Ships damaged, attacked sunk by aircraft in WW I

[James A Pratt III]

I have decided to make a post on ships damaged, attacked, and sunk by aircraft in WW I and which aircraft attacked them ect any feed back would be welcome

 

I am going to start with merchant ships attacked from BVLAS

 

1915

15 mar Blonde N. Foreland bombs missed

21 mar Effland North Hinder LV  bombed Missed possibly FF 29s #209 and 407 SEE I

     "      Lestria E from Galloper bombs missed   possibly         "          "       "   "       "

  "         Pandion between N Hind and Galloper bombs missed possibly "  "     " SEE I

22 mar Osceloa North sea bombs missed  possibly  FF 29 407 SEE I ?

"            Teal North Sea Bombs and darts missed  possibly FF 29 # 407 mentions using bombs, flechettes and carbine See I

27 mar Oasel between N Hinder and galloper

30 Staffa off n galloper Buoy boombs missed

 

11 apr Serula off N Hinder LV Bombs missed "2 seaplanes"

12 Apr 3 miles W from N Hinder LV bombs missed

 

6 Jul Groningen  4 miles from Galloper bombs missed

 

6 Sep Fulmar 9 miles W from N Hinder bombs missed

 

30 Oct 8 Avocet 8 miles w from N Hinder bombs and machine guns missed " 3 aircraft SEE I "

 

4 Nov Dotterel 14 miles W 1/2 n from N Hinder bombs and machine guns bombs missed (damaged machine gun fire?)

27 Nov Balgownie near cape Hinder Bombs and machine guns bombs missed

 

4 Dec Southgarth Off La Panne Belgium bombs missed (damaged?)

 

other not in BVLAS 

26 Feb Cordoba attacked SFA 1 2 FF 29s  in WITA Vol 3 page 150

 

30 Apr Cushing (US ship) Lt damage aircraft possibly FF 29 # 209

 

more to come

[James A Pratt III]

1916

22 Jan gemma off Deal Bomb missed

23 jan Carlo North sea bomb missed

 

20 feb Glenfoyle North Sea bomb missed SFA I FF 33D # 542 and FF33E # 460

 

19 May Seattle Dunkirk dock bomb damaged

"           Ernst     "             "       machine gun slight damaged

20 may Lord Strathcona Dunkirk dock bomb slight damage

21 may Valentia  Dunkirk dock bomb slight damage

"            Ernst        "                   bomb slight damage     on 21 may KG 1 did attack Dunkirk and possibly KG 3 was involved

 

29 Jul Frodingham Off Bridlington bombs missed

 

3 Aug Galaway Castle near Gulf LV bombs missed this possibly might have been the airship L31

 

on 24 Apr 6 German seaplanes from Zeebrugge attacked ships in the Channel there is no info on which ones.

[James A Pratt III]

errata 20 mar 1915 a small coaster was attacked off Dover and missed by bombs from 3 FF 29 and Oertz FB3 #46 of SFA 1

 

the Seaplane unit at Zeebrugge  is refered to by different names depending on the source:

SEE I "The Hornets of Zeebrugge" C&C (US)

SFA I "The Air Defnse of Britain" C Cole and EF Cheeseman

"Zeebrugge Naval Air Station Flanders I" by Michael Schmeeke has it as Flandern I until 1917 when it was changed to SEE I

Ostend Naval Air Station did not become operational until march 1917 was called flandern II then SEE II

 

 One wonders who attacked the above ships not mentioned in either of the above sources?

 

1917

14 Feb Millicent Knight  in the downs bombs missed Rumpler 6B1 #890 and Sablitnig SF #968

 

31 mar Amulet North Sea Bombs missed

"           Quentin  "                "          "

19 Apr Drifter Carolbank, SS Nyanza and the Monitor Marshall Ney missed torpedos II TS or FS  Hansa Brandenberg GW 700,701,702,703 with 2 other aircraft

31 Apr Highgate North Sea Bombs missed

 

20 May Birchgrove North Sea torpedos  and machine gun missed aircraft Gotha WD 11 T991 and FF33L #933  the torpedo from T991 missed and #933 strafed the ship.

