Thunderbolts

"The passing of the battleship; the coming of the aeroplane" often affirmed (and equally often denied) is again to be put to the test. The Virginia and the New Jersey, 17-year-old greybeards of the navy, will bear the brunt of the experiment. During the last two weeks of August the vessels will be taken out, off the Virginia Capes, and army aviators from Langley Field will do their best to make that spot the graveyard of the two men-of-war.

In 1921 somewhat similar tests were made. A joint board of the Army and Navy then laid down the conditions for the experiment which some Army men felt were too severe a drawback to the aeroplanes. Nevertheless, the former German battleship, Ostfriesland, was sunk by the 2,000-pound bombs from the air. This time the Army airmen will not be restricted by the previous rules. Moreover, a new 4,300-pound demolition bomb has been invented to aid in the attack.

At least one of the ships will be towed, in order to furnish a moving target. Experiments will first be made with light tear-gas bombs--with men aboard the ships.

Tests made on land with the new 4,300-pound demolition bomb, carried by a Handley Page aeroplane, illustrated the power of the new weapon. Released from midair, the bomb buried itself in compact, sandy soil. A moment later the explosion threw soil almost 1,000 feet into the air and left a crater 19 feet deep, 64 feet in diameter. One thousand cubic yards of earth had been displaced.

This destruction will be loosed upon the Virginia and New Jersey. Not even direct hits should be necessary to sink them. As in the case of the Ostfriesland, the great bombs bursting in the water alongside will probably be enough to wreck the hull by their concussions.