Tondern raid

Tondern Raid
	; The sevenSopwith Camelson the flight deck ofHMSFuriousen route to the Tondern raid
Date	19 July 1918
Location	Tondern, German Empire; (nowTønder,Denmark)54°56′N8°51′E/ 54.933°N 8.850°E
Result	British victory
Belligerents
United Kingdom	German Empire
Commanders and leaders
Richard Phillimore	None
Strength
7aircraft	2 airships; 1 captive balloon
Casualties and losses
1 drowned; 3interned; 1 aircraft damaged; 3 aircraft interned; 2 aircraft abandoned; 1 aircraft lost at sea	4 wounded; 2 airships destroyed; 1 captive balloon destroyed; 2 hangars damaged
	class=notpageimage\| Location of Tondern (now Tønder, Denmark)

TheTondern raidorOperation F.7,was a British bombing raid by theRoyal NavyandRoyal Air Forceagainst theImperial German Navyairship base atTønder,Denmark,then a part ofGermany.The airships were used for thestrategic bombing of Britain.It was the first attack in history by aircraft from anaircraft carrier.On 19 July 1918, sevenSopwith Camelstook off fromHMSFurious,a convertedbattlecruiser.For the loss of one man and several aircraft, the British destroyedZeppelins L 54,L 60and a captive balloon.

Background

Naval aviation

Britain, Japan, and Russia had conducted ship-based air raids since 1914 but these by were seaplanes lowered into the water by cranes.^[1]^[2]^[3]Furiouswas designed for aircraft to take off from its forward flight deck.^[4]

HMSFurious

In March 1918 the battlecruiserHMSFuriousjoined theGrand FleetatScapa Flow,flying the flag of the Rear Admiral Commanding Aircraft (RAA),Richard Phillimore.Furioushad been converted for use as an aircraft carrier during her construction, with a flight deck forward of her main superstructure. During 1917 the carrier had been equipped withSopwith Camel2F.1a, naval variant of the Sopwith Camel. These partially replaced theSopwith 1½ Strutter.^[5]^[6]In late 1917 a second flight deck was fitted aft, landing on which proved "almost as hazardous as ditching in the sea".^[7]Until such need arose she was dispatched on reconnaissance missions off theHeligoland Bight,searching forminefieldsand looking for evidence of counter-mining by the Germans.^[8]

Plan

An attack on the bases of the Naval Airship Division of theImperial German Navy(Kaiserliche Marine) was suggested to Rear Admiral Phillimore by hisRoyal Air Forcestaff officer Lieutenant-ColonelRobert Clark-Halland one of his pilots, Squadron CommanderRichard Bell-Davies,VC.Clark-Hall received Phillimore's approval and that of the Commander-in-Chief of the Grand Fleet, AdmiralDavid Beatty.^[8]^[a]It was originally planned to use 1½ Strutters in an attack but these were too valuable for reconnaissance and Sopwith Camels were substituted, whose range meant an attack on the airship base atTønder.^[8]

Prelude

Operation F.6 was a plan for two waves of four aircraft, each pilot receiving special training.^[8]Major Moore, was posted away before the scheduled date of 29 June 1918, by which time it was too late to train a replacement. Training consisted of bombing runs on the airfield atTurnhouse,where the outlines of Tondern's three airship sheds were marked. The pilots were Captains W. D. Jackson,William Dickson,Bernard Smartand T. K. Thyne and Lieutenants N. E. Williams, S. Dawson and W. A. Yeulett. On 27 JuneFurioussailed fromRosyth,escorted by the1st Light Cruiser Squadronand eight destroyers from the13th Destroyer Flotilla.On 29 June the ships reached the flying off point but withForce 6[22–27 kn (41–50 km/h; 25–31 mph)] winds blowing, flying was deemed impossible and the operation was called off.^[8]