 

14 Jun Canto North sea 3 torpedos machine gun missed no German torpedo attack this day could it be 15 June? one other ship also attacked

 

9 July Jarrix North Sea torpedo missed

 "       Haslingeden   "      "           "

"         Battersea       "     "           "

"         Hartley          "       "          "by II TS or FS Gotha WD11 #993 and #994 escort FF33L #935

 

more to come

 

 

[KizmeRD]

The extensive listing(s) of so many targets missed well illustrates the limitations of bomb aiming during the Great War period.

It would appear that the prospects of making a successful bomb run targeted against a manoeuvring surface ship was relatively poor.

In order to have any chance at all, the attacking aircraft would have needed to fly low and pass directly overhead - this would have been quite difficult and scary against a naval target capable of directing effective anti-aircraft fire, especially given how under-powered and flimsy WW1 aircraft were.

MB

[pierssc]

Isn't there a chicken and egg situation here though?  How many ships (of any size) were actually equipped with any form of anti-aircraft defence other than rifles, until quite late in the war?

 

 

[James A Pratt III]

The Iron Duke class battleships had two 3inch AA guns when built other older ships got them during the war while newer ships got them when they were built. I think most/all battleships and cruiser had at least one or two machine guns on board but they were sometimes taken away to be used by the British army in the early part of the war.

 

1917

11 jul Grosvenor Dunkirk harbor bombs missed possibly KG 1

31 jul Hannah Dunkirk harbor bomb  slightly damaged possibly KG 1

 

1 Sep Orangemoor Dunkirk Harbor bombs damaged possibly KG 1

25 Sep Polescar Dunkirk harbor bomb damaged possibly KG 3

 

5 Dec Dolphin Calais Bomb slightly damaged possibly KG 1 or 3

 

others:

25/26 Sep Stockneal London bomb damaged possibly KG 3 UK raid

16 Feb merchant ship? Downs missed possibly SFA 1 Sablating SF 5?

5/6 April merchant ship? missed possibly SFA 1 

14 Jul convoy attacked and missed SEE I

12 Aug Cruiser Attentive missed bombs

 

1918

27 Feb Kirkham Abby Off Hook of Holland bombs missed

"          Lady Carmichael (tug)     "           bombs missed and machine gun slightly damaged

5 mar Kosseir Mediterranean     no info

 

more to come

[KizmeRD]

Most successful aerial attacks tended to be against static targets - ships that had either run aground, were at anchor, or in port. Larger well-armed warships were seldom seriously threatened by air attacks (especially if they had armoured decks). Unarmed civilian merchant ships were of course more vulnerable, as were smaller wooden built minor war vessels such as motor launches and auxiliary trawlers and drifters. But even a humble and outdated Maxim MG was often sufficient to see off an attacking WW1 era aircraft (so long as the ammunition lasted), however most warships were fitted with 3” guns and these proved to be highly effective anti-aircraft weapons (when fitted on a high elevation mount).

MB

[James A Pratt III]

Other ships damaged from notes from LLoyds :

 

28 jan 18 Merthr Fresh Warf (UK) damaged KG3 or Rfa 501 R 12

  "             Maasctrom (Dutch)    "     "            "

 

22 Jul 18 Scotia Calais harbor damaged BG?

 

11 Sep 17 Suzanne Et Marie (French) Dunkirk damaged possibly KG 1

 

1918 all Dutch ships

8 Mar Holland  off France Damaged

5 Apr Anna  North sea damaged

20 Apr Bertha North sea damaged

 

1 may Albertdina North sea damaged

9 May Voorwarts North sea damaged

 

British warships damaged list from another post:

24 Sep 16 monitor Marshall Soult Dunkirk bomb 1 KIA

"                Destoryer Miranda          "            "       2 KIA both possible KG?

