywhere. Allotment of a sufficient time for training is enabling the communica­tions school to turn out graduates for as­signment to this duty who have obtained a substantial basic knowledge of their spe­cialty. Lack of time and demand for speed, however, is working to the detriment of the Training Center Schools.

An instance in point is the water dis­tillation course—one which demands not only a highly technical knowledge but some background of elementary science. There the maximum length of the courses is six weeks and when it is realized that upon these men will depend an adequate water supply in the field for thousands of combat troops, then the importance of de­tailed instruction and training instantly is apparent. The motor transport course which is divided into three groups, the driver, motor, and chassis sections, totals thirteen weeks, but in this small time there must be encompassed from six weeks’ to a year’s training in theory and practical as­pects of gasoline and Diesel engines. Through the use of sound motion pictures ^and other advanced training methods uiuch valuable time is saved. Yet if the school were to undertake to turn out tank drivers—which, parenthetically should be included in the curriculum—then the pe­riod allotted for the courses necessarily would have to be extended to include time for a detailed study of terrain appreciation. At the present time, due to the exigencies °f the emergency, a month’s schooling in camouflage and demolitions is necessarily sufficient, the purpose of the courses being to inculcate sufficient knowledge of the subjects to permit the graduate in turn to supervise and instruct in the field. In spite °f the time limitations remarkably ex­cellent results are being accomplished in hese courses and a nucleus of trained per­sonnel is in the process of formation.

In the opinion of this writer there should ^e added to the courses offered by the raining Center one which daily assumes ^yital importance as combat intelligence

and scouting again forge to the fore in the tactical scheme. It is in these two branches, rightly termed the eyes and ears of the com­bat force, where training is most needed today. This instruction should concentrate heavily upon map reading—intelligently and fluently—field sketching and an expert comprehension of airplane mosaics. These subjects are far too important to be taught in the field when weather and other condi­tions do not permit the usual exercises. The need for such intensive instruction was demonstrated to the writer recently while observing the operations of the 1st Scout Company in a number of field problems, embracing the use of its various units. These were performed efficiently and with a minimum of lost motion, which could only result because the personnel charged with successfully performing the various missions were trained in the reading and understanding of tactical and mosaic maps.

Particularly worthy of attention was the work of the motorcycle platoon, members of which returned from their missions with sketch maps and filled in mimeographed blanks which were sufficient to provide any intelligence officer with detailed informa­tion concerning important features of the terrain. It is interesting to note that the personnel of the scout company received its training in these vital subjects from its own officers and the mimeographed ques­tionnaire was framed by the members of the unit. While this is a praiseworthy step in the right direction, yet it must be borne in mind that this instruction was squeezed in only when time permitted—and such time necessarily is limited as the care of the various vehicles requires concentration of effort. It requires no great exercise of imagination to visualize a time and cir­cumstance when it will be impossible to educate the men in these subjects because of the press of primary missions. Neither will the chief of the Second Section, whether it be Battalion or Force, have the

time to train his personnel in these vital fundamentals of his duty. You can’t run a school when there is a mission to be per­formed and the required training must be detailed and elaborate, not a mere slap­dash affair wedged in between other mili­tary exercises.

The Commander of the Scout Company and the Chief of the Second Section ob­viously will need adequately trained per­sonnel and the way to assure them of this is by proper schooling in the rear echelons. There of course enters the very funda­mental factor of aptitude and intelligence in the selection of personnel for these studies, and a primary requisite is the sift­ing of prospective students. Human nature being what it is, there inevitably will be a number of applicants who are looking for an easy berth. It therefore rests upon the staff of the Training Center to closely ex­amine the capabilities of the students and eliminate the chaff. It’s no easy task which devolves upon the Training Center, for this Marine Corps High School is faced with responsibility of graduating only those competent and fit to perform the im­portant duties in the college for which we all are preparing to matriculate inevitably.

Naval Progress in Use of Plastics

Navy Department Release, November 25.—Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox today summarized the progress of naval research in developing the use of plastics in new armament construction. The Secre­tary pointed out that plastics as such com­pose an extremely broad new chemical field, utilizing the most modern materials and scientific technique, and is generally recognized as the newest major industry in the United States. In the development of the plastics industry the Navy Depart­ment, in general, and the Bureau of Ships, in particular, has been an outstanding con­tributor.

Plastics were first introduced at the time of the last World War. Its first appli­cations, limited in scope, were frankly dis­appointing, the Secretary explained, but these first experiments gave promise of important things to come. Since the time of the last war, therefore, naval researchers have been emphasizing their tests of plastic materials. The first key to naval progress in this field is the type of personnel work­ing on the experiments. Highly trained scientists, both in naval testing stations and in private industry, under the guid­ance of the Navy Department have been studying the use of plastics—and also its limitations. The second basic element in naval plastics development is the Navy Department’s axiom, early adopted, that the U. S. Navy would never actually make an application of plastics to naval con­struction until it was known with certainty that the application would be completely successful.

Secretary Knox cited the example of the development of the Navy’s pressure gauge, which progress almost parallels the devel­opment of naval policy, referred to above, regarding experiments in this field.

The U. S. Navy, like all sea powers, for­merly used pressure gauges encased in brass. When plastics were first introduced, it was soon conceived that this material could be used for pressure gauge cases. Molds were made and applied on several ships. The experiment failed. The Navy thus learned the lesson of not applying the use of plastics until having tested thor­oughly. Successful pressure gauges encased in plastics simply could not be molded in the same form as the old brass cases. The design was adjusted after many tests, and the new pressure gauge, encased in plastics and now used on all new U. S. Navy ships, is generally recognized as the best pressure gauge ever developed. In addition to their use as gauge cases, plastics are now used on many forms of electrical equipment. Gen­erally speaking, this is their most important application, both from the military and the commercial viewpoints. Plastics are now

used by the U. S. Navy for electric cables, electrical fittings and fixtures, circuit breakers and electrical switching equip­ment, switchboards, distribution panels, bases, radio, interior communication, fire- control equipment, motor generators and transformers and other miscellaneous elec­trical equipment. In addition, plastics are now used aboard ship for shatterproof windows and windshields and in naval air­craft for windshields and cockpit covers.

Secretary Knox explained that plastics have certain definite advantages: it can often be more readily molded than metals to fit certain individual needs; it is often quicker to produce en masse than metals, and it is less subject to corrosion. The prin­cipal disadvantage at the present time is the vulnerability of plastics to scratches, and tests are being made now to overcome this flaw. In addition, of course, there are certain forms of molding which can be suc­cessfully done by use of metals and cannot as yet be accomplished by use of plastic Materials. The Navy Department is now testing the application of metals now class- died as critical or strategic to this Nation’s defense in search of the possible use of plas­tics as an alternate material. Each metal requires individual examination, and it is anticipated that these tests will continue for years to come. Naval research is done Principally at the Naval Research Labora- t°ry, Anacostia, D. C.; the Materials Test Laboratories at the U. S. Navy Yards at New York, Philadelphia, and Mare Island, California, and at the U. S. Naval Experi­mental Station, Annapolis, Maryland. Pri­^vate industry is also fully co-operating in tests to further naval progress in this field °f constantly growing importance.

GREAT BRITAIN The New Battle Drill

London Times, November 25.—It is something new for the British soldier to rul at the double from dawn to dusk, and

like it. It is a new experience for him to hear live bullets whistling past his head in the normal course of training; to go out “beagling” or “otter-hunting” as a means of practising infiltration or exciting little pincer movements; to think as an individ­ual intent on becoming faster and tougher than the Germans. This, in short, is battle drill, a little-known term that is likely to exert a profound influence on the whole of infantry training by infusing some of the realities of the modern battlefield into what many discerning commanders call the outworn pageantry of the parade ground. It has not a keener upholder than General Paget, the new Commander in Chief. Many sceptics have gone down to this di­visional school of battle drill in the South­Eastern Command, and as many have been converted. It is not possible to be in the camp for long without catching its in­fectious enthusiasm. Within a few months all the company commanders, junior offi­cers, and n.c.o.s. of this London division have gone through the course; other divi­sions wishing to start similar schools have sent instructors to be trained; and the present class of students consists of officers from a Guards brigade—their commander applied the word phenomenal to the new doctrine—and from the Canadian Corps, among whom battle drill may well find its most eager adherents.

What is battle drill? If it be unorthodox in anything it is in the realism and sense of purpose imparted to the training man­uals, which were claimed to be the finest in the world, but which the mass of infantry, it is held, have been incapable of interpret­ing on the ground. It was emphasized by General Alexander after Dunkirk that British troops, for all their courage, were at a serious disadvantage in encountering German tactics for the first time. They could not, as in the last war, be inoculated in small doses before going into battle; they passed from conditions of total peace straight into total war. Moreover, it was

not until 1937 that the war establishment was produced for a new infantry division, based on an adequate lay-out of modern weapons. Even then the weapons did not come through in any numbers until shortly before the outbreak of war, so that the body of regular infantry officers had not time to appreciate their possibilities or de­velop a sound fighting technique.

