C5 Coastal Patrol Ship

[crackingbloke]

My wife has a couple of items of trench art. They are made from the remains of the propeller of the C% coastal patrol ship (airship). One is a frame with an officers/senior nco's photo in it. The ship met with an accident on it's third flight on 20th June 1916 and she would very much like to know more about it and possible identify the chap in the photo. He has a peaked cap on with a RN badge but there are no badges of rank visible.

Many thanks

Guy

[pete-c]

23 hours ago, crackingbloke said:

My wife has a couple of items of trench art. They are made from the remains of the propeller of the C% coastal patrol ship (airship). One is a frame with an officers/senior nco's photo in it. The ship met with an accident on it's third flight on 20th June 1916 and she would very much like to know more about it and possible identify the chap in the photo. He has a peaked cap on with a RN badge but there are no badges of rank visible.

Many thanks

Guy

 

Guy - a photo or two would certainly help with the identification process.

[ZeppRaider]

Guy

 

Sounds like you have some lovely trench art there! A quick look at Ces Mowthorpe's "Battlebags" states the following:

 

C*5

Built at Kingsnorth. Trials 15 May 1918. To Longside from Kingsnorth via Pulham and Howden 19 May 1918. Forced landing through engine trouble 2 June 1918. Capts McColl and Underhill. Deflated January 1919. Deleted October 1919. Hours flown 1918: 536 hrs 56 mins.

 

If you would like to get in touch and send some pictures over, I can circulate them via my contacts at the Airship Heritage Trust (AHT) and The Pennoyer Centre (Pulham St Mary). .

 

Best wishes

 

David

 

[Aspern]

I think perhaps Guy has pressed the % instead of the 5 (same key on keyboard) and is actually referring to Coastal C5? Can you clarlfy Guy?

[crackingbloke]

You are quite right. Sticky fingers I'm afraid. Yes it should be 5

[Aspern]

The source ZeppRaider refers too, 'Battlebags' by Ces Mowthorpe, makes no reference to an accident on 20 June 1916, so it is likely to have been a minor one. All it says is:

 

"C5 - Built at Kingsnorth, Trials 19 February 1916. To Longside [Aberdeenshire] from Kingsnorth by rail. First flight 16 June 1916. Exercised with Light Cruiser Squadron of the Grand Fleet, together with C.14, 7 October 1916. Crashed due to gas leak, car destroyed 29 January 1917. Deleted 3 January 1917, replaced."

 

But let me ask around and I'll see if I can find anything else.

 

Ian

[crackingbloke]

Many thanks for your input. I attach a few photo's of the two items. My wife say's she knows that there are surviving photo's of C5 but can't remember where she tracked them down to. Can anyone advise where they might be found? The note on the back of the frame/propeller say's

Part of propeller of C5 Coastal Patrol Ship 150ft Long 250 HP. Met with accident on 3rd flight June 20th 1916.

Obviously it would be wonderful to identify the man in the photo.

Guy

[Aspern]

Thanks for posting the photos Guy. I've sent out an email so let's see what comes back.

 

Ian

[Aspern]

Hi Guy

Good news! I have the answer for you. I got in touch with Brian Turpin, the expert on British airships, and this is what he came back with.

 

"The story with C 5 is as follows. HMA C 5 was assembled and first tested at Kingsnorth on 19th February, 1916, making two more flights on 9th and 16th March. She was then deflated and sent to Longside by rail.

 

Reinflated and assembled at the beginning of June, she flew again on 16th June and again on 19th. On 20th June she made a flight of 2 hours 15 minutes, a patrol between Peterhead and Aberdeen. On landing back at Longside the trail rope broke the forward propeller and bits pierced the forward air ballonet. The few small holes in the starboard forward ballonet were repaired without deflating the envelope, and the ship flew again on 23rd June.

 

The crew on this flight were:

 

Flt Lt S E Richie (Captain) with PO Parry (Coxswain) CPO Middleton (Engineer) and AM Windsor (W/T)

 

No badges of rank are visible but the photo is not Flt Lt Richie. CPO Middleton would have insignia on his collar, which leaves only Parry or Windsor. My guess is that it is Petty Officer Parry because of his so-called square rigged jacket. He was a regular member of the crew from the first flight until September, 1916. Unfortunately, I have no record of his subsequent service career. 