7 Sep 15 Light Crusier Attentive Belgian coast bomb possibly Ago CII S66 and S 67 III MFA

 

9/10 Aug 15 Trawler Cleon Dover  Zeppelin L 12

  "                    "        Equinox    "      "             "

 

24 Aug 16 HM Yacht Miranda off Skiningrove 1 WIA no Damage possibly either Zeppelin L 21 or L 31

 

24 may 17 Earl of Peterborough Adriatic 50 Kg bomb hit KUK naval aircraft L 140, L137, L136, K201, A 24, ( L137 and L136 both shot down Italian Nieuports)

 

24 Jul 17 destoryer Touchstone off harwich 2 WIA damaged (possibly 22 Jul 17 Gotha raid?)

 

2 Sep 17 Minesweepers Albyn, Lingfield, X173 X174 and possibly X171 Dunkirk 7 KIA possibly KG 1

 

7 Jul 18 Monitor Erebus Dunkirk 2 bombs BG?

 

[Airshipped]

Not wishing to knock this discussion thread off course but sometimes the attack from the air can have other effects, e.g in January 1918 the Goeben springs to mind. Aircraft can act like the aerial equivalent of barbed wire, altering behaviour. 

[James A Pratt III]

The Ottoman Imperial Navy

 

12 Aug 15 the steamer Mahmut Sveket Pasa was torpedoed , damaged and beached by HmS/M E 14. It was attacked by the Short seaplane No 842 flown by F/Cdr CHK Edmonds . He did hit the ship with a torpedo but according to the Turks it failed to explode. The ship was later refloated and towed to Constantinople for repairs

 

17 Aug 15  the steamer Kios or Chios was hit, damaged and beached by Edmonds. The Turks salvaged the ship but it was sunk by the submarine E 11

 

6 Feb 16 the German steamer Irmingard at Zongguldak was either lightly damaged or sunk and soon salvaged by aircraft most likely Grigorvich flying boats from the seaplane carriers Imperator Nikolai I and  Imperator Alexander I. The ship on 2 Oct 16 hit a mine and was beached and on 17 Oct 16 it was finished of by the Russian submarine Narval

 

22 jan 18  while aground the Battlecruiser Goeben or Yavuz was hit by 2 small bombs one on the after funnel and one on the port net locker out of many dropped by the british.

 

9/10 Jul 17 the destroyer Yadihiiar-i-Milet was hit by a bomb from Handley-Page 0/100 No 3124 and sunk  while at anchor  aStenia Bay near Constaninople . The ship was later raised and scraped. The destroyer Noumonuue-i-Hamyiet was also lightly damaged in this attack.

 

The Austor-Hungarian Navy 

 

1 Aug 16 the auxilary minesweeper Elore sunk and by a bomb or bombs from a Caproni Ca 2 during a raid on Fiume. The ship was raised and put back into service.

 

18 Mar 18 the Hospital ship Metkovich was bombed and damaged beyond rapair at Sgiovani Di Medusa

 

27 May 18 TB 27F dmamaged RAF raid Durazzo

 

13 Jun 18 at Gjenodic RAF aircraft damage 2 German U-boats the KUK Battleship Erherzog Friedrich , the destroyer Csikos, and the Torpedo boat TB 58F with 1 KIA and 21 WIA

 

more merchant ships damaged:

British

7 Sep 15 John Evelyn damaged Millwald Docks by Zeppelin. The airships LZ 74, and LZ 77  and SL2 did bomb England this night

 

Norweigen

22 Apr 16 Argo damaged Leith Zeppelin Problem no Zepeelin raid on this date but during the night of 2/3 Apr 16 the airship L 14 did bomb Leith

[wallace2]

Re ZEPPELIN Raid at Leith in 1916.

 

My grandparents lived in East Lothian during FWW and my father visited Edinburgh aged 6/7 after a raid.   He told me that he couldn't understand why some of the streets were torn up with soil exposed.  His immediate thought was that the moles in Edinburgh were bigger than those at home!