Operation F.7

Another attempt, Operation F.7 began whenFurioussailed at 12:03 on 17 July. This time she was escorted by Force B, including a division of the1st Battle Squadron(all the newRevenge-class battleships), the7th Light Cruiser Squadronand a destroyer screen.HMSResolution's "Y" turret guns had been loaded with a special shrapnel shell for use against airships. During the passage the destroyerHMSValentineinvestigated a reported submarine contact but nothing came of it.^[8]

At 03:04 in the morning of 18 JulyFuriouswas ready to fly off her Camels when a thunderstorm struck. Rather than cancel the operation, it was decided to delay it twenty-four hours andFuriousand her destroyer screen fell back on Force B.^[8]The combined squadron cruised out of sight off the Danish coast until the morning of 19 July and in worsening weather conditionsFuriousflew off her Camels between 03:13 and 03:21. The first flight consisted of Jackson, Dickson and Williams; the second of Smart, Dawson, Yeulett and Thyne. Thyne was forced to turn around with engine trouble before reaching the target and ditched his aircraft before being recovered.^[10]^[b]

The first three aircraft arrived over Tondern at 4:35, taking the base by surprise. There were three airship sheds, which the Germans had code-namedToska,TobiaandToni.Toska,the largest, was a double shed and housed the airshipsL.54andL.60.Tobiascontained a captive balloon and Toni was being dismantled. The first wave attackedToskaand hit the shed with three bombs, detonating the gas bags ofL.54andL.60,destroying them by fire but not causing them to explode and destroy the shed. Another bomb from the first wave hitTobiasand damaged the balloon inside. The second wave destroyed the captive balloon afire and had several near misses on a wagon loaded with hydrogen cylinders. Despite the loss of the two airships only four men were injured.^[10]

Ground fire was directed at both waves but the only damage was an undercarriage wheel shot off a Camel from the second wave. Williams, Jackson and Dawson, doubtful that they had sufficient fuel to reach the British squadron offshore, landed in Denmark. Dickson, Yeulett and Smart flew to sea to find the British ships. Dickson ditched at 5:55 and Smart, having suffered engine trouble, ditched at 06:30. Yeulett was not heard from again and presumed drowned; it was supposed that he had been forced to ditch prematurely through fuel exhaustion. The British squadron waited for the other pilots until the Camels would have run out of fuel and after 7:00 the ships took cruising formation and made for home.^[11]

Aftermath

The German Naval Airship Division quickly hadToska,repaired but Tondern was abandoned, only to be used as an emergency landing site. Defences at the other bases were improved and a swathe of the countryside nearNordholz Naval Airbasewas burned to prevent it being set alight by bombs.

Subsequent operations

From 1917 a raid on the German High Seas Fleet by using the new torpedo-carryingSopwith Cuckoowas ready. The Cuckoo was not available in sufficient numbers until early 1919 and the plan was not carried out. The concept was revived during theSecond World Warand in 1940 theBattle of Tarantothe battleships of the ItalianRegia Marinawere attacked, three being sunk at their moorings.

Casualties and awards

Dickson and Yeulett were awarded theDistinguished Service Orderand Smart received a bar to his DSO. Yeulett's body was later recovered from the sea and buried in the cemetery of Nørre Havrvig church in Denmark.^[12]

Notes

^On 1 April 1918 theRoyal Naval Air Servicewas amalgamated with theRoyal Flying Corpsto form the Royal Air Force. RNAS officers who had been part of the Navy hierarchy became members of the RAF.^[9]
^DespiteFurioushaving a landing deck aft, returning aircraft were expected to ditch in the sea, the pilot to be rescued by a destroyer and the aircraft recovered if possible.^[10]

Footnotes

^Watts & Murray 2006,p. 385.
^Polak 2005,p. 92.
^Halpern 2012,pp. 442–443.
^Jenkins 1972,pp. 250–252.
^Layman 1973,p. 380.
^Jenkins 1972,p. 252.
^Till 1979,p. 62.
^^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^gLayman 1973,p. 381.
^Jones 2009,p. 25.
^^a ^b ^cLayman 1973,p. 382.
^Layman 1973,pp. 382–383.
^Parker 2019,p. 375.

