Aircraft and Submarines, by Willis J. Abbot 1 Aircraft and Submarines, by Willis J. Abbot The Project Gutenberg EBook of Aircraft and Submarines, by Willis J. Abbot This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net Title: Aircraft and Submarines The Story of the Invention, Development, and Present-Day Uses of War's Newest Weapons Author: Willis J. Abbot Release Date: September 20, 2009 [EBook #30047] Language: English Aircraft and Submarines, by Willis J. Abbot 2 Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AIRCRAFT AND SUBMARINES *** Produced by Chris Curnow, Joseph Cooper, Christine P. Travers and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net [Transcriber's note: Obvious printer's errors have been corrected. Hyphenation and accentuation have been standardised, all other inconsistencies are as in the original. The author's spelling has been maintained. {} are used to inclose superscript.] [Illustration: Fighting by Sea and Sky. Painting by John E. Whiting.] AIRCRAFT AND SUBMARINES The Story of the Invention, Development, and Present-Day Uses of War's Newest Weapons By WILLIS J. ABBOT Author of "The Story of Our Army," "The Story of Our Navy," "The Nations at War" With Eight Color Plates and 100 Other Illustrations G. P. Putnam's Sons New York and London The Knickerbocker Press 1918 Aircraft and Submarines, by Willis J. Abbot 3 Copyright, 1918 By WILLIS J. ABBOT The Knickerbocker Press, New York PREFACE Not since gunpowder was first employed in warfare has so revolutionary a contribution to the science of slaughtering men been made as by the perfection of aircraft and submarines. The former have had their first employment in this world-wide war of the nations. The latter, though in the experimental stage as far back as the American Revolution, have in this bitter contest been for the first time brought to so practical a stage of development as to exert a really appreciable influence on the outcome of the struggle. Comparatively few people appreciate how the thought of navigating the air's dizziest heights and the sea's gloomiest depths has obsessed the minds of inventors. From the earliest days of history men have grappled with the problem, yet it is only within two hundred years for aircraft and one hundred for submarines that any really intelligent start has been made upon its solution. The men who really gave practical effect to the vague theories which others set up--in aircraft the Wrights, Santos-Dumont, and Count Zeppelin; in submarines Lake and Holland--are either still living, or have died so recently that their memory is still fresh in the minds of all. In this book the author has sketched swiftly the slow stages by which in each of these fields of activity success has been attained. He has collated from the immense mass of records of the activities of both submarines and aircraft enough interesting data to show the degree of perfection and practicability to which both have been brought. And he has outlined so far as possible from existing conditions the possibilities of future usefulness in fields other than those of war of these new devices. The most serious difficulty encountered in dealing with the present state and future development of aircraft is the rapidity with which that development proceeds. Before a Congressional Committee last January an Aircraft and Submarines, by Willis J. Abbot 4 official testified that grave delay in the manufacture of airplanes for the army had been caused by the fact that types adopted a scant three months before had become obsolete, because of experience on the European battlefields, and later inventions before the first machines could be completed. There may be exaggeration in the statement but it is largely true. Neither the machines nor the tactics employed at the beginning of the war were in use in its fourth year. The course of this evolution, with its reasons, are described in this volume. Opportunities for the peaceful use of airplanes are beginning to suggest themselves daily. After the main body of this book was in type the Postmaster-General of the United States called for bids for an aërial mail service between New York and Washington--an act urged upon the Government in this volume. That service contemplates a swift carriage of first-class mail at an enhanced price--the tentative schedule being three hours, and a postage fee of twenty-five cents an ounce. There can be no doubt of the success of the service, its value to the public, and its possibilities of revenue to the post-office. Once its usefulness is established it will be extended