 

[KizmeRD]

3 hours ago, James A Pratt III said:

Norwegian

22 Apr 16 Argo damaged Leith Zeppelin Problem no Zepeelin raid on this date but during the night of 2/3 Apr 16 the airship L 14 did bomb Leith

 

Sorry, but due to confusion over the dates, I tried looking for verification of damage caused to Norwegian steamer ‘Argo’ anytime during April 1916, but unfortunately I couldn’t find any (no press reports either of anything other than two small wooden row boats being sunk as a result of a Zeppelin bomb falling into the water at Leith docks on night of 2/3rd April).

May I ask you what the specific source of your information is? (what’s the actual name of the Lloyd’s publication that these details are taken from?).

 

I can at least confirm that there was a small Norwegian steamer named Argo (1,720 grt). This ship was mined off East coast of England 8th February 1917.

 

MB 

[James A Pratt III]

My source is Lloyd's War Losses  The first World War

 

It does mention the Norwegian Steamer Argo 1261 tons sunk by a mine 28 jan 1917 1 1/2 miles SE of Imer Dowsing Light vessel Hull to Rouen coal

 

I hope this of some use i got this book by ILL

[KizmeRD]

Thanks for the info. (even if they occasionally appear to be using a different calendar).
I would have assumed that the details in the Lloyd’s War Losses book must have been compiled from claims made against the Government’s War Risks Insurance Scheme, however that wouldn’t have extended to non-British flag ships (and certainly not enemy warships), so it will be interesting for me to pry further into the sources of the data that they have used.

 

And it’s also interesting that in your previous post you referred to the sinking of the Ottoman torpedo boat ‘Yadigar-i-Miket’. This would have been all the more impressive had the attacking aircraft not been aiming for the Goeben at the time!
 

Finally, many of the ‘sinkings’ mentioned were really only cases where due to flooding, the hulls of the bombed ships ended up resting in shallow water on the sea-bed (with their superstructure still above water), hence in many cases it was relatively easy to re-float and return them into service afterwards.

 

MB

 

[James A Pratt III]

In wartime when you need every ship you can get a country will do everything it can to salvage a damaged ship. The Ottomans had a limited number of steamers and couldn't build them so each loss they could not replace in wartime.

 

Back to British ships:

I forgot to add 1 Sep 16 seaplane carrier Raven II hit by a bomb at Port Said from a Rumpler CI of FA 300 3 KIA  and 6 WIA or 9 casualties see OTF 31-1

 

British warships and merchant ships sunk or damaged beyond repair:

9/10 Aug 16 S/m B-10 in Venice harbor was hit by a bomb and sunk by a KUK Navy seaplane. 21 took part in this raid from Trieste L98, L99, L114, L125, L126, L136, L137, and K301 from Puntistella and Cosoda L62, L65, L69, L74, L90, L94, L95, L117, and L123 and from Parenzo L115, L116, L119. On 23 August the boat was raised and put in dry dock where the Italians set to work repairing it. On 31 August, however a fire broke out when an Italian worker drilled into a fuel tank that had been left full in spite of warnings by British officers. The dock was flooded in order to put out the fire, but the boat was already damaged beyond repair, it was later sold for scrap to the Italian government.

 

26 Aug 16 drifter Rosies working nets at the western edge of the Otranto barrage was bombed and sunk by the KUK Navy seaplane L132

 

1 may 17 Collier Gena NE Southwold hit and sunk by a torpedo dropped by Hansa Brandenberg  GW No 701 from the Zeebrugge based Torpedostaffel IIl or II Frontstaffel  GW No 703 which  was with 701 was downed by most likely anti-aircraft fire  or possibly mechanical failure and the crew captured. 