One of General Alexander’s first actions was to introduce a system of battle drill into the I Corps in France. The gospel preached. And so it was that amid the mellow beauty and squelching mud of a late autumn I watched small packets of men practising the latest principles of in­filtration as part of a drill designed to make their actions on the battlefield as instinc­tive and rapid as they are on the barrack square. It was the passing out day for the course, and two platoons, one composed of officers, the other of sergeants, and both carrying full pack equipment and the in­fantry arms—the anti-tank rifle can be an awkward brute—had been at the double since shortly after dawn, with no prospect of food until the evening meal. Spurred on by their instructors, drawn from the most athletic young officers in the division, and able to set a gruelling pace, they swung across country, always using its conceal­ment as they worked to a flank of an objec­tive, or drove home the claws of a pincer movement. Sometimes they would wade across a river or follow its course in mid­stream if the cover of its banks provided any tactical advantage. Here, with an or­dered balance between Bren guns and ri­flemen, was true “fire and movement,” not in short frontal rushes, but always with the aim of encircling the objective, just as the Germans in the quiet days would nip out a French post in Lorraine.

One of the most vivid personalities of the day was a burly subaltern of the Lon­don Irish who, his shirt torn to ribbons and brandishing a fighting-knife at the keels of the pack, conducted a private hate cam­paign. “Hate! Hate!” he yelled—once in the faces of two solitary cows; and there was no doubting from their curses that the students’ blood was up. One heard the story of a major who, having contained himself for two days, suddenly crashed his steel helmet to the ground and really got down to business. And there was the time when all the regimental sergeant-majors of the division came on the course; it was clearly one of the more anxious moments. They sulked superciliously for a few days, it is said, but then became so enthusiastic that one of them, formerly a sergeant- major of the Guards at that, offered the suggestion that all polished brasses should be coated with khaki paint. One of the out­standing features of the school is that after each drill students are encouraged to dis­cuss it and to offer suggestions of their own in the belief that progress must come from the bottom, from among the men who have to do the fighting rather than from a re­mote brain-box in Whitehall. As an experi­ment, light armor, protecting vital parts of the body, is being carried by some students at this school of ideas.

A whole series of drills, both offensive and defensive, have been evolved for sec­tions and platoons to ensure that by con­stant repetition and true discipline each man from the private upwards shall know automatically what part he has to play in battle. Nowadays it is a far more serious charge for a man to show himself on the sky line than to appear on parade un­shaven. The present formal drill of the barrack square was, in fact, the battle drill of Waterloo. Modern warfare calls for the mastering of a fundamental technique from which all sorts of improvisations are possible, just as a championship football team is able to exploit the element of sur­prise once each player has mastered the rudiments of the game. To pursue the sporting metaphor, these drills are some­thing like the prearranged phases of Amer­ican football, with rather greater scope for

ability and initiative to develop an unor­thodox attack. The Germans, at all events, have trained along the lines of these stereo­typed drills for years to the extent that the issuing of orders often amounts to no more than calling for Plan A or B. The ground, they assert, must be subordinate to the plan, not the plan to the ground.

It is not possible here to enter into the details of battle drills, though it may be explained that the section adopts an arrow­head formation, not by numbers but by the task of each man in it: leader, Bren gun 1 and 2, grenadier, sniper, and so on. There are definite drills for clearing forests or crossing rivers, and I watched picked marksmen firing tracer bullets into a bank just above a section in order that they should learn to keep their heads down. On the last day the commandant delivered his final lecture, in which he showed how by these methods a battalion might best be put into action against the modern system °f defended localities; a little masterpiece of tactical exposition. To wind up, a pla­toon attacked a position with live ammuni­tion from all the infantry weapons. Pre­arranged signals were given on the Bren guns—the V signal, for instance—and under cover of smoke and mortar fire the post was soon taken in flank and the as­sault put in. Any unit with a mind to its minor tactics might have adopted a similar Plan, but casualties might have been high­^er) and far more time would have been taken over the giving of orders.

My most vivid impression of battle drill 'Was of the questing, eager spirit with yhich every one entered into it, as though ^ln all this mental and physical endeavor there were an antidote to disenchantment. There was an exhilaration in listening to the divisional commander talk on the sub­ject. He has adopted the German doctrine that infantry is the principal arm and that ^aU other arms support it, an assertion with ^a Napoleonic ring about it but written in 1941. As a nation, he stated, we do not honor our infantry sufficiently, and, still hypnotized by the big barrages of the last war, are in danger of coming under an equally unhealthy hypnotism exerted by the tank and the dive bomber. That is his warning, and battle drill his vision.

“Prince of Wales” and “Repulse”Loss

By 0. D. Gallagher, International News Service Staff Writer, Washington Post, December 12.—This is the story of the British naval force which sailed into north­eastern Malayan waters on Monday. The Prince of Wales and the Repulse were the backbone of this force. I was on the Re­pulse. At 5:20 p.m. Tuesday evening, a bugle sounded throughout the Repulse, giving these orders to the entire ship’s company: “Take battle stations. Enemy aircraft have been sighted.” I rushed to the flag deck, which was my action station. There I saw a single Nakajama-93, twin- floated Japanese reconnaissance plane. She was almost on the horizon, too far to be engaged. Then two more Nakajamas ap­peared and kept up a long watch in relays. What any admiral most wishes to avoid had happened. With his force out to sea sufficiently distant from shore to prevent receiving aerial support, a mass enemy air attack now seemed certain.

At 9:05 p.m. Captain W. G. Tennant, commander of the Repulse, spoke through the loud speaker: “A signal has just been received from the commander in chief that we are being shadowed by three planes, which spotted us after we had dodged them all day. They were undoubtedly convoying troop ships, which now will have dispersed. We will find enemy aircraft waiting for us and we are now returning to Singapore.” I slept in the wardroom fully clothed that night. I awoke to the call of “battle sta­tions.”

At 5:00 a.m. Wednesday morning, all the ship’s company on deck donned anti­aircraft helmets and elbow-length asbestos gloves. We must have looked like men from

Mars with these goggles and tin hats. At 11:00 a.m. we saw a twin-masted single­funnel ship off our starboard bow. Inves­tigation showed that she carried no flag. I was looking at her through a telescope when the shock of a terrific explosion made me jump. The explosion came from the Prince of Wales. She had opened fire with secondary armament from her port side. I saw that she was firing at a single plane.

Then I took another look and saw six more planes, which seemed to have ap­peared from nowhere. We opened fire on them at once. That was the beginning of a superb air attack by the Japanese whose air force, up to this point, has always been regarded as an unknown quantity. Our officers expected some unorthodox flying and piloting, and we even were ready to see Japanese pilots fly their ships directly into us, committing hari-kari. There was noth­ing at all like that. They came at us in close formation, flying low and close to­gether. It was beautiful work. Observers aboard the Repulse, who are veterans of many such battles, said: “The Germans have never done anything like this, in the North Sea, the Atlantic, or anywhere else we’ve been.” The Japs concentrated on our two capital ships, taking the Prince of Wales first and then the Repulse. At 11:18 a.m. the Prince of Wales opened a shatter­ing barrage with all her multiple pompoms, or “Chicago pianos” as the British call them. The uproar was so tremendous that it literally made me vibrate all over. Sud­denly, a heavy explosion rocked the Re­pulse and great patches of paint fell from the funnel onto the flag deck. We looked overhead and saw a squadron of high-level bombers at about 17,000 feet. We had been so busy with the low-level planes that we hadn’t noticed them. It was a bomb from one of those high-level planes which rocked us just a moment ago by scoring a direct hit on the catapult deck through one hangar on the port side. Now two planes are coming directly at us. Suddenly the spotter yells—he has seen another coming faster and closer.

Our blazing two-pounders level a hail of death at the nearest plane. I saw tracer bullets rip into its fuselage, dead center, at a range of 1000 yards. Its fabric opened like a rapidly spreading sore with red edges. Fire flamed from its nose. Finally, reluctantly, it dove violently into the sea. We cheered like madmen. The Repulse had got her first raider. For the first time since the action began, we were able to hear the sound of a bugle. Its first notes were some­what tortured. It was obvious that the young bugler’s lips and throat were dry with excitement. The sound of that bugle was the most sinister call of all for men of the sea. It meant fire aboard. Men in over­alls, their faces and clothes covered with soot cut loose with hoses along the smoking decks. The smoke now was getting thick. Then the “Chicago pianos” opened up again, violently and suddenly. I was una­ble to refrain from flinching. At 11:25 we saw an enormous splash at the very edge of the horizon—another enemy plane has been destroyed. By this time, bomb splin­ters had torn three holes in the starboard side funnel at the level of the flag deck. While gunners, signalers, surgeons and range finders worked desperately, I found an emotional release by shouting at the top of my lungs, rather stupidly I suppose, at the Japanese. I discovered in myself depths of obscenity previously unknown even to me. Next came a brief lull, but at 12:10 nine enemy planes massed against the Prince of Wales. A giant pillar of smoke and water rose in a tree-like column from the great ship’s stern. We knew she’d been hit by a torpedo. A ragged mass of flames poured from her “Chicago pianos” and heavy flashes continued to rage from her secondary armament. But the enemy wouldn’t be kept away from the kill.

