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Royal Naval Air Service
Tag
(28)
1914
August
09
British air patrol over the English Channel
On 9 August 1914 the British began air patrols over the English Channel to protect the troop transports sailing to France.
10
British air coastal patrol
On 10 August 1914 British naval aviation began regular patrols over the east coast of England, watching for German warships and mines.
27
British marines land at Ostend
On 27 August 1914 a Royal Marines brigade landed at Ostend in Belgium, accompanied by Charles Samson's Royal Naval Air Service squadron.
September
22
First British air raid on Germany
On 22 September 1914 Royal Naval Air Service airmen took off from Antwerp to bomb the airship sheds at Düsseldorf and Cologne. Fog got in their way.
October
08
Second British air raid on Germany
On 8 October 1914 RNAS pilot Reginald Marix bombed a shed in Düsseldorf and destroyed the airship Z IX. Spenser Grey failed to find his target at Cologne.
31
Sinking of HMS Hermes
On 31 October 1914 U-27 torpedoed the British seaplane carrier Hermes in the Strait of Dover. More than 20 sailors were killed.
November
21
British raid on Friedrichshafen
On 21 November 1914 three Royal Naval Air Service aircraft from Belfort bombed the Zeppelin works at Friedrichshafen. One of the pilots was taken prisoner.
December
15
Key event
German airship off the English coast
On 15 December 1914 a German airship was sighted off the Humber estuary. It was the first confirmed presence of an enemy aircraft off the English coast.
25
Cuxhaven raid
On 25 December 1914 seven British seaplanes took off from ships off Heligoland to bomb the Zeppelin sheds. They failed to find their target.
1915
March
23
HMS Manica, the first balloon ship
In March 1915 the Royal Navy commissioned HMS Manica, the first ship fitted to fly an observation balloon. She was to direct gunfire at the Dardanelles.
June
07
Warneford destroys airship LZ 37
On 7 June 1915 British airman Reginald Warneford bombed the airship LZ 37 in mid-air over Ghent. The burning wreck fell on a convent in Sint-Amandsberg.
July
11
Destruction of the cruiser Königsberg
On 11 July 1915 the British monitors Severn and Mersey, directed from an aircraft, wrecked the cruiser Königsberg in the Rufiji delta. Her crew blew her up.
August
10
Loss of airship L 12
On the night of 9–10 August 1915 guns at Dover hit airship L 12. It came down in the sea, was towed to Ostend and was bombed there by RNAS airmen.
12
First ship sunk by a torpedo from a seaplane
On 12 August 1915 a British Short 184 seaplane torpedoed a Turkish ship near Bolayır. It was the first combat aerial torpedo attack in history.
1916
February
28
British squadron formed to bomb German industry
In February 1916 the British naval air service formed a squadron of Sopwith aircraft to raid factories in Germany. It became the nucleus of No. 3 Wing RNAS.
April
14
British air raid on Constantinople and Adrianople
On the evening of 14 April 1916 RNAS aircraft from Mudros bombed Constantinople and Adrianople. The damage was slight, but the flight set a distance record.
May
17
The Air Board is created
On 17 May 1916 the government announced Lord Curzon's Air Board in the Commons. It was to reconcile army and naval aviation but had no executive power.
July
30
First joint Allied air operations
On 30 July 1916 No. 3 Wing RNAS aircraft from Luxeuil first flew with the French against Germany. The targets were petrol stores at Müllheim in Baden.
November
27
Zeppelin raid and the shooting down of L 34 and L 21
On the night of 27–28 November 1916 naval airships attacked northern England. L 34 fell in flames off Hartlepool, and at dawn L 21 was lost off Lowestoft.
1917
May
14
Destruction of airship L 22
At dawn on 14 May 1917 a British flying boat from Great Yarmouth shot down the naval airship L 22 near Terschelling. All 21 airmen were killed.
June
14
Destruction of airship L 43
On the morning of 14 June 1917 a British flying boat from Felixstowe shot down the naval airship L 43 near the island of Vlieland. The whole crew was killed.
August
21
Destruction of airship L 23
On 21 August 1917 off Denmark a Sopwith Pup flown off the cruiser HMS Yarmouth shot down the airship L 23. The whole crew was killed.
22
Last daylight raid on England
On 22 August 1917 Gothas bombed Margate, Ramsgate and Dover. The defences shot down three of them, and the Germans gave up daylight raids on England.
November
29
The Air Force Act
On 29 November 1917 the British Air Force Act received royal assent. It paved the way for merging the army and navy air services into the RAF.
December
21
Creation of the Air Council
On 21 December 1917 an Order in Council of King George V set the membership of the Air Council, which was to run an air force independent of the army and navy.
1918
January
02
The Air Ministry is created
On 2 January 1918 Lord Rothermere became Secretary of State for Air, and on 3 January the Air Council took over the duties of the Air Board.
26
Goeben is refloated
On 26 January 1918 the Turkish battleship Turgut Reis pulled the cruiser Goeben off a Dardanelles sandbank. A week of British bombing had failed to destroy her.
April
01
Formation of the RAF
On 1 April 1918 the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air Service merged to form the Royal Air Force, independent of both the army and the navy.