 

14 jun 17 Steamer Kankakee with a cargo of coal was torpedoed and sunk of Harwich  by Gotha WD 11 No 991 after being missed by WD 11 No 992 and ((3 torpedoes. Escorting the torpedo bombers were FF33Ls no 1119 and 935 who shot at the anti-aircraft gunners on other ships in the area with their. machine guns

 

9 Sep 17 the steamer Storm with a cargo of coal sunk by by either one torpedo from WD 11 No 1213 and possibly a second torpedo from either WD 11 No 995 or 1211. It was also hit by at least 2 bombs and machine gun fire from the three C-aircraft from I C-staffel that were escorting them.

 

12 mar 18 S/M D-3 was sunk by accident  by the French airship ATO  there were no survivors

 

6 Jul 18 S/M C-25 was cruising on the surface off Harwich when it was attacked by 5 Hansa Brandenberg W 29 seaplanes led by the German Naval ace ObtdRMA Friedrich Christiansen they machine gunned this submarine so badly it could not submerge. The aircraft broke off the attack when their ammunition ran out and the arrival of the submarine E-51  which opened fire on them. The aircraft radioed their attack and 4 Hansa Brandenberg W12 seaplanes also  from Zeebrugge arrived later one tried to bomb the C-25 and missed  the others attacked the E-51 and miseed which towed the crippled C-25 into port. There it was not repaired.

 

more to come

 

 

[KizmeRD]

The previously mentioned Yâdigâr-ı-Millete was the largest warship sunk/permanently put out of action by aerial bombing during the entire war. The unfortunate 616 ton destroyer/torpedo boat was moored in Stenia Bay (Constantinople) on the evening of 9/10 July 1917 and got hit by 112 lb. bombs intended for the nearby battlecruiser Goeben (Yavuz Sultan Selim). The aircraft responsible was a Handley-Page 0-100 flown by Sqd. Cmdr. Kenneth Savory of the Royal Naval Air Service. 

 

Subsequent efforts to sink the Goeben after she became grounded in the Dardanelles on 20 January 1918 (following the Imbros raid) involved six days frantic days of unremitting aerial assault. Dozens of British aircraft flew sorties and around 180 bombs were dropped, yet despite everything, there were just two hits and (which caused only minor damage).

 

Just goes to show the massive advances in the capabilities and effectiveness of military & naval aviation in WW2 as compared to ‘those magnificent men in their flying machines’ during the Great War period.

 

MB

 

[James A Pratt III]

10 Aug 18 CMBs 39, 40 ,41, 42, 44,and 47 were sunk or interned after being attacked by German aircraft from Borkum Island. Two Hansa Brandenberg W 29 No 2297 crew KIA and W 29 No 2051 crew saved were lost in return.

 

errata also on (/10 Aug 16 thS/M B-8 was damaged in the same attack the B-10 was damaged beyond repair

 

final note: the British merchant ship Franz Fischer was sunk by the german submarine UC-17 not a zeppelin.

 

French losses

 

15 Sep 16 submarine foucault in the Adriatic was sunk by the KUK navy seaplane L135

 

It is possible that an US made 60 sub chaser either C-2 or C-43 was sunk in a bombing raid on Dunkirk in 1918 evidence is fragmented and contradictory

 

Italian loss

19/20 Mar 16 the destroyer Bersagliere was hit by a bomb from a KUK seaplane this night either from the L 89 or L 60 while at anchor off the Albanian port of Valona. The ship was either beached or settled in shallow  water. It was refloated and returned to Italy where it was repaired.

