Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 91.djvu/545

 She Launches Seaplanes and She's Unsinkable

��A ship which is built to serve as a starting platform for airplanes and to combat the submarine menace

��IF water is reasonably clear, a submarine, not too far submerged, can be seen from an airplane. Unfortunately an airplane cannot rise from rough water. Hence, even when used as a scout for a battle fleet in order to determine the number and posi- tion of an enemy's ships, the seaplane has its limitations.

Mr. John L, Bogert, a mechanical and consulting engineer of New York city, has designed what seems to us the most practical and brilliant plan thus far pro- posed for coping with the problem of detecting submarines as well as increasing the possible applications of the seaplane in rough weather. We doubt whether sub- marines can be detected under water except in the most favorable conditions, but apart from that Mr. Bogert's plan has genuine merit.

Like an eagle, an airplane must be in motion before it can fly. It must run along the ground or the water until it gathers momentum. Since it is impossible to gather speed in rough water, Mr. Bogert proposes first of all to eliminate the super- structures and deck houses found on every ship. All smokestacks, ventilators, masts, boat cranes, deck houses, and obstructions that might injure the returning or departing airplane are either eliminated entirely or made so that they can be stowed away. The wireless masts, as well as the derricks for hoisting the seaplanes- on board after their flight, are made to swing from a hori- zontal to a vertical position. The hatches are flush with the deck.

���Incline deck forward to launch seaplanes

��fcbmRapid-fire guns Wireless masts

��Bow-on view of the Bogert mother-ship showing seaplane ready for its flight

Since the airplane must have a good start, the ship is 560 feet long. Toward the bow, the runway rises so as to provide a good take-off for the airplane. Beneath the take-off is the pilot house.

It is possible for a skilful aviator to land on the deck of Mr. Bogert's vessel. But it is more likely that he would prefer to alight on the water. Should he do so, a crane will hoist him on board again.

Mr. Bogert's mother-ship for airplanes (it can carry at least a half dozen of them) is torpedo-proof. The hull is subdivided by transverse bulkheads and is provided with cellular sides to distribute the force of the explosion of at least two torpedoes. A battery of four six-inch rapid-fire guns is so mounted on the ship that any three can be trained on an object ahead of the stern.

Landing on a deck is not easy, par- ticularly if the speed of the seaplane is thirty-five or forty miles an hour. Mr. Bogert would therefore provide the sea- planes with brakes which would bring them to a stop in about one hundred and eighty feet. This rate of retardation is about twice as great as that of the emergency brakes used on most railways.

Mr. Bogert's ship is to be driven by Diesel engines. Steam, however, could be used if folding smokestacks are adopted.

���Cabins.livinq quarters and repair shop for seaplanes

��The masts, funnels, derricks, of Mr. Bogert's mother-ship for seaplanes can be swung down. An absolutely unobstructed deck is thus provided for the launching of the seaplane. The ship is to be 560 feet long and about 80 feet beam. It will be driven either by Diesel or steam engines

529

�� �