The
entry of the United States into the First World War in 1917 saw the
arrival of US forces in Europe to aid the Allied cause. The US Navy
had bases in mainland Europe and the British Isles in an attempt to
combat the U-Boat menace, including the first at Queenstown (Cobh)
in Ireland.
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First Flight from Queenstown NAS |
The same scene today |
The
Naval Aviation Branch, known as the United States Naval Air Service
also needed bases for the recently developed weapon of the flying
boat, as well as stations for kite balloons. In Ireland there were
four flying boat bases, located at Queenstown (actually Aghada in
Cork), Wexford, Lough Foyle, and Whiddy
Island. There was also a kite balloon station at Berehaven in
West Cork. The Irish unit was organised as USNAS Ireland under Commander
F.McCrary, who was based at Queenstown.
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Commander F.McCrary |
Labor Day Sports Programme |
The
command was established in February 1918 and bases were completed
by September 1918. The largest base, and headquarters for Ireland,
was in Aghada (Queenstown), on the eastern side of Cork Harbour, on
a site chosen by the British Admiralty , and commandeered under the
‘Defence of the Realm’ act. This was not only an operational
flying boat base, but also was the assembly premises for planes, and
training station for pilots on the 'Ireland Station'.
Curtiss H16 after training flight at Aghada
The
Aghada station had an area of operations that covered areas from Cape
Clear in the West, to the convoy channels to the east on the routes
to France in the St Georges Channel. The flying boats used in Ireland
were of one type, the Curtiss ‘Large America’ H16. This
aircraft, which was enormous for it’s time was a twin-engined
craft with a 76ft wingspan and 2 x 400hp liberty engines. It’s
length was 46ft. The first planes arrived in Queenstown in June 1918
and operational patrols began in August 1918. The
Aghada base had 28 planes and nearly 1500 personnel by the end of
the War in November 1918 .
These
were the early stages of naval aviation, and the fact the USNAS managed
to have patrols in operation was very creditable. The lack of success
in destroying German submarines was tempered with the fact that the
German High Command became very wary of theses patrols, and tried
to route their flotillas round them, hampering operations.
The
only known fatality from operations on the Irish Coast was the crash
of aircraft no A1072 in Whiddy,
on the 22nd October 1918 resulting in the loss of one crew member.
With the Armistice there was no need for these bases and the Queenstown
base closed on the 10th of April 1919.
Quickly
the fixtures and fittings were sold and auctioned off to the residents
and businesses of Cork, and notices such as those above continued
in the local press for most of the summer of 1919
Parts
of the 1918 base can still be seen on the shores of Cork Harbour.
A portion of the concrete ‘apron’ and the slipway to the
waters of Cork harbour can be seen, as well as a few red-bricked administrative
buildings. It is now the site of the local tennis club but local memory
remains strong and it is still known as the ‘Air Base’.
The site was utilised in the 1970’s for an ill-fated venture
at hovercraft construction which only lasted a few years. On the eastern side, the remains of the substantial jetty can be seen. Only the stone and concrete portion remains, the wooden structure, made of Oregon pine was sold off locally and dismantled
The airbase pier today, sometimes referred to as the 'Yankee Pier'
The following
is a summary of USNAS Ireland operations:
Total number of flying Hours 761
Distance Covered 45683miles
Oil Patches sighted 5
Oil Patches bombed 3
Submarines sighted 7
Submarines bombed 7
USNAS Situation
Nov 11th 1918:
Queenstown: Operations commenced: Sep 30th 1918
Aircraft Nov 11th 1918: 28 Seaplanes
Number of flights 64
Number of sea miles patrolled 11,568
Number of officers 72 Numbers of men 1426
Lough Foyle:
Operations commenced: Sep 3rd 1918
Aircraft Nov 11th 1918: 7 Seaplanes
Number of flights 60
Number of sea miles patrolled 11,000
Number of officers 20
Numbers of men 432
Wexford:
Operations commenced: Sep 18th 1918
Aircraft Nov 11th 1918: 5 Seaplanes
Number of flights 98
Number of sea miles patrolled 19,135
Number of officers 22
Numbers of men 405
Whiddy
Island:
Operations commenced: Sep 25th 1918
Aircraft Nov 11th 1918: 3 Seaplanes
Number of flights 25 Number of sea miles patrolled 3870
Number of officers 18
Numbers of men 400
Berehaven:
Operations commenced: May 21st 1918
Aircraft Nov 11th 1918: 16 Kite Balloons
Number of flights Test flights only
Number of sea miles patrolled ------
Number of officers 12
Numbers of men 91 |