 

Russian Losses all in the baltic

22 Aug 17 the torpedo boat Stroini  after it ran aground was hit by a bomb from the German seaplane Friedrichshafen FF 41 No 1000. The vessel suffered 13 KIA it could have been salvaged, but the Autumn storms came which caused the work to be broken off add this to the chaos the post February/march 1917 Revolution that hit the Russian navy. Succeeding storm during the winter of 1917-18 wrecked the ship

 

22 Sep 17 Destroyer Okhotnik was sunk after hitting a aircraft dropped mine most likely laid on 7 September  by a FF 41. 52 of the crew were lost. This was the only ship sunk by an aircraft laid mine in WW I

 

14 Jun 17 the Submarine  Pantera was damaged by a bomb form the german airship SL 8

 

8/9 Oct 17 the merchant ship General Cimmermann or Zimmerman was damaged by 3 bomb hits while off Mento on Osel Island. On 17 October it was scutteled as a blockship in the Moon Sound Channel

 

more to come

[KizmeRD]

Just to give some context to the various listings posted to date - aerial attacks on surface vessels illustrate how WW1 era aircraft were often employed successfully on strikes against minor warships (incl. U-boats) and merchant shipping. However bombing raids against major surface combatants were less frequent, a lot more difficult to attempt and largely unsuccessful.

The encounter involving the flotilla of six 40ft. CMBs and the German float planes on 11 August 1918 was perhaps one of the more dramatic examples of emergent air power against naval forces and so perhaps is deserving of more than just a passing reference...

 

On 11th August 1918 Admiral Tyrwhitt had sent a force of 4 light cruisers, 13 destroyers, plus the six CMBs on a sweep of the East Frisian coast. Unfortunately the approach of the British flotilla had been spotted by both German reconnaissance aircraft and a patrolling Zeppelin and therefore naval air stations on Borkum and Norderney were placed on the alert.

 

25 miles out the CMBs, armed with torpedoes, were detached from the main force on a mission to seek and destroy German minesweepers operating in the mouth of the River Emms. Shortly afterwards they were attacked by 9 German floatplanes. (According to German sources, these were newly arrived Hansa-Brandenberg W-29’s). The CMBs closed up to concentrate their AA fire, but after a high speed engagement lasting some 30 minutes, either their Lewis Guns had run out of ammunition, or the guns had simply jammed. Regrettably it was at this time that a second wave of five aircraft arrived and took advantage of the situation by flying down to low level and strafing the helpless CMBs with machine gun fire. One German aircraft was brought down, but two of the CMBs were sunk, one caught fire, and three were damaged but able to limp into Dutch territorial waters, where they got interned for the remainder of the war.

 

Also that day, flying off of a towed lighter from one of the destroyers, a Sopwith Camel managed to shoot down the earlier referred to Zeppelin (L.53), thus demonstrating the value of surface ships having their own organic air cover.

 

Despite their frail construction, insufficient engine power, limited endurance, lack of navigation aides, poor payload and not having an effective bomb sight or bomb delivery system, these fairly primitive WW1 aircraft certainly pointed the way for the future of naval aviation in WW2.

 

MB

 

 

[Michael Lowrey]

A slight correction: Franz Fischer was sunk by the German submarine UB 17, not UC 17. More later when I have some more time to go dig through sources and trace ships.

[James A Pratt III]

Quite true MB

 

and now for the Russian battleship Slava (Russian for Glory)  one of the most air-attacked ships in WW I  here are the air attacks on this ship:

 

3 Sep 15 missed bomb FF33E #479

 

25 Dep 15 10 kg bomb hit  on the conning tower  Capt and 5 other men KIA others WIA from one of two Albatros CIs  C.115/15 of FFA 37 and S.146 from a naval landplane detachment attached to FFA 37

 

26 April 16 3 bomb hits from either Hansa-Brandenberg #234 or FF33Es #556 or#553

 

night 31April/1May 16 airship SL8  misses the Slava SL3 had to abort  and crashed into the sea.

 

12 Sep 16 missed by torpedos from 1 T-Staffel This was the first German air torpedo attack in history and the Slava was the first battleship in history to come under attack from torpedo bombers. Then the Slava came under air attack missed by bomb carrying German seaplanes. No Russian ships were damaged in any of these attacks , but some sources still have a Russian destroyer being either sunk or damaged by a torpedo! 1 T-Staffel also made another failed torpedo attack against 2 Russian merchant ships on 23 September 16.