She fell off the port with a bad list. We were only about six cable lengths away from her. A midshipman ran by calling

that the Prince of Wales^, steering gear had gone. The great battleship signaled to us, asking if we had been torpedoed. Captain Tennant answered: “Not yet. We’ve dodged 19.” At 12:20, the Prince of Wales’ list had increased. She had received a death blow and the end was near—al­though I didn’t know it. A new wave of planes came at us, flying in beautiful for­mation, gradually coming nearer. The Prince of Wales was about 10 cable lengths astern on our port side. She was helpless and they were all making for her. The great ship now was unable to maneuver; she couldn’t dodge their torpedoes. She was like a mortally wounded tiger, trying to heat off the coup de grace. I saw one plane release a torpedo that exploded against her bows. A couple of seconds later, another exploded amidships and another astern. I stood there looking at her going under, stern first, with little dots of men leaping from her into the sea.

My observation was cut short by a vio­lent explosion that knocked me against a bulkhead. The Repulse had been hit on the port side by a torpedo. I was wondering where it came from when the ship shud­dered throughout its length—another tor­pedo. I saw another Jap plane hit the Water in flames—the sixth so far. Then the Repulse’s loudspeakers issued a brassy command: “Everybody go to the main deck.” We all trooped down ladders in the roost orderly fashion except for one lad yho climbed on the rail and prepared to Jump. An officer said quietly: “Now then come back, son, we’re all going your way.” The boy came back and joined the long line.

. When we reached the main deck, the list was so bad that our shoes couldn’t grip fbe steel deck. I kicked off mine. We formed a line and one by one jumped into fbe sea, which was black with oil. I remem- ”^er jamming my cap on my head, drawing f deep breath and jumping. The last entry ^ln my notebook was “Sank about 12:20.”

I made it before leaving the flag deck. While I was in the water, I saw the Prince of Wales’ bow disappear beneath the sur­face.

With hundreds of others I kicked with all my strength to try and get away from the Repulse before she went under. I lay on my back and kicked. My eyes burned from oil, and the greasy stuff covered my mouth, nostrils, and hair. After about two hours in the water I reached a thin wire rope hanging from the stern of a motorboat, but I was too weak to pull myself up. The Royal Navy’s youngest petty officer, Eric Monaghan, 20, a Scotsman from Edin­burgh, dove off the boat and put a lifebelt around me. He saved my life.

Admiral Sir Tom Phillips, commander of the Eastern fleet, was last seen close be­side Captain Leach on the bridge of the Prince of Wales, so it is probable that Britain has lost two more brilliant and gallant naval officers.

“Ark Royal”

Engineering (London), November 21.— Thanks largely to German broadcast propaganda, the aircraft-carrier Ark Royal occupied a particularly prominent position in the minds of the British public, and the news, announced by the Admiralty on Friday last, that she had sunk after a tor­pedo attack on the previous day, created a correspondingly profound impression, which was not lessened by recollections of the heavy loss of life that had accompanied the sinking of the older and smaller air­craft carriers Courageous and Glorious. Happily, fears on the latter score proved to be unfounded, the whole of the ship’s company being rescued with the exception of one man, who appears to have been trapped below. Even the loss of the ship, serious as it is, is much less crucial than it would have been in the opening stages of the war; several, if not all, of the Illustrious class of six carriers which were under con­struction at the outbreak of hostilities are

now in service, and the Ark Royal herself, during her comparatively short career, has accomplished more than enough good work to represent a handsome return on her considerable first cost. If there are any who still feel, as many experienced critics of naval policy did feel, not so many years ago, that the heavy outlay involved in providing a fleet of aircraft carriers might have been better utilized in other direc­tions, her record of service is surely a suf­ficient answer. The Ark Royal was laid down in September, 1935, at the Tranmere shipyard of Messrs. Cammell Laird and Company, who also constructed her pro­pelling machinery. She was 800 ft. long overall, with a beam of 94 ft., and dis­placed about 27,000 tons in seagoing con­dition. Her four-shaft Parsons geared tur­bines developed 103,000 s.hp. on trials, giving a speed of 3If knots. She was launched on April 13, 1937, the naming ceremony being performed by Lady Maude Hoare, wife of Sir Samuel Hoare, then First Lord. An account and illustration of the launch appeared on page 472 of our 143rd volume. It was observed at the time that welding had been extensively em­ployed in the construction of the hull, but to how great an extent this was done was not generally appreciated until the Spring Meeting of the Institution of Naval Archi­tects in 1939, when a paper on the vessel was read by Sir Stanley V. Goodall, the Director of Naval Construction. The Ark Royal was in service from the earliest days of the war, and was heavily attacked by German dive bombers in September, 1939, when serving in the Home Fleet. She was not hit, but escaped by so narrow a margin that the Germans claimed to have sunk her and decorated the pilot who was sup­posed to have done so. Subsequently she took part in the hunt for the Graf Spee and the naval air support provided for the operations in Norway. In July, 1940, she was sent to the Mediterranean, as a unit of the highly mobile force under the com­mand of Vice-Admiral Sir James Somer­ville. She was ordered into the Atlantic to assist in locating the German battle-cruiser Bismarck, and it was her aircraft which succeeded, on May 26, in torpedoing the German ship and reducing her speed suf­ficiently to enable the other British war­ships to surround and sink her. Addressing the crew of the Ark Royal at Gibraltar after their rescue, Captain L. E. H. Maund, who had commanded her, stated that she had steamed 205,000 miles and had been engaged in 32 war operations.

Navy’s Tobruk Exploit

By an Australian Correspondent with the A.I.F. London Times, November 25.— Most of the men who wrote the name of Tobruk in glowing colors in the history of Australian courage and determination were relieved before the present offensive began, after fighting one of the most nota­ble sieges of this or any other war. The story of how the 9th Australian Division was withdrawn by sea over a period of four months, beginning in August, has a dra­matic flavor. It is also the story of another inspiringly efficient operation by the Brit­ish Navy which snapped its fingers at Axis aircraft and submarines to enter the harbor of the beleaguered town and carry off about 15,000 fighting men. The whole op­eration was carried out under the noses of the Axis besiegers surrounding Tobruk— the removal of the greater part of the orig­inal garrison and the replacement of them by fresh, eager English and Polish troops.

There is a touch of grim humor about it, because there is no evidence that the Ger­mans or Italians dreamed how thoroughly they were being fooled. It is months since Axis aircraft flew over Tobruk and dropped leaflets telling the garrison that it was doomed. No more conclusive proof could be found of the absurdity of this claim than that given by a practically complete change of garrison.

I came out in late October in a destroyer

which was carrying part of one of the last battalions to leave. Our journey was as un­exciting as a cross-Channel trip in peace­time. There was not a single alarm—false or genuine—to break the monotony. In fact, the last hours before we embarked were more tense than the hours at sea. It was late at night when we boarded the de­stroyer. Axis aircraft had flown over To­bruk earlier in the evening and had dropped parachute flares which lit up the sky above the harbor. Then they laid some heavy “eggs,” the explosions of which rumbled round Tobruk’s deep wadis like brief thunder. The noise was the most alarming part of the demonstration. The bombs caused not the slightest material damage. The troops were already moving towards the harbor while the raid was in progress. I travelled in an army truck with eight or nine infantrymen. It was a rough ride. The route lay chiefly across stony desert along an unmade track beaten out by the wheels of army vehicles. The driver was unerring. Even the most heavily masked headlights cannot be used inside the Tobruk perim­eter after dark, but the truck bumped along about 25 miles an hour without faltering. Every Tobruk driver I know seems to pos­sess a sixth sense, which enables him to find his way in pitch dark as easily as he ■would find his way on a lighted road. Pres­ently we came out on to a bitumen road and followed it through a lightless, bat­tered town. Then the truck halted and the driver said: “Everybody out.” Other trucks in front and behind us were stop­ping and unloading troops. I walked along the road, and every 100 yards or so I came °n groups of Australian soldiers drawn up at the roadside. No cigarette-end glowed, because smoking was forbidden. There was Ettle talk, and men who did talk spoke in subdued voices. There was no real need for fluiet, but somehow the whole spirit of the ⁿⁱght made boisterousness seem improper. I followed a rough footpath along the Water’s edge to where the destroyer would berth. Men who were leaving in the ship lay round on the ground. Some slept with their heads pillowed on packs; others talked quietly. I heard one say: “The first thing I am going to do when we hit civiliza­tion is to buy six bottles of beer and drink the whole lot myself.” An officer told me at what time the destroyer was expected. A black shadow loomed in the darkness shrouding the harbor precisely two min­utes before schedule. It just meant that the Navy had done it again—as the Navy has done it so many times before. The de­stroyer came alongside, and I could hear a series of thuds as bales of cargo were thrown off even before she was made fast. Then there was the tramp of boots and a file of tin-hatted soldiers, English soldiers who would soon have their baptism in To­bruk’s firing line emerged from the dark­ness and marched away to the waiting trucks.

