The first flight from a moving ship took place in May The following year, the first seaplane carrier, Hermes, was commissioned. The Navy also began to build a chain of coastal air stations. Within a few months the RNAS had pilots and 95 aircraft 55 of them seaplanes. The main role of the RNAS was fleet reconnaissance, patrolling coasts for enemy ships andsubmarines, attacking enemy coastal territory and defending Britain fromenemy air-raids.
In February there was a change of policy and the Royal Flying Corps were given responsibility ofdealing with Zeppelins once they were over Britain.
The RNAS was immediately involved, providing airship cover to the troops moving across the English Channel to France and deploying aircraft to Ostend to protectthe ground forces from Zeppelin attack. As the war progressed the RNAS also assumed an attack role, conducting the first bombing raids ofthe war on the Zeppelin sheds at Dusseldorf and Cologne.
With Winston Churchill's encouragement, the Admiralty aggressively utilised its naval air power over the fields of the Western Front, developing night flyinglong range strategic and massed bombing raids. In the US began expanding its naval air power. When the US entered the war, American pilots were placed in European squadrons and US naval aircraft eventually finding their way onto battleships and cruisers for maritime surveillance and anti submarine patrols.
The aircraft carrier was still years away so the seaplane became the standard shipbourne aircraft because of its ability to takeoff and onthe water. The problem with these aircraft however was that the ship had to stop to lift the aircraft into or out of the water, all the while being vulnerable to attack. Eventually wooden ramps were built on the ships' forecastles for the better performingwheeled aircraft although these aircraft then had to land ashore or ditch in the water.
The first of these ships appeared in In , HMAS Australia tested the platforms built on turntables or gun turrents, avoiding the requirement for ships tosteam into wind to launch their aircraft. Originally a battlecruiser, Furious had a deck built forward of the superstructure, a less than ideal arrangement for the approach and landing! Five days later Dunning drowned when he was blown over Furious' side attempting to repeat the feat.
Following Dunns' death, the deck was continued aft around the superstructure. Whilst this was thought to be a better arrangement forlanding, turbulence generated by the superstructure still made the approach hazardous. Landings on Furious were discontinued but the seed had been planted. The aircraft carrier was born. As the war progressed, 6 more battle ships and cruisers were modified to operate their own aircraft.
Despite or may be because of its apparent successes, the RN once againlost its Air Service. On the 1st April , the navy and army air wings were merged once again, this time to form the Royal Air Force. Seaplane and flying boat development continued, proving invaluable for long range surveillance operations. They were, however, poor performers compared to their land based cousins. This disparity in performance eventually signalled the demise of the seaplane for all but specialist needs and drove the requirement for aircraft carriers capable of carrying higher performance aircraft.
The war effectively ended on 11th November Incredibly, the US Navy and Marine Corps had over aircraft but no aircraft carriers while the RN had eight aircraft and seaplane carriers but no aircraft!
Although the search was fruitless and the Baby was eventually returned to Raven, the Captain of the Brisbane unsuccessfully pleaded for a permanently embarked aircraft. On the other hand, a German naval seaplane, the Wolchen, a Frederichshaven Type E33, was spectacularly successful; and in Australian waters. Her crew routinely scouted ahead and homed the raider, SMS wolf ontomany prizes, both by day and night.
The Wolfchen became the first aircraft to capture a ship, shepherding first the SS Wairuna, and the schooner Winsloe, back to an anchored Wolf in the Kermandel Islands in May The ship unable to defend itself against L43 which then escaped unscathed.
The Australian Naval Board then began to appreciate naval airpower's potential but requests to permanently embark Royal Naval aircraft on Australian ships were denied by the British Admiralty.
Australian ships embarked aircraft only when in direct support of British objectives or an individual 'arrangements' between British and Australian naval ships.
Bert Hinkler wasted no time securing work with the aircraft manufacturer, A. Roe Company in Manchester. He soon saved enough to buy a second-hand Avro Baby and in made the first non-stop flight across Europe from London to Turin.
For this he won the Britannia trophy of the Royal Aero Club and the support of the Avro Company which shipped his plane to Australia for him to use a demonstrator. Between and he created more long-distance records in Europe, but his ultimate dream was to fly solo from England to Australia.
In stark contrast to the uproarious farewells of other flyers, only his wife Nancy, a representative from Avro and a few ground crew watched him depart. Home » Themes » People » Aviation. Bert Hinkler was born in Bundaberg, Queensland on the December 8, The son of a mill worker, he was fascinated by flight. In and , he built man-carrying gliders and flew them successfully at Mon Repos Beach near Bundaberg. In he joined A. Between he created many aviation records. His most renowned achievements include his pioneering solo flight from England to Australia in and the first solo flight across the South Atlantic in On the 7th January, Bert Hinkler was accidentally killed whilst attempting another solo flight from England to Australia.
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