 

17 Oct 17 during Operation Albion the Slava and other Russian warships came under air attack twice by German seaplanes. All their bombs missed. Sadly the Slava was hit by seven 12 inch shells from the German dreadnouhgt battleship Koenig and since it could not escape up the Moon Sound Channel since it was too badly flooded forwards the ship was scuttled.

 

For more on this ship see the Article "Attack on the Slava" in OTF 30-1

 

Note on 8 Oct 17 1 T-Staffel launched a torpedo attack again two Russian merchant ships thought to be minelayers off Osel Island . All the torpedoes missed

[James A Pratt III]

Ooops! typo thanks Michael L UB-17

 

German Ships sunk

 

16 feb 17 Brugges Tug Zuiderzee soon raise and a small harbor craft Hafenwache II a total loss by 8 Sopwith 1 1/2-Strutters  5 Wing RNAS

 

16/17 Aug 17 Ostend torpedo boat A-13 damaged beyond repair 1 KIA HP 0/100s of 7N Squadron  RNAS

 

UC-70 5 jun 17 Ostend sunk by naval gunfire from the monitors Erebus and Terror directed by 2 DH 4s salvaged in put back into service. 28  Aug 18 oil spoted from by a Blackburn Kangaroo bomber which bombed it and cummoned with signal flares the destroyer Ouse which dropped 10 depth charges on the boat which along with another bomb from the aircraft sank the U-boat.

 

27 may 17 UC-66 sunk Curtis H 12 8656 possibly the only unasisted U-boat kill at sea by an aircraft in WW I

 

16 may 18 UB-59 in drydorck in Bruges under repair from 20 Apr 18 mine damage hit by bomb probably by a HP 0/100 or 0/400 of 224 squadron. It was estimated it would take 6 months to repair, however when the Germans had to withdraw from Belgium the boat was blown up on 5 Oct 18.

 

18 may 18 U-39 was damaged off Cartagena Spain by French seaplanes to where it could not submerge and the boat was interned in Cartagena for the rest of the war 2 KIA.  The  seaplanes may have been Tellier flying boats from Algeria or Morocco

[KizmeRD]

James, your mention of the two big gun monitors operating off the Belgian coast brings to mind another notable story in which a German naval floatplane attached to Marinekorps Flanders can be honourably credited with an ‘assist’ for its participation on a (partially) successful attack on a British warship.

 

The story goes that in order to deal with the problems that these British monitors were causing German coastal defences, a new experimental weapon was specially developed and deployed. This was the so called FL boat (Fernlenkboot), a 17 metre long remote controlled high speed boat packed with explosive. It was launched from a shore station and controlled by wire, payed out from an extremely long spool!

 

In order to guide the weapon, an aircraft was required to fly overhead and act as a spotter, radioing targeting instructions back to the shore station which then corrected the boats course. Once it crashed into its victim, the boat exploded. 
 

This is exactly what occurred to HMS Erebus on 28 October 1917. It was reported that the damage caused by the detonation resulted in the loss of 50ft of the ship’s anti-torpedo bulge.

 

MB

 

[James A Pratt III]

Quite true MB!

 

German ships damaged by aircraft in Belgian ports from the book "Weilding the Dagger"  the air units attacking are mostly for the RNAS Comuniques:

 

1/2 Feb 15 U14 damaged Zeebrugge possibly a Voisin of V102 or V104 or V106

 

3Jul 17 destroyer S-53 damaged under repair until Jan 18 possibly HP (Handley Page bombers) of 7N (Naval RNAS Sqn)

 

22 Aug 17 Torpedo boat A-44 badly damged Zeebrugge possibly HP 7N

 

3/4 Sep 17 TBs A-49 and A-39; UB-54 and destroyers S-18 and S-54 damaged possibly HPs  7N and 7A ( Note 7A  was a RNAS Sqn)

 

17 Feb 18 2 destroyers damaged possibly HPs of 7N and 14N (note 14N is 7A renumbered)

 

