Coastal Ship C27

[Andrew Smith]

I have just discovered that one of the Australians I am reseaching perished when C27 was presumably shot down by German seaplanes.

Does anyone know who claimed this victory and how many crew were aboard C27 when she met her end??

So far I know that the following were on board;

Flt Lt. Dixon

Flt Lt. Hall

AM1. Ernest Rogers Whyte (The Aussie)

Regards,

Andrew

[FAAAEd]

I have just discovered that one of the Australians I am reseaching perished when C27 was presumably shot down by German seaplanes.

Does anyone know who claimed this victory and how many crew were aboard C27 when she met her end??

Regards,

Andrew

Have a look at this:

http://www.century-of-flight.freeola.com/a...meline/1917.htm

[Guest Söderbaum]

Have a look at this:

http://www.century-of-flight.freeola.com/a...meline/1917.htm

Hi Andrew

There is a thread on The Aerodrome Forum which I started for some Years ago, "Who really shot down the British Airship C27"

One thing is clear that Christansen together with his observer and TWO other seaplanes from See I all were

involved in this incident...

On other thing is also completely clear, that Christiansen and his observer DID NOT get the confirmation... ..according to original sources at least one of the other crews put in a claim for bringning down the airship...

My conclusion that it ended up in a "draw", which means that it become a unit victory...

p.s. did you ever received the photocopies I sent to you some Years ago...?

Gunnar

[Dolphin]

Andrew

According to Above the Lines, C27 on 11 December 1917 was Oberleutnant zur See Friedrich Christiansen's second victory of his eventual thirteen.

The full crew of C27 was Flt Lt John Francis Dixon DSC, Flt Lt Herbert Hall, F/20396 AMII John E Collett MiD, J/34195 AMI James Ernest Martin, and F/2824 AMI Ernest Rogers Whyte.

I hope that this is useful.

Gareth

[Adrian Roberts]

C26 was lost searching for her. Flt Lt Kilburn was a close friend of Dixon's and begged permission from his CO to search for C27 despite marginal weather conditions. They ran into a headwind, drifted into Holland and were interned.

Adrian

[Andrew Smith]

G'day All,

Thanks for the great replies.

Gunnar,

Yes I did receive the Fellowes interrogation paperwork, I did send you a thank you email. If you didn't get it I am sorry but please accept this belated thank you. I have not had time to tranlate it yet though.

I did find this photo

C27 On Fire

Is it fair dinkum???

Andrew

[Tim]

Andrew,

Doesn't look fair dinkum too me. Appears to be a composite image and the marking C27 is far too clear, as opposed to the rest of the grainy image. It appears to me to be have been placed there rather poorly using imaging software.

The impact splash really doesn't match. It appears to be from a more heavier and smaller object such as an aircraft.

The "fire" is coming from the "top" of the object, yet it appears to be undamaged and not burning, whilst the "bottom" of the object crashing into the sea is damaged (i.e. broken edges)

To me the original appears to more WWII vintage. It just has that look about it.

Do I have too much time on my hands?

Cheers,

Tim

[Regulus 1]

Hi,

As Gunnar already mentioned there seems to be discussion on the fact. The Tätigkeitsbricht of KOFL Marinekorps 6-12 December says :

...3 Flugzeuge der C Staffel gegen 10.10 vormittags von Nordhinder aus westlich das engl. Lufschiff C27 (Typ Astra Torres), das zwischen 2 starken Geleitzügen sicherte, und stellen es in 101a zum Kampf, schon die ersten von Flugzeug 1183 (Oberltn. Christiansen, Flugmaat Wladika) auf ca 400 m abgegeben Schïsse waren Treffer und zündeten, das Luftschiff (4 Insassen) stürzte in Flammen gehüllt ab und verbrannte auf dem Wasser vollends.

A bit further on the next page of the report, one reads under victories :

Am 11. wurde in 101a das englische Luftschiff C27 durch 3 flugzeuge der C-Staffel unter Führung von Oberleutnant Christianse brennend abgeschossen.

This last line already shows something curious, it is now shot down by 3 planes of the unit, and the victory is not mentioned again as being credited to Wladika and Christiansen. The victory of Lt. Voss for example on the 12th is mentioned fully again.

Concerning the photo, it is real, however, what you have here, is a version that was altered quite a bit, as already mentioned by Tim, the number on the airship, etc. An original of it can be found at the Royal Army Museum at Brussels, as well as a photo of a painting of this.

Best from Johan