NAVAL AERONAUTICS. The import ance of the aeroplane in naval warfare is great and varied. It is most useful in scouting, in locating and bombing enemy ships and sub marines and in spotting gunfire (observation of the fall of the shots). A squadron of battle cruisers with guns of large calibre, whose fire is controlled by aeroplanes, can defeat an equal or greater number of dreadnoughts that are without this means of fire control. While the military aeroplane made great advancement in efficiency during the European War of 1914-18, comparatively little progress was made in the design of naval aeroplanes and in the develop ment of their tactics. This was evidently due to the fact that nearly all the air operations to* place over land and when over sea in lo calities,whereght could originate from smooth water. Rest naval aeroplanes must be of the types that can operate from floating bases far from smooth water. The first problem in naval aviation is, obviously, getting into the air and the hydro-aeroplane, or aeroplane that starts and finishes its flight on water, cannot get into the air unless the water is considerably smoother than in average conditions on the open sea. Hydro-aeroplanes must attain an air speed on the surface that is equal to the low flying speed limit before they can have suffi cient lift to get into the air under control, this speed for the various types ranging from 40 to 60 miles per hour. With satisfactory means of getting into the air at sea, good operation is assured in nearly all kinds of weather; but, if flights must originate from the surface of water then the naval aeroplane becomes a fair weather apparatus having but little naval value except in operations near the coast. In naval aviation the problem of finishing the flight is not as difficult as that of getting into the air and is of much less importance.
For work with a fleet three types of aero planes are usually required— the high speed fighting aeroplane, the medium speed torpedo carrying aeroplane and the slow-speed spotting aeroplane. The high-speed fighting aeroplane is a machine with a maximum speed of about 100 miles per hour, carrying one or more guns for attack on other aeroplanes and bombs for attack on dirigibles; it is a fast climber and is designed with little stability so as to be sensitive in its control and thus have good manoeuvring qualities. The principal duties of this machine are to protect the torpedo carriers and spotting aeroplanes, to attack enemy torpedo carriers and spotting machines and to destroy' or drive in the enemy's air scouts and dirigibles. On
account of its high speed this machine has only a small radius of action when carrying the pilot and observer. On special occasions it can be used as a one-seat machine either to increase climbing ability or to increase its radius of action. The medium-speed torpedo-carrying aeroplane is a machine with a maximum speed of about 80 miles per hour, designed primarily to carry a torpedo or an equivalent weight (about 1,800 pounds) of high explosive bombs. It has only a small radius of action when carry ing its torpedo or when loaded with bombs, but without these weights it can take on an equiva lent weight of fuel and thus add five or six hours to its cruising radius. The principal duty of this type is torpedo attack on the enemy's battle fleet or troop ships, a function of the naval aeroplane that deserves a most important consideration in naval battle tactics. Aero planes of this type must have proper escorts of fighting machines to counteract the enemy's best means of defense or attack by his aircraft. This type when carrying extra fuel instead of its torpedo or bombs can be used for scouting and in this condition must be armed for pro tection in case of a possible contact with the fighting types of the enemy. The slow-speed spotting machine is a machine with a maximum speed of about 60 miles per hour. Its chief duty is spotting for control of gunfire and for this reason provides for long endurance and consequent slow speed. This type of aeroplane is most important in naval operations because at long-range firing it is absolutely necessary to control fire by spotting inasmuch as the naval range is inaccurate at long ranges and even when the exact distance of the target is known there are disagreements in the sight bar ranges and 'actual ranges that must be cor rected by spotting observations, these disagree ments increasing with the range. When ships are matched in speed and gun-power, those having aeroplane fire control have a positive advantage over those that control from the tops. This type of aeroplane, and especially the medium-speed torpedo-carrying type, perform the important duty of patroling the fleet when cruising in war time. On this duty some of the machines carry bombs and guns for attack on submarines.