Battleship Aerial Bombardment Demonstration Obsolete Ships 1920s Vintage Footage General Mitchell

A look at vintage ships and aircraft as General William "Billy" Mitchell hosts this demonstration of aerial bombing of obsolete World War I era battleships. Tests like these paved the way for major advances in aerial and naval warfare. High explosive, smoke, gas, and chemical bombs are used along with a demonstration of a smoke curtain dropped from an airplane. Original title: "Aerial Bombing of Obsolete Battleships".

The film opens with a shot of General Mitchell and dignitaries aboard the U.S. mine "planter", "General J.M. Schofield". Other ships shown (but not targets) are:
Secretary Denby's yacht, "Sylph"
USS Henderson
USS Pennsylvania, flagship of the fleet
USS Olympia, Admiral Dewey's flagship at the Battle of Manila Bay
(the Olympia, launched in 1892, is the oldest steel warship afloat in the world and can be seen at the Independence Seaport Museum at Penn's Landing on the Delaware River in Philadelphia, PA. You can also see it here: http://www.phillyseaport.org/olympia

The obsolete battleships bombed are/were:

Alabama
Ostfriesland - A surrendered WW1 German battleship
New Jersey
Virginia

For more information on General Mitchell and these tests, there is an interesting article on Wikipedia that can be found here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Mi...

Public Domain footage.

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