HMS Manica - Report in The Times Newspaper

Report in The Times Newspaper

The Times of London carried an article in its 13 May 1918 edition as follows:

FIRST KITE BALLOON

"SPOTTERS" FINE WORK FOR THE FLEET

It was not until the early months of 1915 that the Kite Balloon Division of the R.N.A.S. came into being. When the demand for observation balloons for the Dardanelles operations came through in March of that year the Royal Navy was able to send out a completely equipped Kite Balloon Section in a specially fitted steamer. The vessel, the Manica, a converted tramp, which arrived just a month after the demand was made, immediately proved the value of the unit. Within three days a Turkish camp was shelled under the direction of the kite balloon, and the occupants thrown into confusion; while in the following week the "Spotter" directed fire on the Gaba Tepe position, which resulted in the destruction if the barracks.

The triumph, however, came before April was out, for from their aerial perch the observers spotted, lying quietly in the water on the other side by the Peninsular out of sight of our warships, a large Turkish transport. The transport apparently considered herself quite safe-but in warfare the unexpected often happens. H.M.S. Queen Elizabeth was operating near the balloon ship, and the bearings of the Turkish vessel were given her. The first shot fell short. By this time the other ships near by were beginning to take an interest in what was happening to Elizabeth's invisible target, which was lying nine miles the other side of the Peninsula. A second shot went nearer the mark. Again the direction was corrected, and a third heavy projectile screamed overland. By the telephone wire of the kite balloon came the words, "Got her. She's sinking by the head." The signalman semaphored this literally to the Queen Elizabeth and a roar of laughter went up as the various ships read the laconic message. Repeated attacks were made by the Turks on the solitary kite balloon and her parent ship, but the were fought back. The effect on the Turkish shipping was evident, for whenever the Manica's offspring ascended, the enemy craft, remembering the fate of the transport, hustled off out of range of our big guns.

The official record of the Manica for the next fortnight was as follows:

• 28 April.-Two field batteries silenced; several guns destroyed
• 30 April.-Chanak shelled; burned for two hours
• 2 May.-Battery of 8in guns shelled; three direct hits
• 8 May.-Four batteries silenced
• 12 May.-House, reported to be Turkish Headquarters, destroyed.

This and other work was a wonderful tribute to the efficacy of the new observation contrivance, and it should be remembered that barely two months before there was not a single kite balloon in England, and that the whole of the section was in an embryonic state. The experience gained in the Manica was the foundation of what is now an active branch of the Royal Navy.