thought is that the rigid airship in the future will proceed to
sea escorted by a squadron of scouting aeroplanes for its
defence, in the same way that the capital ship is escorted at sea
by destroyers and torpedo boats. This latter idea has been even
further developed by those who look into the future, and have
conceived the possibility of a gigantic airship carrying its own
aeroplanes for its protection.

To test the possibility of this innovation, a small aeroplane was
attached to one of our rigid airships beneath the keel.
Attachments were made to the top of the wings and were carried to
the main framework of the hull. The release gear was tested on
the ground to preclude the possibility of any accident, and on
the day appointed the airship was got ready for flight. While
the airship was flying, the pilot of the aeroplane was in his
position with his engine just ticking over. The bows of the
airship were then inclined upwards and the release gear was put
into operation. The pilot afterwards said that he had no notion
that anything had been done until he noticed that the airship was
some considerable height above him. The machine made a circuit of
the aerodrome and landed in perfect safety, while no trouble was
experienced in any way in the airship. Whether this satisfactory
experiment will have any practical outcome the future alone can
say, but this achievement would have been considered,beyond all
the possibilities of attainment only a few years ago.

Since the Armistice several notable endurance flights were
accomplished by ships of the North Sea class, several voyages
being made to the coast of Norway, and quite recently a trip was
carried out all round the North Sea.