It was astonishing how long the troops continued filing out from the destroyer. They must have been packed like herrings. Presently it was our turn. We gathered up our gear, filed along, and climbed a gang­way on to the destroyer’s deck. Engines throbbed, screws threshed, and we felt her sliding out into the stream. Then we were moving down the harbor. We had seen nothing of the other ships in the convoy. They had arrived like phantoms, found their berths, unloaded their stores and troops, and had taken on other batches of Australians. We did not see them until the next morning when we awoke to a clear, mild Mediterranean day with the most dangerous part of the trip behind us. The men with whom I came out formed part of an infantry battalion which had seen plenty of hard fighting. It fought a rear­guard action on the north road, in co-oper­ation with a famous English North Country regiment, and it came inside the perimeter on Good Friday. None of the men with whom I talked as we lounged round the decks pretended to be sorry to leave To­bruk, but the general opinion, as I heard it was, “It wasn’t such a bad hole.” Still I think these men had had about enough of fighting in desert conditions for some time. They seemed physically fit enough but mentally stale. There was no doubting the men’s joy when they marched off the ship on to Egyptian soil and were hurried to waiting troop trains. They saw ahead a few weeks of real freedom in pleasant sur­roundings after more than six months in dusty, dangerous, beerless Tobruk. No men have ever done more to earn a holi­day. And so most of Tobruk’s Australian garrison came to the end of their long siege. The final act by which they were withdrawn was just another minor miracle in the miracle of Tobruk itself.—World Copyright Reserved.

FRANCE

German Grip on Industry

London Times, November 18.—Hitler claimed in his speech on October 3 to have “mobilized the resources of an entire con­tinent.” Increasing sabotage and passive resistance may appear to contradict this claim, and there can be no doubt that out­side Germany the peoples of Europe do not want the war to end in a victory for Ger­many. But it is true that the Third Reich is gradually securing the industrial col­laboration of the whole continent against the will of the workers. Nowhere is this more true than in France. The overwhelm­ing majority of the people condemn the policy of collaboration. Yet the forced con­tribution which France is making towards the German war effort is substantial and continuously increasing, although, since the Germans began to shoot hostages, the word “collaboration” is taboo. How great is the French contribution becomes appar­ent from the latest French official labor statistics and the consideration that Ger­many is virtually the only country with which France can do business. In the Paris region the number of unemployed has shrunk from 529,000 in November, 1940, to 121,000 in September, 1941; that is, has returned to the pre-war figure. Most of these jobless are unemployable; 43,000 are over 65 years of age. Moreover, working hours have been increased much beyond 40 a week. The number of fully laden goods wagons on the French railways is 6 per cent above what it was three months ago and only 15 per cent below pre-war.

No single instrument has been so ef­fectual in recruiting the productive power of France as the permanent exhibition held in the Petit Palais, which, according to German exponents, is designed to “present a living picture of the economy of New Europe at work.” This exhibition has been purposely kept small, so that visitors could more easily appreciate its purpose as a whole, but the exhibits are constantly being changed, so that anyone interested by a first visit would feel impelled to go again. Every time the display is changed some new phase of collaboration through­out a unified Europe is depicted. First there was a show of industrial products Germany was eager to order and which French industry would be particularly qualified to manufacture. Next there was a display of artificial textiles based on the use of rayon and cellwool, showing what results could be obtained by their use alone or blended with natural fibers, what new effects could be produced with the right dyes and by using the right spinning and weaving machines, Then came a show of substitute materials of all kinds, demon­strating what was already being done with aluminum, magnesium, zinc, glass, porce­lain, and plastics where natural rawstuffs like copper and tin were unavailable. A later display showed how these substitutes were being used by the German State Rail­ways and similar Reichwide organizations. An invariable feature is a number of well- chosen French exhibits to show how col­laboration in France is making headway.

Among French industrialists this perma­nent exhibition has exercised an irresisti­ble fascination, heightened by the subtle fact that it is very difficult to gain admis­sion. A French industrialist must make personal application. Disinclination to do so is overcome by the necessity of finding employment for skilled workers and of keeping factories running. Only such French industrialists as can show that they contemplate accepting orders from Ger­many are admitted. But once inside they see, as they have always wanted to see, the exact stage of technical development Ger­man industry has reached. From the ex­hibits they discover what Germany wants to order. German industrialists are present to discuss problems of industrial transfor­mation whereby French industry would be modernized to dovetail into the German.

a moment French and Germans are talking shop. They have found something m common. The German has the solution tor all the Frenchman’s troubles, for there ^ls no limit to the amount of orders Ger­many will place except the capacity of French works to produce.

As a rule the French industrialist learns that technically Germany is far ahead, if ^0nly in the use of synthetic rawstuffs. If ^ter the war, whatever the outcome may °^e> the French manufacturer wants to old his own, he must keep in step with ^erman development. That alone is a motive powerful enough to make it seem Operative to modernize plant now, es­pecially when it is certain that the new P ant can be run to capacity on German orders once it has been transformed—at east as long as the war lasts. Generally ^sPeaking, the Germans do not offer to buy ^^ar materials. They ask for apparently armless civilian necessities: textiles, elec- ro-technical ware, household requisites, 8 ass, porcelain, paper. For two reasons.

^lrst, because no French manufacturer ~^eed feel any scruples about thus helping ermany. Secondly, because, when the ^ar ends, the French factory will not need

to be readapted to civilian production. But every French factory accepting such or­ders sets free industrial plant in Germany for the manufacture of war material. And that is important, since in Germany there is no fear of sabotage in munition-making. Germany—apparently very generously— offers to supply at least part of the raw materials needed. This she can do, how­ever, without stinting herself, where in reality what is happening is merely a trans­fer of German civilian production to French factories.

Under present conditions this source of orders appears heaven-sent to thousands of small and medium firms in France who have never been able to afford their own export organization and would otherwise never have found connections in Germany. If a French firm happens to make some product which, to judge from the Paris ex­hibition, Germany does not seem to need, all the visitor has to do is to fill out a form stating the kind of orders he wants. This is forwarded to the right industrial organiza­tion in Germany, all members being circu­larized and asked to suggest how the French factory could be dovetailed into the German war effort. Records kept in Paris show that more than 6,000 French fac­tories are now in constant touch with the exhibition, nearly 40,000 individual visits have been paid, about 15,000 different ob­jects displayed to indicate what Germany is ready to order, and over 5,000 German industrialists have visited Paris to see the French exhibits and advise French manu­facturers. At the end of May a special ci­vilian sector displayed about 5,000 samples from nearly 400 German factories.

At first the raw materials for each order were delivered from Germany. Later the German authorities asserted there was too much leakage. French manufacturers used these materials to execute home orders. So now the French manufacturer is ordered to obtain materials wherever he can. If what he receives from Germany is not enough, the German authorities will req­uisition in France all that is needed to make up the shortage. This is an indirect way of forcing France to develop her raw material industries such as bauxite-mining and aluminium production. When the shortage of coal from time to time hampers the execution of German orders, pressure is brought to bear on France to develop her latent hydroelectric power.

Until recently most of the works engaged on collaboration were in occupied France. Manufacturers in nonoccupied France had difficulty in reaching Paris to meet Ger­man industrialists. But the mobilization of nonoccupied France began when the Germans sent an exhibit to the last Lyons Fair. Now a permanent exhibition like that in Paris is being set up in Lyons, while German “consular offices” to foster trade are being opened in Lyons, Vichy, and Marseilles, and similar French representa­tion in Berlin is housed at the French Embassy.

Gradually the Germans have persuaded many French industrialists to make war materials also: airplane parts, instruments of precision, gun attachments, lorries, op­tical ware, electrotechnical specialities. Where opposition remains troublesome the German authorities use unspent money received from the French Government under the armistice agreement to cover oc­cupation costs, in order to acquire share capital majorities in mines, iron and steel works, chemical, electrotechnical, and au­tomobile works. By this and by other means virtually all French industry has passed under direct or indirect German control.

GERMANY

Aircraft Developments

The Engineer (London), December 5.— Comment has been aroused by recent an­nouncements made by the Germans con­cerning the deaths of four highly placed officers of the Luftwafe, Generals Wilberg and Udet and Colonels Moelders and Von Werra. In each case the enemy has made it clear that these officers did not meet their deaths in the field of battle, but died as a result of an accident while flying, while testing a new instrument or weapon or in some other noncombative manner. By some people in this country a sinister and purely political interpretation has been placed on this sequence of casualties, the suggestion being that these officers have been “eliminated” for daring to oppose their leader’s Russian campaign and for criticizing the severe loss of aircraft and air crews which it has entailed. If that is the explanation of their deaths we can have nothing further to say regarding them. An alternative suggestion, however, provides us with a reason for expressing considerable technical interest in what may lie behind them. It may be, it is said, that these four officers lost their lives while testing new types of aircraft or new forms of aerial equipment. The enemy himself has hinted as much. Wilberg, the German radio announced, had been engaged since 1939 in a new held of action. Udet’s career during and since the war of 1914-18 is cer­tainly in keeping with the suggestion that he would be chosen to test and experiment with new aeronautical equipment.

