Naval Aviation in World War I

[Seeteufel]

THE UNITED STATES Naval Air Force, Foreign Service, executed 30 attacks against enemy submarines,
of which ten were considered to have been at least partially successful; it dropped 100 tons of high explosives
on enemy objectives, and it had to its credit a total of 22,000 flights in the course of which it patrolled more than
800,000 nautical miles of submarineinfested areas. In point of fact, it did immeasurably more than this, for these
figures are very far from being a just or fair method of appraising the value of aircraft in naval warfare.

...Submarines did not always react passively to these attacks. On at least one occasion against a seaplane and once
against an airship, the U-boats fought back.
On August 13, 1918, four seaplanes, one piloted by Ens. J. F. Carson, left NAS DUNKIRK on patrol.
A short distance off the coast, a large submarine was sighted proceeding on the surface at high speed. Since it carried no identification marks, Carson fired a challenging signal. At that point, the submarine apparently spotted the planes and opened fire with its four-inch gun.

Five shots were fired, three passing close to Carson’s plane, and several pieces of shrapnel pierced his fuselage and wings. Carson immediately returned fire with his machine guns and moved into bombing position. The submarine cleared the deck and dived. As she went down, Carson dropped two bombs, one exploding in the swirl and the second slightly forward of it. The submarine reappeared, her bow projecting from the water at a sharp angle. Within four minutes she again submerged, sliding stern first under water. Carson was credited with a sinking by the French government and awarded the Croix de Guerre.

THE AIRSHIP involved was the AT-13 out of NAS PAIMBOEUF.
On October 1, 1918, after escorting one convoy through the area, the airship turned to meet another.
On the way, she fired two shots on a rock for target practice. On the second shot the firing spring broke, putting her only gun out of
action and reducing her offensive capability to bombs.
At about two-thirty, the convoy was picked up and the airship made the usual circle overhead.

Then, as two storms were observed approaching from the north and northeast, the airship took a heading to pass between them.
Shortly after, a suspicious object sighted to the north was investigated.
While still a mile away, it was made out to be a submarine and when it opened fire there was no doubt that it was enemy.
Thirteen shells burst near the airship but none struck her.
The airship took up the chase to get into bombing position but the head wind was so strong that the submarine could not be overtaken.
Signals by radio and Aldis lamp informed the
convoy of the situation and the chase continued until the submarine disappeared in the darkness...
read more about this here:
http://www.history.navy.mil/pics/ww1cov.gif (http://www.history.navy.mil/branches/ww1av.htm)
...check the chapter "The War against the U-Boat". :yep:

[JackieFisher]

Aircraft were surprisingly successful in their role in the Adriatic. A British sub (B-2?) was sunk in harbor by a bombing attack, and one U-boat (IIRC) was bombed to the surface by aircraft, and was later sunk by surface ships as she was unable to dive. One thing that made a big difference was that the water was very clear and pretty shallow in many places, and there was not such a huge expanse. Submarines were often visible while submerged.

tone

[Seeteufel]

...One thing that made a big difference was that the water was very clear and pretty shallow in many places, and there was not such a huge expanse. Submarines were often visible while submerged.

Two subs sunk by aircraft aren't that many...though it must have been damn good pilots who did these jobs... ;)

Here are some interesting accounts of british subs:

British Submarines in the Dardanelles - B-11 (Part 1 Submarine exploits in 1914-15) (http://www.cronab.demon.co.uk/subs.htm)

British Submarines in the Dardanelles - E-14 (Part 2) (http://www.cronab.demon.co.uk/subs2.htm)

British Submarines in the Dardanelles - E-11 (Part 3) (http://www.cronab.demon.co.uk/subs3.htm)

British Submarines in the Dardanelles - The loss of E-14 (A remarkable letter describing her last operation.) (http://www.cronab.demon.co.uk/reub.htm)

...When Cdr.Boyle learnt that the last ship he had torpedoed in the Sea of Marmora had been the transport GUL DJEMAL, carrying troops and armed with 3 inch guns he immediately put in a claim for the "blood money" paid by the Admiralty to submarine crews, five pounds per head for enemy personnel on offensively armed ships sunk by them. Unfortunately for E-14`s crew, many of whom had already spent the money, the prize court turned down the claim on the grounds that the Turkish ship was defensively armed...

