Ships Camel of Heligoland June 1st 1918

On June 1st 1918, the Second Light Cruiser Squadron, which included the Australian cruisers HMAS Sydney and HMAS Melbourne, plus two larger detachments of ships, HMS Courageous and Glorious, and behind them the First Battle Cruiser Squadron led by HMS Lion. The Sydney and Melbounre both carried ships Camels on their Turrets. The Light Cruisers noticed that two German aircraft had found them and were coming to attack, the Camels took off piloted by Lt A.G. Sharwood RAF from Sydney and Lt L.B. Gibson RAF from Melbourne.

The German aircraft dropped their bombs on the Battlecruisers. Gibson got lost in the clouds and gave up the chase, Courageous refrained from launching any aircraft when seeing Gibson return. Sharwood after a 60 mile chase contaced the German aircraft. Sharwood attacked one aircraft which went into a spinning nose dive, before attacking the second when one gun jammed and the other ran out of ammunition.

Sharwood headed back and was low on fuel when he finally found two British light cruisers and some destroyers, who promptly fired on him. He ditched ahead of one of the Destroyers, his Camel sitting buoyantly in the water with it's tail up. Apparently Sherwood sat/clung to the tail for 20 minutes until the Destroyer picked him up. Another 30 mins later another Destroyer salvaged his plane which was still floating in the water!

Anyone know of German aircraft bombing British Battlecruisers on that day and engaging in an aerial combat with a Camel?




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[Stephanie]

Wasn't Helgoland still British at that time?

[Immo_Frese]

Don't know about the german aircraft but Helgoland belongs to Germany since the so called "Helgoland-Sansibar treaty", concluded 1.July 1890.

VBR, Immo