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Aviation History
1919
1919 - 0678.PDF
MAY 22, 1919 THE TRANSATLANTIC FLIGHT Ax the time of writing there is no definite news as to the fate of Mr. H. G. Hawker and Commander K. Mackenzie-Grieve from the time of their leaving St. John's, Newfoundland, on their Sopwith machine on Sunday evening. It is curious that no message was received from the aeroplane, and no acknowledgment was given of messages sent to it regarding the Martinsyde mishap. This silence, taken in conjuncton with the fjct that the machine was not seen by any ship, would appear to indicate that the machine was in trouble before striking the trade route. The message from the official starter states that the Sopwith Rolls-Royce biplane began the Transatlantic flight at 6.48 p.m. from Mount Pearl flying field, St. John's, New foundland, the machine bearing a seal on the left intersection strut, inscribed H.M. Just, O.M.S. Newfoundland. Just before crossing the coast line Mr. Hawker dropped the chassis of his machine. At 7 p.m. the signalman at the marine look-out on the hills above St. John's reported that the Sopwith had passed out of sight, in a south-easterly direction and at a height of 8,000 ft. On the departure of the Sopwith machine Mr. Raynham prepared to start on the Martinsyde. There was a cross wind blowing at the time, but in a third attempt the machine just got off the ground, but being caught by a gust of wind it crashed. Fortunately neither Mr. Raynham nor Capt. Morgan were seriously hurt, but it will be some time before the machine can be ready for flight. Nothing further was heard of the Sopwith machine until Monday evening, when the following message was issued :— " The Admiralty have received the following wireless message from Castletown (Berehaven, County Cork) wireless station : ' Sopwith machine down in 52 deg. 30 mins. north, 11 degs. west. Information sent by wireless telegraph to all ships.' " This message raised hopes, which were only to be dashed by a later message which said that further enquiries had failed to confirm the news. As far as can be gathered what happened was that a French station picked up the Admiralty message warning all ships to look out for Hawker's machine, and apparently the message was re-transmitted as if the machine was down in the position given. As will be seen from the following official statement, the Government has sent out a number of speedy war vessels to search for the missing machine, but up to the time of writing no definite news had been obtained. The following statement setting forth the position of the Air Ministry and the Admiralty was officially issued on Tuesday evening:— It must be understood that these flights are being under taken as private enterprises and are not in any sense under Government control. As stated by the Under-Secretary of State for Air, in the House of Commons on May 8, the attitude of the Air Ministry in regard to the Transatlantic Flight has been to enjoin caution upon those engaged in the enterprise rather than to urge them on to make the attempt. Even if it were otherwise desirable to assist this enterprise by patrolling the seas with His Majesty's ships the many and heavy obligations of the Fleet would render this impossible. Although, however, the Government cannot recognise any responsibility in this matter, every possible information has been furnished and every assistance has been given in regard to weather reports, navigation, wireless and instruments, which could make the venture less hazardous. Throughout there has been complete cooperation between the Admiralty and the Air Ministry in this matter. So soon as it was made known some weeks ago that com petitors were ready to start, a special officer, known as the Transatlantic Duty Officer, was placed on duty night and day at the Air Ministry. When news was received that Mr. Hawker had started, this officer instructed the Marconi Company to warn the wireless stations at Poldhu and requested the War Registry at the Admiralty to warn Valentia and Poldhu. This was done. The message was to the effect that all ships should be advised that Mr. Hawker had started. The type of machine, the call sign and the time of starting were given. Last night, after consultation between the Under-Secretary for the Air and the First Sea Lord, orders were issued from the Air Ministry to the Officer Commanding, Royal Air Force Headquarters, Dublin, to get into touch with the Admiral, Queenstown, and place himself under the Admiral's orders with a view to lending assistance, by means of aeroplanes in searching for Mr. Hawker, who, it was then supposed, had fallen into the sea off the coast. In accordance with these