CHAPTER IX
THE FUTURE OF AIRSHIPS
With the signing of the Armistice on November 11th, 1918, the
airship's work in the war was practically completed and peace
reigned on the stations which for so many months had been centres
of feverish activity. The enemy submarines were withdrawn from
our shipping routes and merchant ships could traverse the sea in
safety except for the occasional danger of drifting mines. "What
is to be the future of the airship?" is the question which is
agitating the minds of innumerable people at the present moment.
During the war we have built the largest fleet of airships in the
world, in non-rigids we have reached a stage in design which is
unsurpassed by any country, and in rigid airships we are second
only to the Germans, who have declared that, with the signing of
the peace terms, their aircraft industry will be destroyed. Such
is our position at the present moment, a position almost
incredible if we look back to the closing days of the year 1914.
Are we now to allow ourselves to drift gradually back to our old
policy of supineness and negligence as existed before the war?
Surely such a thought is inconceivable; as we have organized our
airship production for the purposes of war, so shall we have to
redouble our efforts for its development in peace, if we intend
to maintain our supremacy in the air.
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