[Sailor Steve]

June 5, 1917

Air War:
German bomber pilot Friedrich Christiansen, flying FF.33L floatplane 938 with Vzflgmstr Maukisch as observer, spots some German sailors in the water. They are survivors from destroyer S20, sunk by British light cruiser HMS Conquest earlier that day. Christiansen lands, and he and Maukisch throw their guns, ammunition and 100 litres of fuel overboard, which enables them to take three survivors on board the plane. Twenty more men swim to the plane, begging to be taken with them. Christiansen later wrote "Only with great violence were these poor people shaken off, to be sentenced to death. It was a difficult decision, but it had to be!"

Christiansen starts his engine and takes off, listening to the cries of the men still in the water. After dropping off the three rescued men at Zeebrugge he returns to the scene with twelve more planes and four torpedo boats. They manage to rescue 25 sailors, but also recover 38 bodies from the water.
Naval Aces of World War 1, volume 2, by Jon Guttman

0440 Canadian RNAS ace Langley Smith, flying Sopwith Pup N6168, destroys a German observation balloon for victory number 6.

0700 English RFC pilot Oliver Sutton, in Sopwith Pup A6183, shoots down an Albatros D.III for victory number 5.

0715 Canadian RFC ace pilot Carlton Claement and Welsh observer Llewelyn Davies, in FE.2b A5461, shoot down an Albatros D.III. Victory number 7 for Clement, number 3 for Davies.

0730 Carleton Clement and Llewelyn Davies shoot down a second Albatros D.III. Number 8 for Clement, number 4 for Davies. German 15-victory ace Kurt Schneider is wounded. He will die from these wounds on July 14.

0810 English RFC pilot Donald Cunnell, in FE.2d A6414 with Sgt A.H. Sayers as observer, shoots down an Albatros D.V for victory number 4.

0810 English RFC ace pilot Frederick Thayre and ace observer Francis Cubbon, flying FE.2d A6430, shoot down an Albatros D.III for victory number 19 for Thayre and number 20 for Cubbon.

0840 German pilot Friedrich Kempf, in an Albatros D.III, shoots down Sopwith Pup B1729 for victory number 2. 2nd Lt B.G. Chambers is taken prisoner.

0840 Five Sopwith Triplanes share in the downing of an Albatros two-seater:
Sub-Lt K.G. Boyd, nationality, plane number and kill number unknown.
Raymond Collishaw, Canada, N5490, victory number 13.
Desmond Fitzgerald Fitzgibbon, England, N5466, number 1.
Gerald Nash, Canada, N6302, number 3.
Ellis Reid, Canada, N5483, number 4.

0900 Raymond Collishaw and Desmond Fitsgibbon share a second victor, an Albatros D.III. Number 14 for Collishaw, number 2 for Fitzgibbon.

0930 German ace Werner Voss, in an Albatros D.III, shoots down FE.2b A857 for victory number 33. Cpt Francis Percival Don and Lt Herbert Harris are both wounded and taken prisoner.

1015 Scottish RFC pilot Matthew Brown Frew, flying a Sopwith 1½ Strutter with 2nd Lt M.J. Dalton as observer, shoots down an Albatros D.III for victory number 1.

1020 Matthew Frew and M.J. Dalton score a second victory for the day, another Albatros. Number 2 for Frew.

1115 Englsih RFC pilot Augustus Orlebar, in SPAD VII A6663, shoots down an Albatros D.III for victory number 2.

1120 German ace Karl Allmenröder, in an Albatros D.III, shoots down a Sopwith 1½ Strutter for victory number 26.*

1120 German ace Otto Brauneck, in an Albatros D.III, shoots down a Sopwith 1½ Strutter for victory number 9.*

1130 German pilot Alfred Niederhoff flying an Albatros D.III, shoots down a Sopwith 1½ Strutter for victory number 3.*

1130 German pilot Richard Runge, in an Albatros D.III, shoots down a Sopwith 1½ Strutter for victory number 2.*

* No 45 Squadron only reports three Strutters lost this day: A8280, 2nd Lt B. Smith and AM2 S. Thompson, both wounded and taken prisoner; A1925, 2nd Lt R.S. Binnie and Lt T.A. Metheral, both killed; and A8268, Sgt E.A. Cook and AM2 H.V. Shaw both listed as Missing.

