Howlett, 2021
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- Alexander Howlett. 2021. The Development of British Naval Aviation, 1914–1918. Routledge.
Paraphrased from the publisher's description at [1]: The Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) revolutionized warfare at sea, on land, and in the air. This organization introduced and operationalized aircraft carrier strikes, aerial anti-submarine warfare, strategic bombing, and air defence. Innovative practitioners at the RNAS shaped air power and contributed significantly to the Allied victory in the First World War. The Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Air Force are better known. This book draws from archival documents and newly published research to demonstrate the central role of the RNAS in Britain’s war effort.
- Table of contents: 1. Fleet Naval Aviation; 2. Anti-Submarine Warfare; 3. Long-Range Bombing; 4. Naval Air Defence.
- Introduction: In July 1910, a British cabinet subcommittee called the Committee of Imperial Defence (CID), aka the Haldane subcommittee for its chair Lord Haldane began investigation and debats about organizing and regulating aerial navigation activities. It established a subcommittee in Nov 1911 under Colonel J. B. Seely to determine the government's air policy. Seely reported in Feb and April 1912, saying that aviation was going to be a big deal in civilian, naval, and army ("military") operations, and recommending the creation of a military air service. The PM immediately approved and on 13 April 1912 the Royal Flying Corps was formed. It had three subunits: the British Army (Military) Wing, the Royal Navy (Naval) Wing, and the Central Flying School. In June 1914 Winston Churchill moved the Naval Wing to the Royal Navy and named it the Royal Naval Air Service. In 1918 the three units were recombined into the Royal Air Force under a new Air Ministry.
- Ch 1: "Captain Reginald Bacon, the Director of Naval Ordnance in 1908, was the leading British advocate for the construction of rigid airships." He was a submarine and torpedo expert. The figures leading the creation of British naval aviation were Bacon, Frank McClean, Winston Churchill, and Captain Murray Sueter. Bacon had presented at CID's Subcommittee on Aerial Navigation which had been chaired by Lord Esher and then Lord Haldane. He'd worked with Sueter on Rayleigh's ACA, whoc Sueter became Inspecting Captain of Airships (ICA). Bacon was also on the Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, chaired by John William Strutt, aka Lord Rayleigh. Rayleigh had been president of the Royal Society and was at that time chancellor of Cambridge University. In July 1908 Bacon recommended to Admiral Sir John Fisher (the first Sea Lord) place an order with the Vickers arms firms to begin construction of a prototype rigid airship. In December 1908, Fisher assigned Bacon to be in charge of that effort. In Jan 1909 the CID subcommittee budgeted 35K£ (pounds) to build this airship and 50K£ to build its hangar ("shed"). Compare that to the 85K estimated cost for a destroyer or 400K for a light cruiser. In May 1909 the contract with Vickers was signed and construction began. Bacon was in charge from the Navy's side. Sueter became the Admiralty's liaison to Vickers. Strangely Bacon left the Navy in 1909 to work for a different contractor. The frame was envisioned as wood at first but then the Admiralty switched to aluminum, and then acquired patents from a German metallurgist so as to make it from duralumin. The Mayfly project didn't go well; in the event, it got smashed up when being taken out of its shed; we never would know if it could fly.
- Sueter stayed on the case, encouraged more such proects, and a March 1914 contract with Vickers would fund a contract for "the 890,000 sq ft R9".
- In August 1914 the RNAS posssess only two operational semi-rigid airships (p20)
- The German side's minelayers and submarines sank a number of British warships early in the war. The British responded by monitoring the coasts and/or the Channel with airships, notably Parseval type 4.[1] (Use of Parsevals by the British is not acknowledge by w:List of Parseval airships/)
- Institutions 1908-1910
- CID, CID's Subcommittee on Aerial Navigation, the Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (to whom?), Royal Navy and its Dir of Naval Ordnance.
References
- ↑ Howlett, p. 21, footnote 44, and chapter 2, citing Hart, 1925
Original title | The Development of British Naval Aviation, 1914–1918 |
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Simple title | The Development of British Naval Aviation, 1914–1918 |
Authors | Alexander Howlett |
Date | 2021 |
Countries | GB |
Languages | en |
Keywords | military, naval, WWI, Royal Flying Corps, Mayfly, Murray Sueter, Reginald Bacon, Winston Churchill, Frank McClean, Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, Committee of Imperial Defence, CID, Subcommittee on Aerial Navigation, Royal Naval Air Service, J. B. Seely, Lord Esher, Lord Haldane, Central Flying School (Britain), Vickers, British Air Ministry, British Admiralty |
Journal | |
Related to aircraft? | 1 |
Page count | 276 |
Word count | |
Wikidata id |