It is neither “wishful thinking” nor vain self-flattery to believe that Germany’s aeronautical designers and research work­ers are at present making strenuous efforts to overtake and surpass the performance of British and American aircraft. We started the war with a good lead in the quality of our fighters, although we were vastly outmatched on the score of num­bers. Today, thanks to the great losses which the enemy’s air force has suffered in Russia and thanks to the efforts which have been put forth in our own factories and in those of the United States, the dis­parity in numbers has, as Mr. Churchill re­cently announced, been repaired. We now command an air strength at least the equal quantitatively of that of the enemy, while qualitatively, in all classes, there are no grounds for supposing that we are sur­passed by anything which the Germans so far have brought against us. It may, we think, be taken as certain that the enemy now realizes that if he is to avoid over­whelming defeat in the air his only re­maining chance is to spring upon us in large numbers aircraft with greatly in­creased performances and, if possible, with new characteristics leading to a new tech­nique of employment. In the Battle of Brit­ain we gave them a forcible lesson that a small number of aircraft of superior design and resolutely handled can be more than a match for mere numbers. It would be fool­ish to suppose that the Germans allowed their pride and self-assurance to blind them to that lesson and that now in the hour of their urgent need they are failing to apply it. In what direction can they hope to find a chance of success? They are said to be pressing forward frantically and desperately with new types of aircraft, some of them being of revolutionary design. One direction which they are stated to be following is the construction of heavily laden bombers, the take-off of which will be assisted by “rocket propulsion.” The interest displayed in Germany before the war in the rocket propulsion of missiles and land vehicles provides some support for the truth of this assertion. Whatever be the exact nature of the means employed, the end in view is certainly one of great prac­tical desirability. We recall the interest . which our own Air Ministry displayed at °ne time in Sir Alan Cobham’s refueling system and in the Short-Mayo composite aircraft, both of which inventions had as their object, or one of their objects, the as­sisting into the air of aircraft too heavily laden to climb to operational height under their own power.

It is reasonable to believe that the Ger­mans are making strenuous, if not “frantic ^and desperate,” efforts to produce aircraft of outstandingly improved performance and probably new operational characteris­tics. It is, however, doubtful whether un­der present conditions they will be able to produce in time anything which will re­dress decisively to their advantage the aerial situation as it now exists. New bomb­ers with increased load-carrying capacity will do little more than place the enemy on a parity with the Royal Air Force and its present equipment of “Stirlings,” “Man- chesters,” “Fortresses” and other British and American heavy-weight aircraft. To exert anything like a decisive effect the Germans must overtake us, not only in the quality of our bombers, but in the quality of our fighters and, further, must now do so in a manner which will give them also quantitative superiority. It is a formidable and, we are happy to believe, an impossible task at this late hour. They may enslave all the aeronautical factories of Europe for the production of aircraft, but to wrest quali­tative superiority from us they must rely on their own designers and research work­ers. It is one of the lesser emphasized vir­tues of the co-operation now prevailing between this country and the United States that it not only places at our dis­posal the ever growing output of the Amer­ican aircraft industry, but releases for friendly and whole-hearted co-operation with us a body of designers and research workers possessing unrivalled facilities and acknowledged abilities for effecting im­provements and developments.

U.S.S.R.

Air Force

The Engineer (London), November 7.— Information concerning the size and qual­ity of the Russian Air Force is scanty, and such as is available is derived to a consid­erable extent from German and Italian sources. On the whole, if we are to believe those sources, Russia’s air fleets are neither overwhelmingly numerous nor equipped with aircraft of fully modern types. It is

true that neither in Spain nor in Finland did the Soviet machines give a very im­pressive account of themselves. Neverthe­less, later events speak clearly for them­selves. For nearly five months Russia has had to bear the onslaught of Germany’s might on land and in the air. Save for a certain—believed to be considerable— number of fighters retained in the West and elsewhere to meet the attacks of the R.A.F., the enemy has hurled against our ally all the aircraft at his disposal. While he has succeeded in overrunning large stretches of territory, he has failed to achieve the destruction of the Russian armies, and on repeated occasions those armies have managed to escape from or break out of very threatening positions. It may be taken for granted that no armies could have fought so long and so intensely against an enemy possessing the aerial equipment which Germany has at her com­mand unless they themselves had an air force comparable in quantity and quality with that of their attackers. Had the So­viet strength in the air been as markedly inferior to that of the Germans as some would have us believe, it is inconceivable that the Battle of Russia could have lasted as long as it has done or been waged with so much sustained fierceness. Even Hitler has admitted that Russia’s strength as a fighting power has proved greater than he anticipated. The conditions of modern warfare are such that we must interpret that remark as being all-embracing. A courageous infantry, a fully equipped ar­tillery, and an efficient tank corps could not have sustained the German onslaught in a manner justifying Hitler’s admission unless it had been backed up by an air force equally courageous, equally well equipped, and equally efficient.

Comment has frequently been made and considerable surprise has been expressed concerning the apparent success with which the Soviet Government has succeeded in converting the backward, largely agricul­tural Russia of Tsarist days into a country of large industrial undertakings rivalling in its output of raw materials and finished products those countries which began their industrial development a good century earlier. Such comment and surprise are perhaps founded to some degree on an in­adequate appreciation of the extent of Russian industry before the Revolution. The collapse of Russia in 1917 was brought about far more by mismanagement and corruption in high quarters than by inade­quacy of technical resources. The Russian peasant of those days may have been largely destitute of mechanical instinct, but it cannot be denied that during last century Russia produced a number of fam­ous chemists, physicists, engineers, naval architects, and metallurgists. These men and their work provided the nucleus on which the Soviet Government built, and the very fact that the country was not highly industrialized when that Govern­ment came into power undoubtedly helped it in its schemes for establishing through­out the country vast modern mass produc­tion factories. The ground was unencum­bered and ready for exploitation in the light of the practice and experience of na­tions with an older industrial history. British, American, and German engineers helped materially to establish the new order in Russia’s industrial life, and with commendable wisdom the leaders of the Russian people sought to follow the prac­tice of their preceptors rather than to es­tablish at the outset an independent tech­nique and a characteristically Russian school of design. In that respect they but followed the example set by Japan in the middle of the Victorian era, when it adopted the policy of “westernising” its industries. In Russia, so far as aeronautical manufacture was concerned, this policy was initially particularly well marked. Of the earlier Soviet fighters, the I 15, used in Spain and Finland, bore a close resem­blance to the French Breguet design, while the 116 showed clear signs of American in­fluence, and was driven by a Wright “Cyclone” engine, built in Russia under license. A later type of fighter, the I 17, is patterned on the supermarine “Spitfire,” and is driven by a native version of the French Hispano 12-cylinder engine. In the design of bombers, the Russians at first showed an inclination to de­velop along lines of a more independent nature. They paid close attention to the multi-engined, heavily armed giant bomber thereby, it may be noticed, anticipating developments which have recently oc­curred in this country and America. Since 1937, however, they have moved in the di­rection of high-speed medium bombers, with twin engines. One of their best-known aircraft of that type is the ZKB 26, a bomber bearing a considerable resemblance to the American Martin 139 aircraft and driven either by two Hispano or two “Cy­clone” engines of native production, or in a later version by Gnome-Rhone 1,000-hp. engines, built under license. Of the most re­cent Russian productions, the MIG 3 fighter and the “Stormovik” dive bomber recently mentioned by Lord Beaverbrook, insufficient information is at present avail­able to enable us to say with certainty what their origin has been. It seems, how­ever, probable that they have been derived to a considerable extent from the British “Hurricane” and the German Junkers dive bomber, respectively.

In recording these facts we have not the least intention of minimizing the credit which Russia deserves for the tremendous effort which she has put forth since 1918 to establish an extensive aeronautical indus­try within her boundaries. To develop the means of production was by itself a suffi­ciently great task without complicating it fiy seeking to evolve independent designs. ■Research has not been wholly neglected. As early as 1918 a central research institute t°r aerodynamics and hydrodynamics was established, and in 1930 a corresponding institute for research on aero-engines was brought into being. In 1932 an organiza­tion was created charged with the duty of testing and accepting the equipment pro­duced by the factories. It is, however, in the concentration on the means of produc­tion and the adoption with or without modifications of established foreign de­signs of aircraft and aero-engines that we may find the true explanation of Russia’s present power in the air. To what extent the efforts of the Soviet rulers have been successful in achieving this object may be judged from the fact that, according to in­formation emanating from Russia, the number of people engaged in the aeronau­tical industry during 1940 was 500,000 and that the output of aircraft of all types dur­ing that year was 12,000. When the war with Germany began, Russia is believed to have possessed between 6,000 and 10,000 military aircraft divided in the proportion of 40 per cent fighters, 45 per cent bomb­ers, and 15 per cent reconnaissance and naval air arm craft. Two-thirds of the country’s total strength was believed to be concentrated in the West and one-third in Asia and the Far East. To what extent the German invasion has crippled the Russian aircraft industry we do not know, but it would indeed be surprising if it were not considerable. However, whether it be great or small, it is clearly evident that victory over our common enemy demands that the latest patterns of British and American military aircraft should be sent in large numbers to aid the Russians in their gal­lant struggle in the air and in the factories.

