US Naval Air Stations in Ireland

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Hi,

I've currently gotten hold of a copy of Karl Hayes' excellent book on the RFC, RNAS, RAF and US Naval Air Service in Ireland. However, it is sketchy on identifying casualties and many other operational details.

My current research is focussing on the US Naval Air Stations in Ireland. In this regard I'm aware of two casualties:

18 September 1918 - William Edward Kelly, US Naval Air Station Lough Foyle.

22 October 1918 - Wilfred Allen Anderson, US Naval Air Station Whiddy Island.

Has anyone ever compiled a comprehensive list of US Naval Air Station casualties? If so I'd be very interested in hearing about it.

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Already slapping myself in the forehead: have been pointed to the good people in Naval History.net and so have seen a couple of hundred casualties to peruse. First impression however is that there were only a handful of deaths at the naval air stations:

14-Aug-1918 Thurlow Tomlinson Schofield, died of illness/disease at US Naval Air Station Queenstown;

31-Aug-1918 Edward Joseph Reilly, died of respiratory disease at US Naval Air Station Lough Foyle;

02-Sept-1918 Walter Michael Thompson, died of illness/disease at US Naval Air Station Queenstown;

17-Jun-1918 Le Roy Chester Higginson, died of illness/disease at US Naval Air Station Queenstown.

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There was at least one death in a kite balloon accident (some US warships used kite balloons for gunnery observation) and someone was drowned in a flying boat accident. These were at either Queenstown or Foyle. I have to go out later but will try and find when I get back in the meantime I think both were mentioned in different posts on other subjects on the forum so worth doing a forum search.

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Ensign Charles E. Reed US Navy died following an accident while in a kite balloon towed by HMS Springbok. 14 Aug. 1918. Springbok operated out of Queenstown on anti sub patrols but the US Navy kite balloon base was at Berehaven in West Cork (in order to provide gunnery control balloons for the US Battleships based there but they also supported the Queenstown anti submarine destroyer patrols) In Ireland there were four US flying boat bases, located at Queenstown (actually Aghada) in Cork, Wexford, Lough Foyle, and Whiddy Island. There was an American fatality at one of these but I'll need to dig a little deeper in my notes to see if I have any record of who it was.

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My notes say a W E Kelly drowned in Lough Foyle and it was somehow flying boat related (posssibly a Curtiss Large America) but not a crash. That's all I have I'm afraid.

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Thanks so much for this information.

Btw if you want any info on Irish in the RNAS do send me a message, as I've compiled quite a few stray facts and figures. (Still an incomplete picture but I've Irishmen as far north as Catfirth in Shetland all the way down to Tresco in the Scilly Isles, quite apart from those serving on the various seaplane tenders, kite balloon ships, not to mention the naval squadrons).

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One minor subsidiary titbit - because the destroyers were based at Queenstown initial training for the American balloonists attached to them was over land near Berehaven with observation balloons towed by large touring cars. This must have been a sight to behold and I wonder if there are any surviving photos.

[jdoyle]

I've currently gotten hold of a copy of Karl Hayes' excellent book on the RFC, RNAS, RAF and US Naval Air Service in Ireland. However, it is sketchy on identifying casualties and many other operational details.

got a copy of this book too. A very good read.