battle-cruisers, and in particular the maximum beam possible should be provided. A closer study of this problem will be given in a later chapter.
§ 71. The Armament of the Naval Aeroplane. The Employment of Bombs. Dealing for the time being entirely with the primary function of the Aeronautical Arm in the service of the Navy, we have already pointed out that the gun, whether the machine-gun or the one-pounder, is of no value whatever. Hence, if the aeroplane or the airship is to possess any power of offence at all against the ships of the enemy, it must be sought elsewhere. A great deal has been said on the subject of bomb-dropping as a means of attack on armoured ships, but it is not as well recognised as it should be how comparatively impotent a bomb, even charged with high explosive, may be when used without "tamping" against armour-plate. It is quite true that a certain amount of mischief would be wrought by a bomb of large size if successfully dropped on to the deck of a battleship or cruiser, and the effect would certainly be more disagreeable still if the recipient were a destroyer or some still smaller craft. The effect, however, would in no degree be comparable to that of a torpedo, where the inertia of the surrounding water plays an important rôle. It would, in any case, take a vast number of hits to put a first-class battleship or cruiser out of action. Further, the difficulties of aim, as pointed out in the preceding chapter, are considerable, and with the counter-aircraft armament with which warships are now being fitted, it will not, generally speaking, be possible for an aeroplane to descend to low altitude with impunity. The dropping of bombs from an airship is a matter of somewhat less difficulty; moreover, the bombs employed may themselves be of really formidable dimensions; but here the author is of opinion that an airship will not in the future be able
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