Black Sea Fleets and Bases

Engineering (London) November 7.— With the advance of the German forces in the region of the Crimea the opposing na­val forces and bases in the Black Sea are of particular interest. Russia has undoubt­edly the strongest force and, at present, the best bases, though the loss of Odessa, primarily a mercantile port, has somewhat reduced accommodation on the northern seaboard. The Russian fleet comprises a 12-in. gun battleship, completed in 1915, 5 cruisers, one old, mounting 7-in. and 5-in. guns, 27 destroyers, of which 6 are old, ap­proximately 50 motor torpedo boats and the same number of submarines. The main base, Sevastopol, has all repair facilities while there are some facilities available at Novorossisk which, however, can harbor a large fleet; Batum, with no repair facilities, has berths for some of the smaller ships, but not for the battleship, and a harbor which may become untenable with inshore gales. The two Axis-dominated powers, Rumania and Bulgaria, have negligible fleets but valuable bases. Rumania has 4 destroyers, two of them old, an unknown number of motor torpedo boats, since the original three have probably been added to by Germany, one, or possibly more, sub­marines and two mine layers. Bulgaria has two motor torpedo boats and some other small craft. The Rumanian base of Con- stanza has good repair facilities and could accommodate 15 cruisers, if used solely for naval vessels, and the Danube port, Braila, has good facilities which could be used by ships of less than 21-ft. draught. The naval repair yard at the Bulgarian port of Varna would be useful for small ships, and there is a good harbor for small cruisers and lesser craft. All-weather berthing is provided for 7 merchant ships ranging from 3,000 tons to 8,000 tons. At Burgas, small cruisers and destroyers could be harbored, but the port is without repair facilities. Berths for about six medium-sized merchant ships are available. Turkey is a neutral country, but her Black Sea naval forces include the no­torious 11-in. gun battle-cruiser Goeben, now very old, two old 5-in. gun cruisers, four modern destroyers, two old torpedo- boats, seven modern submarines and three modern mine layers. The naval base at Is­tanbul has good repair facilities and un­limited anchorage in protected -waters.

Supply Link

The Engineer (London) December 5.—- The Information Department of the Gov­ernment of India states that one more link with Russia is being established with the organization of a regular supply route from India via Baluchistan and East Persia. Al­ready a trial journey, delivering much- needed supplies of jute, has been made and has yielded much valuable information concerning the barren and particularly waterless 760 miles of country between Nokkundi, the terminus of the Indian Rail­way in Baluchistan, and Meshed, in North Eastern Persia. A second experimental trip with a consignment of shellac is to be made, after which a regular service will be speedily evolved. A Persian Auxiliary Transport Service, supervised by an officer with a long experience of similar problems in Waziristan, has been formed. It consists of a large number of lorries from India with Indian civilian drivers, along with Indian clerical staff, and fitters for breakdown and repair service. The Persian Government is co-operating in the effort by waiving certain customs formalities and assisting in pro­tecting the route. Thousands of tons of war materials and raw commodities from the great democracies are being sent to Russia via every possible point of delivery on the Caspian seaboard and in the Caucasus. At ports on the Persian Gulf, such as Basra, Khorramshahr, Ahwaz, Bandar, Shahpur, and Bushire, consignments of goods are now arriving from Great Britain, the Em­pire and America in ships of almost every nationality. A Russian agency called “Iransovtrans” takes delivery of the goods at a series of points in Northern Persia. The railway transport will be increased by the arrival of rolling stock, locomotives, and operating staff now on their way from India, England, Australia, and Hongkong- Port facilities are being developed by In' dian firms of engineers and by the end of November it had been possible to increase by about four times the maximum number of trains. Basra, once the back door of the Near East, has now become the front door for Turkey and Russia. Supplies arriving at that port are sent forward both by rail and road transport, and we learn that the United Kingdom Commercial Corporation has already provided more lorries for road transport than can be immediately used and has contracted for a sufficient number of lorries to handle any volume of traffic likely to be handled.

AVIATION The Bristol Turrets

The Aeroplane, November 21.—One of the earliest Bristol airplanes to be fitted with an enclosed gun turret was Type 120, developed in 1930-31. The turret was mechanically operated, but work on the design of a power-driven gun turret pro­gressed with the development of the Bris­tol hydraulic control system for the opera­tion of flaps, retracting undercarriages and similar services on airplanes. By 1935 the company was able to fit its own hydrau­lically operated gun turret in the nose of the Bristol Bombay bomber-transport. Next came the power-operated amidships turret on the Blenheim. Both depended for their efficiency largely upon the success of the Bristol hydraulic system from which they drew their power. Some of the ad-

vantages claimed for this system are greater flexibility of control, quick yet smooth re­versal of motion without shock, a useful “slip” for overloads or obstruction, a con­venient location of transmission members, and the use of relief or control valves to safeguard against overloading. The system was developed by the staff of a Research Department devoted to that purpose. Unit testing was undertaken with such items as pumps, control valves, undercarriage jacks or rams, and flap controls, etc. But the most important results came from pro­longed and active research into the design of suitable hydraulic pumps: existing types had too small a capacity and pressure to supply the needs of high performance air­planes. A multi-stage gear type pump was the first design to be made and tested. This was in 1936. Plunger type pumps had suf­fered from violent fluctuation of pressure which caused breakages, so that either the vane type had to be used and its limita­tions for high pressures endured, or the gear pump with which it was difficult to get clearances fine enough to reduce the “slip” had to be fitted. This also had a tendency to seize-up. Realizing that exist­ing types of gear pump would only work satisfactorily up to a pressure of about 300 lb. per square inch, the Research Depart­ment had the idea of putting several of these in series. To ensure a full supply of oil to each, it was arranged that the output

from each unit should be theoretically in excess of the needs of the succeeding stage. To control the output from each section a small adjustable relief valve was intro­duced between the stages. This formed the basis of the design of the pump which has since been developed to produce a prac­tical three-stage hydraulic pump giving pressures of 1,500 lb. per square inch or more, with a flow of 6 gallons per minute at normal engine revs. Pressures up to 1,200 needed with the Bristol hydraulic system. This obviates the use of auxiliary pumps operated either by hand or by motor, with their demands on maintenance and their extra weight. Research went on concur­rently with the design of suitable jacks and rams, and a patent hydraulically operated lock was also developed. This lock was fit­ted on the retractable undercarriage of the Blenheim and operated automatically in both the “up” and “down” positions.

lb. per square inch, with a delivery up to 180 gallons per hour, are given by the de­signs now in general production. These pumps are known as the B.H. Integral type, though, they are being built under Bristol patents. Large numbers are being made by subcontractors to the Aircraft Industry. Before the Bristol pumps were designed normal pressures in use in air­planes did not exceed 300 lb. per square inch. This was immediately raised to be­tween 600-700 lb. per square inch, the standard pressure on the Blenheim. The higher rating cuts down the sizes and weight of pipes, fittings, and rams. No re­cuperator or supplementary air pressure is

When the design of a gun turret was pro­jected electric motors were contemplated as the source of power, but they were then undeveloped. In 1935 the vane-type oil mo­tor for rotating the gun turret was tested but found unsuitable because of the impos­sibility of making a strong enough cover for the motor. It was therefore abandoned, and jacks, or rams, were chosen for limited angular movements, and a multi-cylinder motor for complete rotation, as the best and most reliable operating mechanism. The control valves are simple in design, construction and operation, and take the form of parallel cylindrical spindles, work­ing with specially shaped ports to give a

It also allows the which do not in­call for fine jig- Easy adjustments

wire­

&ie control. Ball bearings are fitted to Plugs at either end of the spindle, the plug ^being given a clearance of approximately half a thousandth of an inch in the hous- Uig. This avoids the need for lapping, thus waking the unit suitable for mass produc­tion by subcontractors. The hydraulically- °Perated gun turret on the Blenheim was exceptionally small, having only a 30-in. ^ring. It was housed in a low-drag retract- uble cupola which was operated mechani­cally. The low-drag of the cupola was se­cured largely by the use of a moving seat tor the gunner, synchronized with the gun Movement. Another special feature of the turret was the secondary motion of the column on which the guns are mounted. I his could be moved independently to en- ^arge the field of fire and to cover such ureas as could not be reached by normal rotation. The first Blenheim turret was tted with one Lewis gun and later with the Vickers gas-operated gun. This turret ^Was then developed for twin Browning guns. A feature of the design was its ease ⁰ manufacture; any ordinary engineering P ant could undertake the work. Nor did h need “introducing” to the factory; it could be made direct from drawings. Ordi- ^nar.y R-A.F. personnel in the service could ruamtain it, and there was seldom need to ^a. W the makers. Another advantage ^c aimed for it is the comparatively low cost of manufacture, mterchange of parts ^V°l^Ve _ fine limits or gmg j_n manufacture. _          .

^{are a}l^so provided everywhere to overcome ^any discrepancies in the manufacture of ^such parts. Installation is also easy. Bristol *^urret^{s are} specifically designed to en- ^e the gunner to serve as the wireless operator, thus economizing in crew, space, fic 1      This naturally presented dif­

, ^a ties, but ultimately the designers were ^e to provide the necessary space for, and ccessibility to, the various radio panels, ⁿ facilities for the working of the

less sets by the operator—who, at the same time, must keep a good look-out from the turret. Special attention was paid, in par­ticular, to the accessibility of the guns for easy servicing in the air without removal from their mountings. For instance, if one gun jams, it can be cleared in the air by the gunner. This ease of access has also been provided in the arrangement of ammuni­tion boxes and containers, which can be readily replenished in the air from the gun­ner’s normal position. Hence, a greater supply of ammunition is available.

