BRINGING DOWN A NEW ZEPPELIN

Hokitika Guardian, 19 October 1928, Page 8

BRINGING DOWN A NEW ZEPPELIN

(By HECTOR C. 15YWATER, in the “ Navy . Magazine.”)

On Sunday, August 11th., 1918, there was fought in the North Sea a brisk little action which had far-reach-ing results on the subsequent course of the war. This engagement was noteworthy in itself as being one of the rare occasions on which a squadron oif warships, was pitted against a Hoet of aircraft. It is also of historical importance as having signalised the end for all practical purposes of the German Zeppelin campaign. In consequence of this affair all Zeppelins were withdrawn from the North Sea zone and took no further part in the active conduct of the war.

. ne action developed out olf a British naval sweep along the West Frisian coast/ where enemy light craft were reported to be cruising. Admiral Tyr Whitt, with his famous Harwich Force, had put to sea in the hope of cutting these ships off from their base and rounding them up.

At this date a number of . C.M.B.’s —small -coast motor boats of the hydroplane type, capable of making nearly 40 knots, and armed with one or two torpedoes which were projected, tail first, from the stern —were working with the Harwich cruisers, and were cast for a leading part in the programme. Their mission was to dash in at Iful 1 speed and torpedo any German vessels that might be sighted. The enemy, however, was on the alert. His air patrols appear to have given timely warning of the impenujng raid, thus enabling his cruisers and torpedo craft to avoid contact with our main force. B ; ut the day was by no means uneventful. Our C.M.B.’s, scouting well ahead of the main body, were suddenly attacked by a flight of German seaplanes, which had much the best of the encounter. Barring a few Lewis guns, the C.M.B.’s had no means of defence save their speed, and against hostile aircraft this availed them nothing. Swooping down upon the flotilla, the German seaplanes riddled their flimsy hulls with a hail of. machine-gun bullets. Three boats. Nos. 40, 42, and 47, were sunk, while others sustained damage and casualties. Up to this point, therefore, honours rested with the enemy. But we were soon to have our revenge.

The fight had been witnessed from a distance by a big Zeppelin, the L 53, commanded by Captain Prolss, who ranked as one of the ablest of all German airship nav.igatoys. This vessel remained hovering nepr the scene until she' was sighted from the British squadron. Preparations were at once made to attack her. Within a few minutes a Sopwitb Camel aeroplane had been flown off a lighter towed at high speed by ope of the destroyers, and was climbing steadily to get above its prey. The Zeppelin promptly made off to the east at full speed, but too late.

A CRYPTIC SIGNAL. Eager watchers in the British squadron saw a tongue of fire leap from the Zeppelin as the incendiary bullets of its tiny assailant found their billet, then the whole airship became wrapped in flames qntil. the hull broke in two and fell, a blazing mass of wreckage, into the, sea. While : the triumphant Sopwitb Camel was winging its way liack to the squadron the Commander-In-Chief made a somewhat cryptic signal : “ See Hymn No. 414, Ancient and Modern, last verse.” One can imagine that in every ship of the squadron hymn-books- were hastily thumbed until tnis particular hymn and verse were found:

11 0 happy band of pilgrims, Look upward to the skies, Where such a light affliction Shall win so great a prize.”

This was the fourth Zeppelin which British naval forces had destroyed in the space of three weeks. On July 19th, 1918, a smashing raid on the Tondern aerodrome by aeroplanes from H.M.S. Furious resulted in the complete destruction of two new airships, Lo 4 and LCD, while on August 6th, the L7O was shot down in flames by British cruisers during a maiden flight across the North Sea.

The L7O had been specially designed to attain a ceiling of 23,000 feet, with the object of circumventing our aviators and anti-aircraft gunners. She left Germany on the evening of August 6th to bomb the East Coast of England. Among those on board was Captain Peter Strasser, commander of the Naval Airship Section (MarineLuftsehiffabteilung), who had insisted on making the trip, despite the remonstrances of his brother officers. His death was the severest blow to the German air service. Alter the successive disasters recorded above a strong reaction set in against the use of airships anywhere near the fighting zones, and few, if any, further flights appear to have been made till the end of the war. The British Navy, therefore, can claim to have had a large share in the defeat of the Zeppelin campaign.