An Cosantóir

An Cosantóir October 2014 www.dfmagazine.ie 28 | A significant but somewhat overlooked event took place in Co Antrim on 14th october 1915 on fields belonging to farmers Long, Semple and Service, in the townland of Bentra, which lies between Ballycarry, Whitehead and Larne. here was established the first military aviation facility in Ireland – one of a chain of similar stations that played an important role in the First World War. Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) airships based at Bentra patrolled the waters between Ireland and Scotland, combat- ing the German U-boat menace. Other RNAS airship bases in Ireland included Ballyliffin, Co Donegal, Johnstown Castle, Co Wexford, and Malahide, Co Dublin. During the war no less than 23 aircraft and airship fields were established in Ireland for the RNAS, the Royal Flying Corps (RFC), the US Naval Air Service (USNAS), and the Royal Air Force (RAF). Bentra had an airship shed comprising of a steel, canvas covered frame, and measuring 150ft long, 45ft wide, and 50ft high. At least 11 airships operated from the station at one time or another – SS17, SS20, SS23, SS24, SS33, SS35, SS38, SSZ11, SSZ12, SSZ13 and SSZ20. Wooden huts provided accommoda- tion for the pilots, engineers and mooring crew. Various types of aircraft also landed at the station, which became known as Whitehead Aerodrome. Affectionately named 'battlebags' by their crews and 'blimps' by civilians, the non-rigid airships of the RNAS were a familiar sight around the coast of Great Britain and Ireland during the war years, 1914 - 1918. The area covered by the airships ranged from Carlingford Lough to Rathlin Island and regular duties included escorting the Larne-Stranraer ferry, Princess Maud, and mounting anti- U-boat and mine-hunting patrols. They would also guard incoming ships and convoys in the North Channel making their way between Glasgow, Belfast, Dublin and Liverpool. When the prevailing wind permitted, the crew would scout from the air, looking for submarines on the surface or the wake of a periscope. Success depended on close co-operation between the naval airmen, the auxiliary craft operating from Larne Naval Base, and vessels from the base on Lough Swilly, using the then new science of wireless telegraphy. Marconi wireless stations at Kirkistown, Co Down, Skerries, Co Dublin and Rosscarbery, Co Cork, were also part of the overall scheme. Two lines of anti-submarine nets were laid 20 miles apart be- tween Rathlin Island and the Scottish mainland. Between these nets were four or five lines of net drifters, supported by patrols. All this activity was in response to the German decla- ration of unrestricted submarine warfare made on 4th February 1915, which resulted in the sinking of many ships, including RMS Lusitania on 7th May 1915 off the Old Head of Kinsale lighthouse. Following strong rep- resentations from the US government, U-boat activity was scaled down only to resume again with greater ferocity than ever on 1st February 1917, when Germany gambled that the Allies could be starved into submission before the Americans could arrive in strength. It almost suc- ceeded. The SS and SSZ class air- ships had a crew of two or three and while they could be armed with machine- guns and bombs, their chief value was acting as surveil- lance craft and a deterrent. By GUy WARNER AirShiPS Over Ulster SS23 landed at Bentra

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