In planning the gun turret for the amid­ships position, a simple and efficient “fire cut-out” and gun restrictor gears had to be incorporated to prevent the tailplane, fin, wireless masts, and airscrew from being shot off or the fuselage hit by bullets from the guns. This was successfully accom­plished, and the user of a Bristol turret can turn it at full speed without fear of damag­ing his guns or the airplane’s fuselage. He can swing his guns and follow the contour of the fuselage confidently without slowing down at any point in the circle. A compen­sator for rotational speeds on the fire cut­out mechanism was also provided. This en­sures that a minimum of “cut-out cover” is given for slow operational speeds of rota­tion, the cut-out cover being automatically increased in proportion to the increased speed of rotation. A “harmonization gear” and a shock-absorber system are embodied in the special gun mounting,which also has a quick-release mechanism. The “harmoni­zation gear” is simple and allows four guns to be lined up quickly and independently on the target. The quick-release device permits the guns to be removed at the touch of a lever. The gun is easily replaced and automatically locks in position when it is pushed home. Power-operated gun tur­rets have contributed effectively to the supremacy of the R.A.F. over the enemy air forces, and the Bristol Aeroplane Com­pany takes pride in the fact that its turrets were the first to be produced in large num-

bers for the Royal Air Force. Experiments and research continue in many laboratories and workshops up and down the country in the search for still better and still more powerful turrets.

The Air Crew Pattern for Ground Crews

The Aeroplane, November 28.—The training of pilots, observers and air gun­ners is a model of skilful organization and acute foresight. Nothing has been left to chance. No firm with an eye to the last penny ever showed such fluidity of method and willingness to try new and original ideas for increasing production as the R.A.F. has shown in its air crew training scheme. It will prove to be one of the high lights of this war, and one of the deciding factors. Its greatest merit is its realistic ap­proach to, and its practical solution of, the problems involved. But that is only one side of the R.A.F. training. What of the ground crews? Unfortunately the same brilliant handling has not yet been given to this vital branch of service activity. The difficulties of operating aircraft from for­eign aerodromes have not arisen from lack of flying personnel but from lack of the means to maintain their aircraft in a flying condition. In any overseas campaign the enterprise, the initiative, and the skill of the ground crews is probably more impor­tant than that of the air crews. In Greece, for instance, we could not operate fully from the aerodromes there, but the Nazis could and did. Why? The answer will be found in this question of ground crew or­ganization.

The Royal Air Force has never been beaten in the air and it never will be. This is partly due to the brilliance of air crew training. But no air force is entirely an air force; it is also a ground force, and if an air force has a weakness it is on the ground. This weakness is generally explained by the Cinderella-like treatment that ground crew training has always received. Before we can be wholly efficient in the air, we must be perfectly organized on the ground. The same brilliant brains that have given us our incomparable air crews must turn their attention to ground crew training and or­ganization. We must have mechanics who are equal to any emergency, who can keep the aircraft operating in the worst condi­tions ; otherwise the best trained air crews in the world are just so many broken­winged birds. We must stop looking upon the ground crew as something beneath us, men who do the dirty work while we sweep the air clean of the Nazi filth. We should do precious little sweeping without their assistance. True, there is no glory attached to split pinning, no medals to be won for a quick engine replacement, and very little praise for a ticklish repair successfully car­ried out in difficult conditions. Heavy on the heart of every mechanic lies the sense of this unfair neglect. The mechanics know how important they are and most pilots appreciate it too, but those high up still look upon this branch of the service as a Cinderella, a nuisance to be borne pa­tiently rather than gladly. It was the same in the days of peace. Did anyone ever hear the dined and toasted record-breaker men­tion the mechanics without whose skill he would have been fish food? Why is this? Surely in a mechanized war, the main­tenance of the fighting vehicles is just as important as their operation, for without maintenance there would be no operation. Is this semi-neglect an extension of flying club snobbery that has permeated British aviation for years, where the mechanic was just a greaser boy, an unimportant but necessary evil? If so, it is foolish in the ex­treme to carry so fatuous an attitude into a mechanized war where maintenance units just cannot be ignored in view of the tre­mendously vital work they perform. This attitude of mind has probably prevented the same careful and enlightened organiza­tion from being given to ground crews that has been lavished on air crew training since

the war began. Or is it that the peculiar difficulties of ground crew work are not un­derstood or appreciated by those who do the organizing?

If this is so, it represents fatal neglect as Greece must have proved. Aircraft are easy to maintain when equipment and spares ^are plentiful. But in operating from foreign aerodromes where equipment is nil and spares are impossible, the skill of the ground crews becomes the deciding factor, hheir initiative and enterprise may then decide the result. Why then do we speak so often about instilling initiative and enter­prise into our air crews and disregard the ground crews? One mechanic with initia­tive is more useful than three timid fiddlers ^who poke and hesitate and can do nothing without constant supervision and guid­ance. Many would be surprised to know how plentiful that sort of mechanic is. Quality, then, not quantity, must be the keynote in any ground crew training scheme. The team spirit could be adopted and fostered in the same way as for air crews. A team could choose its own mem­bers and work together. There would then he less waiting about and more co-opera- ^tl0n between its members which amounts ]° a form of self-organization. If the team ¹⁽lea could be used it would prevent the ^aen getting in each others’ way and the ₍₍^ow °f work would be more continuous, ^serviceability” periods could be cut

°wn and inspections could be done more rapidly.

The organization of labor in a large con­cern is never left to those who have no uowledge of its difficulties, or underrate ' ^s significance. More realism is needed in andfing the questions of ground crew or­ganization and training. Why not an ad- ^VlSory body to direct all the maintenance °rk for all the services? Such a body of Practical engineers to advise on all main­tenance matters is long overdue. Mainte­nance is too haphazard and it should not be. ⁰ more attention must be paid to this

Cinderella if we hope to get full mechanical efficiency into our war machine.

The War in the Air

The Aeroplane, November 14.—Hawker Hurricane bombers in action, the loss of 37 long-range bombers of the R.A.F. in opera­tions on the night of November 7, and the release of photographs of the Avro Man­chester—those events marked last week.

The Hurricane fighter-bombers add a new edge to our short-range attack. They add a new triumph to the records of the Hurricane, which has amassed for itself al­ready a longer list of achievements in all climates than has any other airplane. The addition of bombs to the big load of guns, ammunition, and fuel already carried by the Hurricane is further proof of the extraor­dinary strength of the structure in the original design and of the advanced think­ing of Sydney Camm and the Hawker de­sign staff. Nor is the Hurricane just a con­ventional fighter carrying a few light bombs such as has been seen in the past. The Hurricane carries two 250-lb. bombs, one under each wing. These bombs can do a large amount of damage and, flying low, the precision of aim is probably as high as that of any bomber now flying. Even when carrying the bombs the top speed is nearly 300 m.p.h.—although, naturally, not at sea level. And when the bombs have been dropped the Hurricanes become vicious fighters once more. The loaded weight of the Hurricane IIb with bombs and 12 ma­chine guns is around 7,900 lb.—about a ton more than the original loaded weight. Yet the bomber Hurricane is nice to fly and re­mains maneuverable. The first operations by squadrons of bomber Hurricanes took place on November 1 over France. The en­emy will find this new form of harassing difficult to meet in the future. The success of the Hurricane bombers was rather over­shadowed by the loss of 37 of our long- range bombers over northwest Europe on the night of November 7. This loss was

suffered by the biggest force ever sent out on one night. As luck would have it, the airplanes ran into bad icing conditions and thick cloud. Two facts emerge from such losses. The first is that weather forecasting in war time and in winter cannot always be accurate enough to guarantee continued good weather on any single night of opera­tions, particularly when those operations cover some 10 or 12 hours. Therefore, until our bomber strength and its reserves are greater, we may be well advised to limit the number of machines going out on any one night. If a large-scale attack is spread over two or more nights the weight of bombs dropped will be no less and the ef­fect only slightly reduced but the risks of large numbers of bombers having to meet changes in weather such as happened early on November 8 will be diminished. The second point is that even now many of our biggest bombers are not completely equipped with de-icing apparatus. There are many reasons for this, some of them operational. Yet there seems no doubt that a little energy can overcome the difficulties and that the time and labor spent in equip­ping all long-range bombers wifh complete de-icing apparatus on leading edges will be well worth while now that an extended of­fensive is passing into winter. During the present week illustrations of the Avro Manchester have been released from the heavy censorship which has veiled them. Many people—who, despite the censor­ship, have been familiar with the Man­chester for some time—will be surprised to see from the new photographs that the Manchester appears with only two, taller and narrower, fins and rudders. The Man­chester has been one of the easiest air­planes to recognize because it was the only type about—apart from the Boeing Clip­per—to have a large single central fin.

The present arrangement is doubtless more efficient. The Manchester may not be our greatest bomber, but it shows great promise for development. The two Vul­ture motors are new, and a combination of a new engine with a new airframe often leads to unsuspected difficulties. Neverthe­less, many German cities already bear tes­timony to the powers of the Manchester bombers. Germany will have cause to dread this design increasingly as time goes on.

Various Notes

Brigadier General Ralph Royce, Ameri­can Air Attache, said in a British broadcast to­night that American planes may attain a speed of 1,000 miles an hour before the end of the war. “I may have to eat my words later,” he admitted, “but some of our planes in tests have jumped so far above 500 miles an hour that if I were the 1,000-mile-an-hour mark I would begin to worry.” —New York Herald Tribune, December 12.

Advertisements for engineers who have spe­cialized in gears for motors, and an extension of the Focke-Achgelis works at Delmenhorst, sug­gest, perhaps erroneously, that a helicopter based on the designs of Professor Henrich Focke, who invented the Fw 61, is going into production. The work to be undertaken must be relatively impor­tant to the German war effort, for the advertise­ments state that qualified applicants working in other war factories will be transferred to Delmen­horst. This implies that the German Air Ministry is interested in whatever work is projected.— The Aeroplane, November 14.

