Aircrafts against ships

Mangrove · 23 February 2006, 10:37 AM

Hello!

I'm trying to figure out more about these guys so any help would be nice. The first time aircraft attacked ship was at May 1913 when Didier Mason (a mercenary hired by Mexican rebels) attacked a gun boat from 800 meters with 15 kg bombs, he missed. What kind of aircraft was Mason using and what was the exact date?

The first ship sunk from an aircraft happened at September 1914 when a Farman attacked cruiser Kaiserin Elisabeth and it's escort and sunk a torpedo boat. The Farman was based at seaplane tender Wakamiya Maru. Exact date and more info about pilot etc. would be nice.

TomVrille · 23 February 2006, 01:27 PM

Didier Masson flew his first mission against the federal gunboats on 10 May 1913. Additional bombing missions were flown over the next several months, with Masson's final turn as pilot coming on 4 August 1913. These missions were uniformly unsuccessful in sinking any of the gunboats based at Guaymas. This lack of effectiveness may have been due to the primitive design of the bombs. These were essentially pipe bombs with a pyrotechnic fuse, presumably initiated by the cigar of the "bombardier".

James A. Pratt III · 11 March 2006, 05:43 PM

According to R.D. Layman's artical in Warship International vol 3/1982 the claimed sinking by Japanese aircraft was a myth and did not occur. Layman lists all the ships sunk by aircraft during WW I in the above artical and one in Warship Magazine.

bshatzer · 11 March 2006, 08:33 PM

Ditto James' comments on the apparently mythical nature of the September sinking by Farmans from the Wakamiya Maru.

The Wakamiya Maru's Farmans were involved in a later, albeit unsuccessful attack, against German warships in Kiaochow Bay on November 27, 1914. However, the ship itself was not involved, having struck a mine on September 30 and returned to Sasebo, Japan for repairs. The aircraft themselves were off-loaded before the ship's return to Japan and were operating from a beach base at the time of the November attack.

The Japanese reportedly advanced a claim of a sinking at that time which is likely the source of the sinking story. The claim was seemingly exaggerated as no German ships were lost in that attack.

15 March 2006, 12:53 PM

[QUOTE=Mangrove]Hello!
What kind of aircraft was Mason using and what was the exact date?

Hi,
Didier Masson (two "s"), and his Aussie mechanic Thomas Dean, smuggled a Martin pusher model no. 2 into Mexico and flew it for the rebels in June of 1913. Many attemps to destroy mexican gunboats were attempted over the next year. I have TONS of stuff on this aircraft including drawings, photos, newspaper accounts, archival stuff. I am currently building a replica of this aircraft which I hope to have flying in time for the centennial in 2013. Let me know if you need any of this. Be sure to go to the earlybirds website for pics and history.
Ed Bertschy.