1245 German ace Hans Bethge, in an Albatros D.III, shoots down SPAD VII A6747 for victory number 8. 2nd Lt C.D. Grierson is taken prisoner.

1435 English RFC pilot Harold Satchell and observer Thomas Lewis, in FE.2d A6469, shoot down an Albatros D.III. Victory number 4 for both. German 30-victory ace Karl Schäfer is killed.

1700 Canadian RNAS pilot Harold Mott, in Sopwith Pup N6193, shoots down a German two-seater for victory number 3.

1715 French ace Georges Guynemer, flying a SPAD VII, shoots down abd Albatros two-seater for victory number 44.

1730 Georges Guynemer scores his second kill of the day, shooting downa DFW C.V for number 45.

1900 Canadian RNAS pilot Alexander Shook, in Sopwith Camel N6347, shoots down an Albatros D.III for victory number 4.
(Some sources say the first Camel vicrtory came on July 4, but the June 5 date seems fairly certain.)

1910 Alexander Shook scores his second victory of the day, shooting down a two-seater for victory number 5.

1915 English RNAS pilot Albert Enstone, in Sopwith Pup N6187, shoots down an "Enemy Aircraft" for victory number 4.

1930 American RNAS pilot Oliver LeBoutiller, flying Sopwith Triplane N5459, shoots down an Albatros D.V for victory number 2.

1930 English RNAS pilot John William Pinder, in Sopwith Triplane N5462, shoots down an Albatros D.III for victory number 1.

2030 English RFC pilot Walter Wood, in Nieuport 23 B1609, shoots down an Albatros D.III for victory number 2.

2050 English RFC pilot William Bond, in Nieuport 17 B1545, shoots down an Albatros D.III for victory number 4.

2050 Canadian RFC pilot Albert Godfrey, in Nieuport 17 B1864, shoots down an Albatros D.III for victory number 5.

French pilot Maurice Boyau, in a Nieuport, destroys a German observation balloon for victory number 3.

French pilot Marcel Hugues and ace Armand Pinsard, both in Nieuports, share a victory over an "Enemy Aircraft". Number 3 for Hugues, number 16 for Pinsard.

German pilot Theo Osterkamp, in an Albatros D.III with MFJ1, shoots down a Sopwith Triplane for victory number 3.



North Atlantic Ocean, far west of Ireland:
Thorwald von Bothmer, commanding U-66, sinks two ships roughly 200 miles west of Fastnet:
Italian freighter SS Amor, 3,472 tons, bound from Galveston for Liverpool with an unspecifid cargo.
British freighter SS Manchester Miller, 4,234 tons, headed from Philadelphia for Manchester with a general cargo.
Bon Bothmer's socre is now 26 ships and 76,236 tons.



English Channel:
Hans Niemer, in UB-23, sinks British schooner Laura Ann, 116 tons, off Beachy Head. His score is now 7 vessels and 8,755 tons.



North Sea:
Walter Gude, in U-71, scuttles two Swedish barquentines between Norway and the Shetland Islands:
C. Thorén, 269 tons, carrying a load of timber from Ronneby to Reykjavik.
Götha, 343 tons, also en route from Ronneby to Reykjavik with a load of timber.
Gude's score is now 3 vessels amd 2,371 tons.



Barents Sea:
Georg Schmidt, in U-28, scuttles three Norwegian fishing vessels off Vardö:
Ketch Alaska, 90 tons.
Seal-catcher Duen, 30 tons.
Sydkap, 40 tons.
Schmidt's score is now 8 vessels and 7,869 tons.



Black Sea:
Ernst Ulrich, in UB-14, sinks Russian sailing vessel Karasunda, 155 tons, north of Poti, Georgia. This is Ulrich's only sinking. He will survive the war in other naval positions, live through the Second World War and die on April 6, 1945.



Golfe du Lion:
Robert Moraht, in U-64, sinks British freighter SS Kallundborg, 1,590 tons, travelling in ballast from Genoa to Bougie; south-southwest of Toulon. His score is now 16 ships and 50,410 tons.