MERCHANT MARINE More Training Ships

Motorship and Diesel Boating, Decem­ber.—In order to meet the ever increasing demand for capable seamen, the United States Maritime Commission has an­nounced plans for the addition of four ships to its existing six-ship training fleet. The intensified training program is designed to produce more than 15,000 trained seamen in 1942 and 1943. These men are being trained to fill skilled positions in the deck, engine, and steward’s departments. To bring the training fleet up to 10 vessels the Commission is acquiring the Allegheny and the Berkshire, owned by the Merchants and Miners Line of Baltimore; the City of Chattanooga, owned by the Ocean Steam-

ship Company of Savannah, and one “Liberty” ship, now under construction for the Maritime Commission. All four of the ships will be converted into modern training vessels and when put into service ^will have classrooms, machine and car­penter shops, motion picture projectors for instruction and recreation, as well as li­braries, barber shops, and galleys. The gal­leys will serve as schools for seagoing cooks ^and bakers. Each ship will accommodate ^aPproximately 400 trainees.

The Commission’s other training vessels ^are the sister-ships, American Sailor and American Seamen, the Empire Stale, the square-rigged sailing ships Joseph Conrad ^and Tusitala and the auxiliary schooner Pema. The Commission also maintains f°ur shore training stations where enrolees spend the first two months of their six ^months’ training course. The remaining f°ur months are spent on one of the train- ships. These stations are located at Hoffman Island, New York; St. Peters- ^Urg, Florida; Port Hueneme, California; ^and Gallup Island, Boston. The last- ^named station specializes in training radio operators and cooks and stewards. There ^are also two resident schools for prospec­tive officers at Fort Trumbull, New Lon­don, Connecticut, and at Government Is- ^apd, Alameda, California, where seamen with the required sea service are given a course of four months’ training to qualify ^em to sit for licenses as junior officers. This phase of the Commission’s training Program is operated by the United States aritime Service, an agency of the Mari­. Commission, and administered under |ts rules and regulations and at its cost by ^e United States Coast Guard under the ^lrect supervision of the Commission.

, ^Hother phase of the training program is ^e Cadet Training System operated di­rectly by the Commission with Cadet _s^c °°H at New York, New Orleans, and ^an Francisco. At these schools and on ^regular merchant vessels, cadets are given

a three-year course to equip them to be­come licensed merchant officers. They are also enrolled as cadets in the United States Naval Reserve. In addition there are four State Maritime Academies at Boston, New York, Philadephia, and San Francisco op­erated by the respective state authorities under the supervision of the Commission with Federal aid. Idle four training ships used by these schools, the California State, Empire State, Nantucket, and Seneca are owned by the Commission and loaned to the State Maritime Academies.

“Sea Otter 11“

Marine Progress, December.—To reach its mark, a torpedo must be set to travel at a depth at which it will be free of surface wave effect. Therefore, if a cargo carrier can be designed to operate on a draft of, say, less than 15 feet, the chances are that a torpedo aimed directly at the vessel would pass under the keel without damag­ing the craft. This is the principal factor in the design of a new type of cargo carrier which has been the subject of considerable speculation. The first of these, Sea Otter II, has recently been completed by the Lev- ingston Shipbuilding Company of Port Orange, Texas. (Sea Otter I was a working model less than 100 feet in length, used solely for test purposes.) Sea Otter II has a length of 250 feet, a beam of 40 feet, and a depth of 21 feet. Aside from its shallow draft of 11 feet, fully loaded, Sea Otter II possesses other features which, according to its designers and builders, commend this type particularly as a means of counteract­ing the submarine menace.

The vessel is of all-welded construction employing strip steel from universal rolling mills, which require no bending or rolling except at the bilges. The simplicity of the hull design, plus the fact that welding was used for speed of construction and strength permitted launching the craft in six weeks’ time. This time may be reduced still further if vessels are built on a quantity produc-

tion basis. Sea Otter II was built at a cost of $250,000, and it is stated that this figure could be reduced to $150,000, fully fitted out, if a sufficient number were ordered and built at one time. The main hull plates are of f-inch steel and the fiat keel is con­structed of !-inch plates. The bottom, side, and deck plates are stiffened with longi­tudinal stiffeners. There are no transverse ribs or frames except intercostals, which are used to stiffen the longitudinals every 10 feet. Nine transverse watertight bulk­heads are welded inside the hull. All weld­ing equipment used was supplied by the Lincoln Electric Co. of Cleveland, Ohio. In addition to the shallow draft, the Sea Otter sets relatively low in the water, and is therefore naturally far less visible than ships having a higher freeboard. This fea­ture will help make the ship a poor target for a submarine. The machinery itself, as well as its arrangement, is a departure from general practice. Automobile engines are employed—there are 16 of these of 110 hp. each, arranged radially and coupled hydraulically four to a propeller. The 4 propeller shafts descend vertically into the water in much the same manner as out­board motors, except that transmissions are inside of cylindrical wells. However, the propellers are located just aft of amid­ships. Motors and propellers may be lifted into the vessel for repairs while it is under way, and spare engines and propellers may be carried.

Sea Otter II has a sustained speed of 12 knots, and a cruising radius of 7,000-9,000 nautical miles. For short cruises, however, the vessel has subdivided tanks to carry 95 tons of fuel, and will have a cruising range of 3,700 miles at 12 knots. It has a hold capacity of 122,800 cubic feet. Sea Otter II is equipped with degaussing mechanism for magnetic mine protection.

Various Notes

Effective immediately, all American-flag merchant vessels going to sea must be painted battleship gray and all identification marks must be removed, according to instructions issued yes­terday by Rear Admiral Adolphus Andrews, U. S. Navy, Commandant of the 3d Naval Dis­trict and commander of the North Atlantic Naval Coastal Frontier. The order to remove all identi­fication marks includes the names and port of the vessels, as well as the American flags which were painted on the sides of the ships to establish their identity prior to the American declarations of war. Admiral Andrews also ordered that all small ves­sels, such as fishing boats, must obtain special li­censes from Captain John S. Baylis, U. S. Coast Guard, Captain of the Port.—New York Herald Tribune, December 14.

MISCELLANEOUS To Young Officers[2]

The Cavalry Journal, November-De- cember.—Your words will always be heard with respect by your subalterns if you sup­port them with action and example; if you do not, these very words will bring your own faults into relief. Do your duty for duty’s sake, and not for the benefit it may bring to you, for that would be a debase­ment of your work. If you are given charges (or positions) that signify distinction or honor, let it be the results of the recogni­tion of your merit, but never the result of a plan pursued with selfish efforts. Guard jealously your prestige as a soldier; try to increase it constantly, for it is indispensa­ble in the exercising of command. The am­bition to advance to the highest rung of the military hierarchy is just and noble; the most important thing is not this, but your own worth and value at whatever rank you attain. Neither titles nor diplomas are proofs of professional capacity.

Study to increase your professional knowledge, but remember one commands more respect because of prestige rather than knowledge. Take care to merit the high opinion of your subaltern, not through a cheap spirit of vanity, but be­

cause he is the one to whom you have to give orders, and if you are to succeed in this, he must have full confidence in your ability. A soldier needs a lifetime to ac­quire prestige, but a second is sufficient in which to lose it.

Remember under- all circumstances that you are wearing a uniform and not a suit of livery. Never confuse subordination, which ^ls the self-denying virtue of a soldier, with submission, the low state of the serf. Be an airplane and gain altitude by your own orces and not a glider which rises only be­cause it is towed.

Be ever a Quixote in your acts; never a

Sancho.

. Ro not stifle, in your subordinates, feel­ings of pride; on the contrary, encourage and direct them; if you do not, you will ave lambs and not lions on the field of attle. When you have a subordinate who seems to be ambitious, do not hinder him; study him and try to guide him; it is a orce like that of a torrent, which builds or estroys; it all depends on how it is guided. Without question the factor of chance has its effect in the outcome of an undertaking, but this factor intervenes the ^east, the greater the talent and foresight °1 the one charged with it.

Do not destroy the work that you find ^one, unless you replace it with something ^questionably superior. Thinking over, solving and executing, must be the un- roken succession of phases of every mili­^arY problem presented to you.

Fellowship in an army is the index of the jrioral solidarity of its officer group. This ^ee ing j_{s no}j- based merely on the external Manifestations of social character, but on ^Something much more solid: mutual re­esteem, and consideration, onfidence in oneself must be a charac- ■"istic of an officer, and must never be confused with a petulant self-worship, to ^ ^^r2^entinean officer has the fortune possess in his own history the archtype soldier, General San Martin. Even

though to God alone is it given to concede the gift of equaling him in his military genius, it is within the range of our possi­bilities to resemble him, in the matter of his soldierly virtues.

4-Pound Radio Telephone

A completely self-contained radio tele­phone combination transmitter and re­ceiver weighing only 4 pounds, and not much larger than the handset of a “French”

telephone, has been announced by the Communications Division of Weltronic Corporation, ... E. Outer Drive, De­troit. The unit is being made available to governmental agencies and services, in­cluding municipal divisions, public utili­ties, fire and police departments, railroads and other transportation agencies, etc., as well as individuals, subject, of course, to licensing by the Federal Communications Commission where required, as well as