It was pitted
against the "Colonel Renard," the finest ship at that time in the
French aerial service, which had proved the fastest airship in
commission, and which also was a product of the Astra Company.
But this fine craft was completely outclassed by the puny
Astra-Torres.
The builders and the inventor were now additionally anxious
to illustrate more emphatically the features of this design and
to build a far larger vessel. The opportunity was offered by the
British Government, which had been following the experiments with
the small Astra-Torres in France. An order was given for a
vessel of 282,500 cubic feet displacement; in this instance it
was ranged against another formidable rival--the Parseval. But
the latter also failed to hold its own against the Spanish
invention, inasmuch as the Astra-Torres built for the British
authorities exceeded a speed of 50 miles per hour in the official
tests. This vessel is still doing valuable duty, being attached
to the British air-service in France.
The achievements of the British vessel were not lost upon the
French Government, which forthwith placed an order for a huge
vessel of 812,200 cubic feet capacity, equipped with motors
developing 1,000 horse-power, which it was confidently expected
would enable a speed of 60 miles per hour to be attained.
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