Evening Star Newspaper, April 10, 1932, Page 80

THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, APRIL 10, 1932 In the Next Great Naval Battle Jack Tar Will Haye to Wear a Mask— Aircraft > i f ] | é L k 3 iy { 8 of Hi i i ¥ g f 1] [l ! 28 E ! 1 | | l } i i EEE gt } E i : § !_ I . §E5§g533 E ig§ggsgig§& g it | fundamentally an asmored ":“" A box, with an unprotected The sides turrets and ends i AL Hi1H} i iH HEL REPE | are ! below the armored decks, since & modern battieship must have nine or ten horizontal platforms. Some of the deck armor is sloping, the better to ward off blows from projectiles ~fired by ships lying below the horizon, out of sight except to aircraft “spotters,” or by bombs dropped by airmen who have control of the air. Whether sloping or flat, She armored decks are forever changing their sugles of impact with respect to shells or bombs as the heavy vessel wallows and plunges about in the seas. The side armor is bolted outside of the fFegular hull plating. Vertical plates, 20 feet could go right on fighting. The armor belt protects the ship effecti against side blows from heavy projectides. When the vessel is rolling away from the enemy, the underwater part of the armor rises ® receive the blow. Below the waterline, as well as inside the armor belt, are numerous “Six pounds of tear gas, distributed throughout the com Will Figure Largely in Future Warfare on the Water —Their Task Will Be to Asphyxiate Whole BY LIEUT. NEIL B. MUSSER, U. S. N. R, el s il 55" L] g I i gl I ek E g i . ¥ | i E l HEf i I I i ¥ i LE i § E attack without seriously inconveniencing the 1. The various types of chemical agents which can be used in naval battles include poison gases and smokes, irritating tear or sneeze gases and smokes, and the vesicant or blistering gases and vapors, like mustard or the American Lewisite. The last-mentioned are liquids under ordinary temperatures and are extremely hard to destroy. An army can leave a spot drenched with a vesicant, but the men on a warship must stay on board and combat it as best they can. Pro- tective clothing made in the form of coveralls, shirts, gloves and glass eye-ported helmets are needed to supplement the gas mask in pro- tecting clean-up squads against these reagents, and there are chemicals which can be carried on board which will destroy both liquid and vapor if generpusly distributed over all surfaces in the gassed spaces. Smmmmmwmm are little suited for use in main encounters, which last only for a few hours. Breaking through the enemy’s air defense and spraying his retreating forces with these agents would delay his reappearance for battle. There is also the possibility of using these pily agentis floating about in cowes te obstruct ememy Inmd- ing force operations. In case control of the air should be lost dur- ik il T HiRTH N e Ko 5;5 ;l 41711 il Eé’i?igmaz: T ing masks, their efficiency would be reduced. The afficers and enlisted men of our ships are familiar with gas masks, and have heard protective , <cClean-up and counter agents to destroy the chemicals which are deposited on board. They are not, however, in a state of highly trained efficiency, and it may require a disastrous ex- perience in action to instill into them the ele- mentary conception that a perfectly fitting mask in good condition must be ready at hand and worn whenever the slightest danger exists. Fortunately, the present status of gas resist- ance in our fieet is probably representative of conditions in other navies. partments of a battleship, would render its entire space intolerable for men not wearing masks. (Cossright, 1882.) Legem/ Marks juggerrmut beneath its weight as it advances, probably eriginated in accidents occurring during the great festival of the Hindu god Juggernaut. The crowning honor to Juggernaut was the main festival held annually in the town.of Juggernaut, in India, as the climax of a series of 24 festivals each year. T feet in diameter. During its slow progress excited worshipers fell beneath its wheels and were crushed to death. These accidental deaths, lives by casting themselves before the god in sacrifice. 2 But whether accident or intent, the fall of the bodies in front of the wheels meant death, for the statue was pulled relentlessly forward unmindful of what might be in its path. Henee the modern use of the word Juggernaut is easily explained. Aireraft will figure largely in the next war, if we have one, and the defense against chemicals is a problem the Navy will have to solve in advance.”