References

Halpern, Paul G. (11 October 2012).A Naval History of World War I.Naval Institute Press.ISBN 978-1-61251-172-6.
Jenkins, C. A. (1972). Wingate, John (ed.). "HMS Furious/Aircraft Carrier 1917–1948, Part I The First Eight Years".Warship Profile(23). Windsor: Profile Publications.OCLC 249280519.
Jones, H. A. (2009) [1937].The War in the Air: Being the Story of the Part played in the Great War by the Royal Air Force.History of the Great War Based on Official Documents by Direction of the Historical Section of the Committee of Imperial Defence. Vol. VI (facs. repr. Imperial War Museum Department of Printed Books and Naval & Military Press, Uckfield ed.). London: Clarendon Press.ISBN 978-1-84342-417-8.
Layman, R. L. (1973). "Furiousand the Tondern Raid ".Warship International.Vol. X, no. 4. pp. 374–385.OCLC 9990388906.
Murray, Williamson; Millet, Allan R., eds. (2006).Military Innovation in the Interwar Period(17th pbk. ed.). New York: Cambridge University Press.ISBN 978-0-521-63760-2.
- Watts, Barry; Murray, Williamson. "Military Innovation in Peacetime". InMurray & Millet (2006).
Parker, N. J. (2019) [2016].Gott Strafe England: The German Air Assault against Great Britain 1914–1918.Vol. II (2nd pbk. ed.). Warwick: Helion.ISBN 978-1-911628-39-2.
Polak, Christian (2005).Sabre et pinceau: par d'autres Français au Japon: 1872–1960 (Fude to katana: nihon no naka no mō hitotsu no furansu)[Sabre and Brush: by other French in Japan: 1872–1960]. Tokyo: Chambre de commerce et d'industrie du Japon.OCLC 718049687.
Till, Geoffrey (1979).Air Power and the Royal Navy, 1914–1945: A Historical Survey.London: Macdonald and Jane's.ISBN 978-0-354-01204-1.

External links

Media related toTondern raidat Wikimedia Commons

"The Raid on Tondern: July 19th, 1918"Archived11 September 2011 at theWayback Machine
"King George Visits the Mystery Ship; Goes Aboard Airplane Carrier Which Figured in Raid on Zeppelin Hangars."New York Times1918-07-25

[10] On 1 April 1918 theRoyal Naval Air Servicewas amalgamated with theRoyal Flying Corpsto form the Royal Air Force. RNAS officers who had been part of the Navy hierarchy became members of the RAF.^[9]

[12] DespiteFurioushaving a landing deck aft, returning aircraft were expected to ditch in the sea, the pilot to be rescued by a destroyer and the aircraft recovered if possible.^[10]

[FOOTNOTEWattsMurray2006385-1] Watts & Murray 2006,p. 385.

[FOOTNOTEPolak200592-2] Polak 2005,p. 92.

[FOOTNOTEHalpern2012442–443-3] Halpern 2012,pp. 442–443.

[FOOTNOTEJenkins1972250–252-4] Jenkins 1972,pp. 250–252.

[FOOTNOTELayman1973380-5] Layman 1973,p. 380.

[FOOTNOTEJenkins1972252-6] Jenkins 1972,p. 252.

[FOOTNOTETill197962-7] Till 1979,p. 62.

[FOOTNOTELayman1973381-8] ^^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^gLayman 1973,p. 381.

[FOOTNOTEJones200925-9] Jones 2009,p. 25.

[FOOTNOTELayman1973382-11] Layman 1973,p. 382.

[FOOTNOTELayman1973382–383-13] Layman 1973,pp. 382–383.

[FOOTNOTEParker2019375-14] Parker 2019,p. 375.

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