... :o ...blood money ? WTF

And here's another very interesting book concerning ww 1 aviation:
(...part of it dealing with Naval Aviaton, the rest is also excellent reading about Zeppelin-development, air raids,...; - )

The Development of the Airship, with the Story of the Zepplins Air Raids in the World War (http://www.ch2bc.org/zepplins/zeppelin1.htm) - e-book, brilliant photos + info !

P.S. Your dreadnoughtproject rules! :yep:

[Seeteufel]

Also quite interesting:

...As an example of a submarine that succeeded not only in evading destruction, but in getting at least even with the enemy, the case of one of our vessels of the "E" class, on patrol in the Heligoland Bight, may be cited. This submarine ran into a heavy anti-submarine net, and was dragged, nose first, to the bottom. After half an hour's effort, during which bombs were exploding in her vicinity, the submarine was brought to the surface by her own crew by the discharge of a great deal of water from her forward ballast tanks. It was found, however, that the net was still foul of her, and that a Zeppelin was overhead, evidently attracted by the disturbance in the water due to the discharge of air and water from the submarine. She went to the bottom again, and after half an hour succeeded in getting clear of the net. Meanwhile the Zeppelin had collected a force of trawlers and destroyers, and the submarine was hunted for fourteen hours by this force, assisted by the airship. During this period she succeeded in sinking one of the German destroyers, and was eventually left unmolested...

...The Royal Naval Air Service, under Commodore Godfrey Paine, devoted much energy to the provision of suitable aircraft, and the anti-submarine side of the Naval Staff co-operated in the matter of their organization; with the advent of the large "America" type of seaplane and the Handley-Page type of aeroplane, both of which carried heavy bombs, successful attacks on enemy submarines became more frequent. They were assisted by the airships, particularly those of the larger type.

Improvements which were effected in signalling arrangements between ships and aircraft were instrumental in adding greatly to their efficiency, and by the early summer of 1917 aircraft had commenced to play an important part in the war against submarines and in the protection of trade.

Thereafter progress became rapid, as the following figures show:

In June, 1917, aeroplanes and seaplanes patrolling for anti-submarine operations covered 75,000 miles, sighted 17 submarines, and were able to attack 7 of them.

In September, 1917, the distance covered by anti-submarine patrols of aeroplanes and seaplanes was 91,000 miles, 25 submarines were sighted, of which 18 were attacked.

In the four weeks ending December 8, 1917, in spite of the much shorter days and the far less favourable flying weather experienced, the mileage covered was again 91,000 miles; 17 submarines were sighted, of which 11 were attacked during this period.

As regards airships the figures again show the increased anti-submarine work carried out:

In June, 1917, airships engaged in anti-submarine patrol covered 53,000 miles, sighted and attacked 1 submarine.

In September, 1917, they covered 83,000 miles, and sighted 8 submarines, of which 5 were attacked.

In the four weeks ending December 8, 1917, they covered 50,000 miles, sighted 6 submarines, and attacked 5 of them...


source:

The Crisis of the Naval War
By ADMIRAL OF THE FLEET VISCOUNT JELLICOE OF SCAPA G.C.B., O.M., G.C.V.O. (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/10409/10409-h/10409-h.htm)

[Seeteufel]

On 6 July 1918, a squadron of German seaplanes returning from a daylight raid on Lowestoft and Walmer, caught a Harwich-based British C-class submarine napping on the surface. When the boat was eventually towed into port she was literally a bloody shambles, her captain and nearly half her crew were dead and several others wounded. Yet, even this tragic event had its share of heroism.

http://www.submariners.co.uk/graphics/boats/C25_under_attack.jpg
C25 being bombed from the air when she suffered severe loss of life and was nearly lost with all hands.


Read the whole story here (http://www.submariners.co.uk/Dits/Articles/c25.htm). :yep: