Evening Republican, Volume 20, Number 190, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 9 August 1916 — GERMAN SKY MERCHANTMEN MAY SOON VISIT THE UNITED STATES [ARTICLE]

GERMAN SKY MERCHANTMEN MAY SOON VISIT THE UNITED STATES

The Transatlantic Zeppelin and the Cargo-Carrying Airship, No Longer Technical possibilities, They Are Probabilities—Germany Constructs New Super-Zeppelin of Great Speed and Increased Freight-Carrying Capacity.

New York. —Is the cargo-carrying Zeppelin coming next? A cable report says It is, and perhaps people might just as well pocket their scepticism, sit tight and prepare to welcome the aerial wondercraft. The doubting Thomases were bowled over for keeps when the U-boat Deutschland poked her nose in through the capes of the Chesapeake, and, without other K aid than her beautifully running Diesel motors, headed for Baltimore at a tidy clip, writes Robert G. Skerritt in the New York Sun.

The transatlantic Zeppelin and the cargo-carrying airship are no longer merely technical possibilities; they are probabilities. Credible reports from abroad bear this statement out. The fact is the Germans have lately completed and tested a naval superZeppelin, one of a numerous class now under construction, which surpasses by a wide margin anything of the kind heretofore built by the Teutons. So far in advance is this type that the spanning of the Atlantic becomes measurably near. The Germans have striven hard to keep the details of this monster aircraft from the outside world, but the inevitable leak has developed via Lake Constance —that body of water over which the Germans and the Swiss exercise a divided sovereignty. An enterprising Swiss journalist learned of what was going on at Friedrichshafen, and his story was promptly printed. Despite diplomatic efforts the paper got abroad and the information is now available here.

New Super-Zeppelin. Some idea of what the newest Zeppelin, or rather super-Zeppelin, represents in the way of aeronautic development can be gathered from the fact that the cubical capacity of her gas bags is 100 per cent greater than that of the largest naval Zeppelin in commission when war was declared. That is to say, this titan of the air can stow 54,000 cubic meters of gas within her aluminum outer hull. This represents a lifting power equal to the raising of substantially 61 tons. The dead weight of the vessel is a matter of 40 tons, and in the language of the technlclst this leaves a margin of 21 tons for the carriage of useful load. Until the advent of this super-type the Zeppelin had a total length of 4C>B feet and a gas content of from 19,000’ to 20,000 cubic meters. The airship which lately made successful trips over Lake Constance has a hull nearly 788 feet long. And in the matter of shape, Count Zeppelin has made a decided departure from his previous dirigibles. He has chosen a model that offers a much lower resistance to the air, and therefore per unit of horsepower he obtains a speedier and withal a more manageable and economic crdft. Considered from a military point of view these gains are of the greatest importance. With controlability and added speed the builder secures longer range, added weatherliness and powers of offense and defense of an exceptional order.

Driven by Seven Propellers. According to the cabled reports the super-Zeppelin is driven by seven propellers. There are three on each side, supported laterally by outstanding fins, and the seventh propeller projects aft from the rear gondola. This arrangement is influenced by the modified form of the after body of the hull. The super-Zeppelin has three gondolas in which are placed the motive power and a fourth gondola or central control station which is partly housed within the body of the keel. The latter forms in addition to the backbone of the craft a connecting passageway fore and aft by which all of the cars can be reached under cover.

The gondolas are all armored with thin steel plating of a special sort which has unusual defensive properties. The central station or car is the navigational position and also the point from which bombs or a new type of aerial torpedo can be launched. The launching apparatus reflects the experience of the war. The discharge is controlled electrically and it is said that much greater accuracy in hitting is obtainable than hits been possible heretofore.

Each of the engine-bearing gondolas carries an armament consisting of a new model of semiautomatic gun and a number of machine guns. But there are other directiops in which the super-Zeppelin has increased her powers of attack. Forward and aft on each side are housed rapld-firers. These are installed inside recesses within the outer envelope and are normally concealed. In time of action, the sheltering cover is dropped and the guns stand out where they can command wide angles of fire laterally and in a vertical plane. This is-a distinct departure.

Offensive and Defensive. On top of the airship, near the bow, is an eighth gun emplacement, and the weapons there are machine guns and a novel type of small rapid-fire mortars. This feature is designed to deal particularly with attacking aeroplanes that might seek to assail the dirigible from aloft the most prom-

ising avenue of approach hitherto. The mortars throw a new order of aerial bomb which is said to be more effective than shrapnel in dealing with heavier-than-alr flying machines. The maximum elevation of these pieces gives a nearly overhead fire. During the tests over Friedrichshafen on Lake Constance the super-Zeppelin showed that she was capable of mounting aloft at an astonishing speed and a maximum altitude of 15,000 feet was attained. With her nose pointed upward and her engines adding their lift to the buoyant gas in the bags, the dirigible climbed skyward at the rate of 2,000 feet a minute.

The aeroplane that can ascend at a velocity of 800 feet a minute is doing well. The super-Zeppelin will cover the entire field of aerial scouting. She can do this without fear of interference from-below. The best of the anti-aircraft guns have a vertical range of but 10,000 feet, while the newest Zeppelins can mount securely to an added height of 5,000 feet. At a height of 5,000 feet an observer over the water has a radius of observation of something like 80 miles. From such a coign of vantage it would be extremely easy to watch the fall of shot at ranges of 15,000 yards and more. It gives to the gunner afloat the power of telling hits by indirect fire, assuming that a bank of fog intervened. The admiral without such means of aerial spotting ds to ajl intents and purposes blind.

Send and Receive. Wireless. It must be remembered that while the aeroplane can dispatch wireless messages it is incapable of receiving them owing to the racket made by its noisy engines. The Zeppelin, on the other hand, is not so hampered, and therefore can both transmit and receive wireless communications.

The super-Zeppelin of the latest pattern carries a crew numbering something like 40 all told. During cruising periods half of these men are on duty at a time. All of them are engaged only when the aircraft is in action and every gun maimed. Heretofore the cruising endurance of the Zeppelins has been roundly a matter of 1,000 nautical miles. The greatly increased fhioyancy of the super-Zep-pelin suggests that it will be entirely practicable to carry more than double the proportion of fuel per unit of horsepower. Not only this, but the improved form of the hull has greatly reduced the air resistance and therefore augmented the propulsive effort of the engines. It is not improbable that the dirigible which made her maiden trial trip a month ago is able to cover something like 3,000 knots before replenishing her supplies. Just as the fighting submarine blazed the way for the cargo-carrying submarine Deutschland, so the newest super-Zeppelin points logically to the practicability of a transatlantic flight and the carriage of either passengers or cargo. Of course, the quantity of freight would be relatively less than that of a submarine of commerce, but then the element of time saved and the value of the freight might easily make a service of that sort well worth the while. Indeed, it Is quite conceivable that the aerial trader could make the journey from continent to continent with far less likelihood of capture or interference than that menacing the under-water cargo carrier. Navigation Problems Solved. The transatlantic aerial freighter would be stripped of its military character just as has been done in the case

of the U-boat Deutschland, and this would Increase the possible profitmaking cargo. The navigational problems need not balk the Germans. The work the kaiser’s Zeppelins have already done both In time of peace and during the present conflict has shown the sureness with which the boats can be guided night or day from point to point. Long before the outbreak of hostilities the passenger-carrying Zeppelin Victoria Luise made more than 400 trips, and up to the four hundredth run covered nearly 30,000 miles, carrying upon each run 21 passengers. With all of the experience gained since then, what may not the advent of the super-Zeppelin augur?