to routes of similar length, such as New York and Boston, New York and Buffalo, or New York and Pittsburgh. The mind suggests no limit to the extension of aërial service, both postal and passenger, in the years of industrial activity that shall follow the war. In the preparation of this book the author has made use of many records of personal experiences of those who have dared the air's high altitudes and the sea's stilly depths. For permission to use certain of these he wishes to express his thanks to the Century Co., for extracts from My Airships by Santos-Dumont; to Doubleday, Page & Co., for extracts from Flying for France, by James R. McConnell; to Charles Scribner's Sons, for material drawn from With the French Flying Corps, by Carroll Dana Winslow; to Collier's Weekly, for certain extracts from interviews with Wilbur Wright; to McClure's Magazine, for the account of Mr. Ray Stannard Baker's trip in a Lake submarine; to Hearst's International Library, and to the Scientific American, for the use of several illustrations. W. J. A. Aircraft and Submarines, by Willis J. Abbot 5 NEW YORK, 1918. CONTENTS Page PREFACE iii CHAPTER 6 CHAPTER I. --Introductory 3 II.--The Earliest Flying Men 14 III.--The Services of Santos-Dumont 39 IV.--The Count von Zeppelin 59 V.--The Development of the Airplane 82 VI.--The Training of the Aviator 103 VII.--Some Methods of the War in the Air 123 VIII.--Incidents of the War in the Air 159 IX.--The United States at War 182 X.--Some Features of Aërial Warfare 207 XI.--Beginnings of Submarine Invention 235 XII.--The Coming of Steam and Electricity 256 XIII.--John P. Holland and Simon Lake 271 XIV.--The Modern Submarine 294 XV.--Aboard a Submarine 318 XVI.--Submarine Warfare 333 CHAPTER 7 XVII.--The Future of the Submarine 362 Index 383 ILLUSTRATIONS Page Fighting by Sea and Sky Frontispiece Painting by John E. Whiting Dropping a Depth Bomb 4 Painting by Lieut. Farré A Battle in Mid-air 8 Painting by Lieut. Farré Victory in the Clouds 12 Painting by John E. Whiting The Fall of the Boche 16 Painting by Lieut. Farré Lana's Vacuum Balloon 18 Montgolfier's Experimental Balloon 21 A Rescue at Sea 24 Painting by Lieut. Farré Montgolfier's Passenger Balloon 27 Charles's Balloon 31 A French Observation Balloon on Fire 32 Roberts Brothers' Dirigible 34 Giffard's Dirigible 37 A British Kite Balloon 40 British "Blimp" 40 Photographed from Above. CHAPTER 8 A Kite Balloon Rising from the Hold of a Ship 48 The Giant and the Pigmies 60 Painting by John E. Whiting A French "Sausage" 64 Photo by Press Illustrating Co. A British "Blimp" 64 The Death of a Zeppelin 72 Photo by Paul Thompson A German Dirigible, Hansa Type 76 A Wrecked Zeppelin at Salonika 76 Photo by Press Illustrating Co. British Aviators about to Ascend 80 Langley's Airplane 84 A French Airdrome near the Front 84 Lilienthal's Glider 86 A German War Zeppelin 88 French Observation Balloon Seeking Submarines 88 Photo by Press Illustrating Co. Chanute's Glider 90 A German Taube Pursued by British Planes 92 The First Wright Glider 93 Pilcher's Glider 94 CHAPTER 9 Comparative Strength of Belligerents in Airplanes at the Opening of the War 96 Comparative Strength of Belligerents in Dirigibles at the Opening of the War 96 The Wright Glider 98 At a French Airplane Base 100 International Film Service Stringfellow's Airplane 101 The "America"--Built to Cross the Atlantic 104 A Wright Airplane in Flight 104 First Americans to Fly in France 108 The Lafayette Escadrille Distinguishing Marks of American Planes 116 What an Aviator must Watch 116 A Caproni Triplane 124 A Caproni Triplane Showing Propellers and Fuselage 124 The Terror that Flieth by Night 128 Painting by Wm. J. Wilson A Curtis Seaplane Leaving a Battleship 132 Photo by Press Illustrating Co. Launching a Hydroaëroplane 132 At a United States Training Camp 138 A "Blimp" with Gun Mounted on Top 138 CHAPTER 10 Aviators Descending in Parachutes from a Balloon Struck by Incendiary Shells 140 The Balloon from which the Aviators Fled 140 German Air Raiders over England 144 One Aviator's Narrow Escape 148 Downed in the Enemy's Country 156 Position of Gunner in Early French Machine 160 Later Type of French Scout 160 Photo by Kadel & Herbert A French Scout Airplane 168 Photo by Press Illustrating Co. "Showing Off." A Nieuport Performing Aërial Acrobatics around a Heavier Bombing Machine 168 An Air Raid on a Troop Train 174 Painting by John E. Whiting A Burning Balloon, Photographed from a Parachute by the Escaping Balloonist 176 A Caproni Biplane Circling the Woolworth Building 184 Cruising at 2000 Feet.