it from, a
battleship, if necessary.

For this purpose a docking cradle or way has been provided aft where
the aeroplane may be housed until the moment arrives for its employment.
Several vessels have been devoted to this nursing duty and are known as
parent ships to the waterplane service. All that is requisite when the
time arrives for the use of the seaplane is to lift it bodily by derrick
or crane from its cradle and to lower it upon the water. It will be
remembered that the American naval authorities made an experiment with a
scheme for directly launching the warplane from the deck of a battleship
in the orthodox, as well as offering it a spot upon which to alight upon
returning from a flight, while Wing-Commander Samson, R.N., D.S.O., the
famous British airman, repeated the experiment by flying from a similar
launching way installed upon H.M.S. Hibernia. But this practice has many
shortcomings. So far as the British and French navies are concerned, the
former process is preferred. Again, when the waterplane returns from a
flight it is admitted that it is simpler, quicker, and safer for it to
settle upon the water near the parent ship and to be lifted on board.

As a sea-scout the waterplane is overwhelmingly superior to the
dirigible as events have conclusively proved. Its greater mobility and
speed stand it in excellent stead because it is able to cover a
larger area within a shorter space of time than its huge and unwieldy
contemporary. Furthermore, it is a difficult target to hit and
accordingly is not so likely to be brought down by hostile fire. There
is another point in its favour. The experience of the war has proved
that the numerically inferior enemy prefers to carry out his naval
operations under the cover of the mist and haze which settle upon the
water, and yet are of sufficient depth to conceal his identity and
composition. Such mists as a rule comprise a relatively thin bank of
low-lying vapour, which while enveloping the surface of the water in an
impenetrable pall, yet permits the mast-heads of the vessels to stand
out clearly, although they cannot be detected from the water-level
or even from the control and fighting tops of a warship. A scouting
waterplane, however, is able to observe them and note their movement,
and accordingly can collect useful information concerning the apparent
composition of the hidden force, the course it is following, its
travelling speed, and so forth, which it can con