instructions orders were given for two squadrons of aeroplanes to proceed at once in search of Mr. Hawker. It was impossible for the machines to start last night owing to the rain, a gale and low clouds. This morning the machines have attempted a search, unfortunately with no result. In addition to the steps which were taken by the Admiralty on the evening of the 19th, as described to-day in the House of Commons, the naval authorities have ordered the immediate dispatch of a number of destroyers in further search of Mr. Hawker, though in view of the vast areas involved the Admiralty are bound to warn the public that the chances of finding him are very remote. As regards future flights, the Government, in view of comments as to responsibility in this matter, feel bound to call attention to the many and heavy obligations of the British Fleet. Those responsibilities involve duties in many parts of the world which cannot be set aside. The Admiralty have especial commitments in the Mediterranean, the Black Sea, North Russia, the Red Sea, and the Baltic—in which, indeed, there has been fighting within the last few days. They are also responsible for the vast and continuous mine-sweeping operations. While all these things engage their attention, they are being pressed to find reliefs for men on foreign stations asking for demobilisation, and pressed also to release men everywhere who joined for the period of the war, and any addition to the duties of the Fleet could only be undertaken at the cost of delaying further demobilisation and withholding home leave from men who have served long periods of war service on foreign stations. These things being so, while the Government is and has been most anxious to do everything it can to save such gallant and intrepid airmen as Mr. Hawker and Commander Grieve, it feels bound to warn those who may in future make the attempt to fly the Atlantic that its resources make it utterly impossible that the immense task of patrolling 2,000 miles of the ocean by way of protection can be under taken. With regard to the American flying boats we mentioned in our last issue that the N.C. 1 and N.C. 3 had reached Trepassy, while the N.C. 4 was delayed at Chatham, Mass.. with engine trouble. The last mentioned craft was able to resume her journey on May 14, when she flew on to Halifax. The next day she new the 550 miles to Trepassy in six hours. The American airship C. 5 arrived at St. John's on May 15, having taken 25 hrs. 40 mins. to cruise the 1,080 miles from Montauk Point, Long Island. On the trip the vessel en countered a belt of fog and rain which caused some two hours delay. Later in the afternoon the west wind increased in force and tore the airship from her mooring. An officer and four men on board made a vain attempt to deflate the airship and then jumped into the sea. The vessel drifted away and, up to the time of writing, she had not been sighted. On May 14 the N.C. 1 and N.C. 3 made a trial flight, and it was at first reported that they had started for the Azores. After making a cruise of an hour or so, however, they returned to the harbour. They actually started on the Transatlantic flight on the evening of May 16; the time of leaving New foundland being 10.11 p.m. London time, and they were out of sight half an hour later. The N.C. 4, piloted by Lieut. Commander Reed, arrived at Horta, Fayal Island, Azores, at 1.25 p.m., Greenwich time on Saturday, having covered the 1,380 miles in 15 hrs. 19 mins. He reported having met good weather until within 200 miles of Corvo Island, when they began to encounter fog. The other two craft ran into fog and the N.C. 1 descended in the sea 200 miles north-west of Fayal, and was eventually picked up by the British steamer " Iona," which took off Lieut.-Commander P. L. Bellinger and his crew. The damaged seaplane was taken in tow but the tow line broke and it is doubtful whether it will be possible to salve the wreck. The N.C. 3 also encountered heavy rainfalls and, apparently, was blown off its course. Commander Towers brought his craft down at 1.33 on Saturday to make observations, and then owing to the heavy seas parts of the machine were so damaged as to render it impossible to get into the air again. She, however, managed to taxi about 200 miles and eventually reached Ponta Delgada, Azores, at 5.50 p.m. on Monday. The N.C. 4 on Tuesday left Horta and flew to Ponta, Delgada to be in readiness for the next stage to Lisbon. It was announced on Tuesday that Mr. Sydney Pickles, who was nominated as the pilot of the Fairey-Rclls-Royce seaplane, had decided, for domestic reasons, not to make an attempt under exist'ng cond ticns. 678
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