ABSTRACT
The advantages of height and speed made First World War aircraft of all types valuable contributors to naval operations. In the reconnaissance role, they had the potential to be useful in many ways. Broadly speaking, aircraft could act as a screen for the fleet – as the German Zeppelins had demonstrated in August 1916 – while it was at sea. They could patrol the coasts of Britain in order to spot enemy raiding forces of any type (surface ships, Zeppelins or Gotha bombers) and attempt to warn defensive forces for the purpose of interception. Finally, aircraft could patrol the waters around Britain in an attempt to defend mercantile trade. In this case, the German U-boat would be the primary quarry of the airborne hunters. The potential of these three roles – of fleet, coastal, and anti-submarine reconnaissance – in addition to commitments to Dunkirk, the Dardanelles, and the Adriatic, meant that the Admiralty had to make some difficult choices regarding the operational focus of available resources.