 

HMA C 5 continued in service at Longside until 29th January, 1917, when the envelope developed a bad gas leak and the ship crashed on landing, completely destroying the car but fortunately without serious injury to the crew.

 

The wreck was returned to Kingsnorth and rebuilt using a new car. Renumbered C 5A, she was delivered to Pembroke by rail, reinflated there and resumed flying on 27th August, 1917. She remained there until 18th March, 1918, when she was transferred back to Longside where she remained until 3rd November when she moved again, this time to Howden. Her last flight was on 20th December, 1918. She remained ready for service until 14th January, 1919, when she was deflated and subsequently deleted in October, 1919.

 

Total flight time of C 5 was about 100 hours, with a longest patrol on 7th October of 6 hours.

 

Total flight time of C 5A in 1917 was 382 hours 30 minutes and 1918 622 hours 3 minutes, giving a grand total of 1004 hours 33 minutes.

 

Longest patrol was 13 hours 37 minutes on 29th September, 1918, a standard convoy escort and submarine search."

 

 So it appears the accident on 20 June was not a serious one, but it did smash the propeller, hence the souvenir that is now in your wife's hands. A terrific piece for any collection!

 

With kind regards

 

Ian

[crackingbloke]

Ian

Thank yo so very much. My wife will be absolutely delighted. All I need now is a photo. She believes that there is one somewhere, I have no idea where she found it and would be obviously grateful to find it. It's a wonderful account of service and a great thing to identify the photo. Obviously you are most probable right regarding the destroyed propeller, makes perfect sense. Do please pass on my thanks to Brian, his done me a world of good with her in doors.

Many thanks

Guy

[Aspern]

Guy

 

Brian has been looking for a photo of C5 but only has one of C5A. But in essence this is identical to C5 - with a replacement car fitted after damage to the original car in the accident on 29 Jan 1917 (as described above).

 

Ian.

[crackingbloke]

WOWWWWWW!

That is fantastique. I can't thank you and Brian enough. Just WOW.

[ZeppRaider]

Hi Guy and Ian

 

I found these two lovely photographs of C5A in my collection. Enjoy!

 

David

[GreyC]

Very nice!

GreyC

[crackingbloke]

That is really brilliant. We can't thank you enough for sharing. Have to say it makes my head spin to think of going up in one. I have to say my wife is absolutely thrilled to bits. She has been collecting all sorts since forever. Obviously I am a very lucky man to have a wife who shares my interests. It didn't come up very well, and wasn't meant to but the picture I took of the box made out of the propeller was stood on an old leather box which contained the escape equipment for a Lancaster bomber. Just another item she has picked up over the years. It now contains DVDs and CD with potted plans stood on it. It's not easy fitting something like that into the living room decor.

Thank you again so much.

Guy

[David_Underdown]

On 24/03/2020 at 16:04, Aspern said:

No badges of rank are visible but the photo is not Flt Lt Richie. CPO Middleton would have insignia on his collar, which leaves only Parry or Windsor. My guess is that it is Petty Officer Parry because of his so-called square rigged jacket. He was a regular member of the crew from the first flight until September, 1916. Unfortunately, I have no record of his subsequent service career. 

There are rather a lot of records for men with the surname Parry https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/results/r?_fn=&_ln=parry&_no=&_pl=&_sd=&_ed=&discoveryCustomSearch=true&_ser=ADM+139&_ser=ADM+188&_ser=ADM+363&_ser=ADM+362&_col=200&_hb=tna - these will soon be free to download however. For initial searches you could narrow it down to ADM 188 and to find RNAS men they'll have a prefix of F to their number

[JohnH]

Hello @crackingbloke and @Aspern

Thanks for this very interesting post.

Whilst researching the log book of the armed trawler HMS TENBY CASTLE I found reference to a sighting of Airship C5.  My grandfather served on the TENBY CASTLE as a Deckhand from 7 June 1916 to 28 August 1918. It must have been some sight for a 23 year old fisherman from Shetland. 

On the 12 August 1918 at 12.15pm TENBY CASTLE was patrolling East of Peterhead on Fishing fleet patrol when "Airship C5 passed overhead" I take it this was Airship C5A?

HMS Tenby Castle, trawler - British warships of World War 1 (naval-history.net)

I would be interested in hearing more about patrols carried out by Airship C5A from Longside. Is it possible to find out more about the patrol on 12 August 1918 from flight records?