Page:Aircraft in Warfare (1916).djvu/158



§ 77. The Duties of Naval Reconnaissance. The work of scouting, or reconnaissance, will undoubtedly be the first and most important duty of aircraft in the service of the Navy. Whether it be in connection with the work of coast defence, in giving timely warning of the approach of hostile vessels of war, or in searching out and reporting the whereabouts of an enemy's battle fleet, in locating the enemy's commerce-destroyers on the high seas, or in directing gun-fire during a bombardment or a fleet action, the employment of aircraft cannot fail to be of signal value.

So far as coastal work is concerned, there appears to be no present difficulty in effectually patrolling the whole of the home waters to a distance of some 200 or 300 miles from our shores, other than the want of the necessary machines and the requisite organisation—that is to say, there is no difficulty of a technical or engineering character. To some extent, as touching more especially points of strategic importance, aircraft are already occupied in this duty; the extension of the system is mainly a matter of increase in materiel and personnel. Unfortunately the demand and pressure for increase are felt in all branches of the aeronautical services, and it cannot but take some considerable time to build additional machines, apart from the time which