23 Mar 18 2 destroyers damaged Bruges possibly   DH-4s of 6N

 

23/24 mar 18 UB 30 damaged possibly HPs 7N

 

1 Apr 18 destroyer V-74 bamaged possibly  DH-4s 217 Sqn RAF

 

17/18 May 18 S-53 badly damaged Bruges 

 

30 may 4 A II torpedo boats damaged possibly 217 or 98 Sqns

 

In Jun destroyers V-69, V-82 and torpedo boat A-49 damaged by aircraft

 

2 Jul 18 UB-88 and UB-10 badly damaged possibly by either 38 or 218 Sqns

 

In Jul destroyer G-91 badly damaged aircraft

 

In August destroyers S-53 and G-91  and torpedo boat A-9 damaged aircraft

[KizmeRD]

James, I’m not sure what all these listings are intended to prove. Were WW1 aircraft good at blowing up ships? The simple answer is no, they weren’t really that great at delivering a knock out punch, but that said, there were occasional success stories.

 

Unverified lists of ‘damage’ to un-named ships by unaccredited aircraft need to be treated very circumspect - even well detailed accounts of ‘clear hits’ were, in reality,  often found to be exuberant over-statements, and without good post-strike intelligence assessments, it is terribly difficult to know the true extent of bombing claims.
 

One German U-boat commander likened aircraft attacks to that of an annoying mosquito. Nevertheless the annoyance that patrolling aircraft caused was generally sufficient to force U-boats to dive and therefore have to transit under water on battery power. This greatly impacted their freedom to operate and thus their ability to cause havoc. That alone was perhaps the greatest contribution that aircraft made to the war at sea during totality of the Great War.

 

In general, the results of WW1 aircraft bombing efforts against naval surface targets were largely insignificant (in terms of actual material damage inflicted).  Further post-war technical development would be needed before the aircraft’s true potential as a devastatingly destructive weapon of war was to be fully realised.

 

 MB

[Guest]

Mate,

 

Did we mention this attack?

 

Schur Bernhard    Flug-Ob Matrose Marine     Obsver Airforce German Seaplane Sqn (Wasserfliegerabteilung)    1916-17    (born at Spremberg DoW 13-4-17) Gewehrschuß i.d. Unterleib (shot to abdoman) possibly in attack on Russian submarine in the Black Sea - During a recce flight made in the evening by a Hansa-Brandenburg a Russian submarine was spotted from a height of 1500 meter, the seaplane dived and dropped two bombs one of which hit the superstructure of the submarine. It was seen trailing a large oil slick. Another submarine was spotted on the 24th of April but when attacked it stayed on the surface and returned fire. The observer aboard the aircraft was wounded and later died

 

And this possibly no hits?

 

Liebmann (Leibmann) Ernst    Kapt-Lt Marine    Pilot Airforce OC German Seaplane Squadron (Wasserfliegerabteilung) 5-15 - shown as (Alman Donanmasi Özel Müfrezesi Deniz Tayyare Grubu or German Seaplane Group) Deniz kuvvetlerinde Bogazlar Özel güçleri Deniz Uçus birlikleri komutani at Kavak (Zuluk) 1916 (Boats in the naval forces aircraft fleet commander) - shown 1st Aircraft Company at Gallipoli (shown in Wolf)     1915-16    flew first Gotha WD1 (236) to Turkey 5-15 formed German Seaplane Squadron with 3x Gotha WD1 (236) (237) (238) 3 pilots & 3 observers and 6 mechanics shown attacked Russian submarine off Bosporus in Gotha WD1 (240) 26-3-16 and again in Gotha WD1 (238) 13-5-16 first OC awarded EK II 8-15 & EK I 2-16 and Ottoman War Medal spelling in Ole Nikoljsen) shown in Klaus Wolf's Book (not identified)?
 

Not much on these attacks by the German Seaplane unit in the Black Sea.

 

S.B

Edited 10 May , 2021 by stevebecker