WRECK FOUND OF THE LOST AIRSHIP.

DISCOVERY OFF SARDINIA.

According to telegrams received last night, the mystery surrounding the fate of the French airship Dixmude has been solved – at all events to a large extent. Wiring from Marseilles yesterday, Reuter’s Correspondent says:

“A wireless message intercepted here states that the search for the missing airship Dixmude, made in an observation balloon sent out from Toulon, has established that the wreckage of the airship is situated within a radius of half a mile, the centre of which is three miles south of San Marco, on the west coast of Sardinia. The wreck is estimated to be at a depth of about 120ft. Dragging operations have been begun.

“According to a report from Bizerta, two bodies have been recovered from the sea off Anpedaxo (?).”

A Reuter’s Paris message also states:

“The wreck of the missing airship Dixmude has been located to the south of San Marco, on the western coast of Sardinia. Two bodies have been recovered off Anpedaxo (?).”

The San Marco mentioned is situated about half-way up the western coast of Sardinia, and is some 350 miles from Marseilles, but an earlier telegram from Toulon said that a captive balloon and a special staff of experts were to be sent yesterday to Sciacca, in Sicily, near which the body of the commander of the airship was found. As there is also a San Marco near Sciacca, some confusion may have arisen as to the exact place at which the wreck has been located, and this uncertainty is not diminished by the conflicting reports as to which San Marco is meant.

The discovery of half-burnt débris leads to the belief that the Dixmude was destroyed by fire. But whether she was struck by lightning during the great storm, or whether the conflagration originated on board is not known, and probably never will be known, as none of the fifty-four officers and men she was carrying survived the catastrophe.

DEAD COMMANDER: NATIONAL FUNERAL.

Commandant du Plessis, commander of the lost airship Dixmude, will be buried at Toulon on Saturday. The armoured cruiser Strasbourg, of the French Mediterranean Squadron, sent to Naples for the bier of the late commander, is expected to reach Toulon to-morrow evening. The body will be taken to the arsenal, a room in which will be transformed into a mortuary. The funeral will be of a national character. The coffin will be placed in the central cemetery of Toulon, and the funeral will be attended by the Minister of Marine. The Ministry of Marine announces to-day that the commander of the cruiser Mulhouse reports the discovery between the lighthouse and Cape San Marco of a reservoir in aluminium. It holds about 200 litres, and the upper part is blackened by fire.

The half-burned débris found about sixty yards from the shore consists of tissues of rubber. From this information it would seem that the airship came to grief near Cape San Marco, some distance from Sciacca.

There is a discussion in the Press about hangars for airships, and the question is asker as to why the Dixmude had only its hangar at Ouers. It is recalled that when Germany delivered the airship, three hangars capable of receiving.it were also given up. In accordance with the programme for an air service between France and North Africa, these hangars were transported to Marseilles, Baraki, near Algiers, and Casablanca, where landing ports were to be created. For this work 4,000,000f were demanded in the Budget for 1921. It was proposed to make a beginning with the port of Algiers, which was considered to be the most urgent. As, however, no airship had been delivered, Parliament decided to wait. In the Budget project for 1922 the demand was repeated, and the Minister insisted on the importance of its being granted. But the wind of economy was blowing more strongly than ever, and the credits were removed from the Budget under the pretext that a hangar at Baraki was not necessary for the moment, since there was no programme for the construction of rigid air vessels. At the same time the Ministry of Marine was invited to complete its air programme for the approval of Parliament.

This programme, drawn up last year, has not yet been discussed. In the Budget project for 1923 the Minister of Marine again returned to the charge, and he obtained the 4,000,000f which had been demanded for three years from the supplementary credits. For lack of this money the hangars had not been erected, and had even become deteriorated. The credits were only voted in September, and therefore a start with the work would not have been made for months. A critic of the Government’s air policy declares that it is because Parliament has not allowed it, and notwithstanding the repeated demands of the Ministry of Marine, that the hangar of the Dixmude at Baraki was not ready at the same time as the dirigible.

CHARGES OF NEGLIGENCE.

A sensational report in a Paris morning newspaper, to the effect that the ill-fated airship Dixmude was sent on her journey in spite of warnings of bad weather and mechanical defects, is emphatically contradicted in authoritative quarters here this evening. The report alleged, first, that the Ministry of Marine had been warned by a naval captain of wide experience that it would be dangerous to send out the Dixmude until certain repairs had been completed; secondly, that the atmospheric conditions on Dec. 18 when the Dixmude started for Africa were unfavourable; and. further, that notification had been received from Toulon the previous day that north-westerly squalls were raging. Finally, the newspaper in question alleged that the commanding officer at Cuers Aerodrome and the commander of the Dixmude, Captain du Plessis de Grenedan, had both protested up to the last minute against the despatch of the airship in the prevailing conditions, and bad urged the postponement of the flight until April. – Reuter.