And this necessity is reinforced by the necessity of driving off an enemy's scouts.
In foreign navies the need for getting information in defiance of an enemy's attempts to prevent it, and to drive off the armed scouts of an enemy, has been one of the prime reasons for developing "battle cruisers," that combine the speed of the destroyer with the long steaming radius of the battleship, a battery almost as strong, and a very considerable protection by armor.
The aeroplane and the air-ship are recent accessions to the list of fighting craft.

Their role in naval warfare cannot yet be defined, because the machines themselves have not yet reached an advanced stage of development, and their probable performance cannot be forecast.

There is no doubt, however, in the minds of naval men that the role of aircraft is to be important and distinguished..