Imperial Japanese Navy aircraft simulate nighttorpedo attacks for the first time against Japanese fleet units inTateyama Bay during annual fleet maneuvers, although no torpedoes are dropped.[1]
On a single evening, 10 of the 16Royal Flying Corps aircraft which take off to defendEngland against German air attack crash, killing three pilots. By May, RFC night flying skills will have improved to the point that 10 aircraft that take off on a single evening all land safely.[5]
January 14 – In response to high losses GermanFokker Eindecker fighters are inflicting onAlliedreconnaissance aircraft flying over theWestern Front, Royal Flying Corps Headquarters orders that reconnaissance planes have an escort of at least three fighters flying in close formation with them, and that a reconnaissance aircraft must abort its flight if even one of the three fighters becomes detached from the formation for any reason.[7]
January 18 – The world's first practical all-metal aircraft, theJunkers J 1, makes its first true flight.
January 29 – The second and lastZeppelin raid onParis inflicts 54 casualties.
TheGerman Army's air service, theImperial German Flying Corps, takes the first step toward forming separate fightersquadrons by establishingKampfeinsitzer Kommando ("single-seat battle unit," abbreviated as KEK) formations consisting only of fighter aircraft. KEK units form inFrance atVaux-en-Vermandois,Avillers,Jametz,Cunel, and other strategic locations along theWestern Front to act asLuftwachtdienst (aerial guard force) units.
Command of all pilots, airplanes, andsearchlights devoted to the defense ofLondon from air attack is consolidated under a single commander – Major T. C. Higgins, thecommanding officer of theRoyal Flying Corps's No. 19 Reserve Squadron atHounslow – for the first time.[9]
February 21 – TheBattle of Verdun begins. The Germans deploy 168 aircraft. To support the morale of French troops defending against the German offensive, the future French aceJean Navarre soon begins dailyaerobatic flights over the front line in aNieuport 11Bébé ("Baby") fighter with its fuselage painted in French red, white, and blue.[11]
February 26 – Merely by appearing behind a German two-seat aircraft over the Verdun battlefield, Jean Navarre induces its crew to land in French-held territory and surrender without ever firing a shot. Later that morning he shoots down a German bomber for his fifth victory.[12]
Air defense of the United Kingdom becomes solely the responsibility of theRoyal Flying Corps; previously, it has shared the responsibility with theRoyal Naval Air Service. The RFC is also authorized to form its first ten Home Defensesquadrons.[13]
March 24 – Royal Flying Corps receives its first of many Nieuport fighters, aNieuport 16.[15]
March 31–April 1 (overnight) – Seven German Navy Zeppelins attempt to bomb London. Two turn back with engine trouble, andL 15 is so badly damaged by British fighters andantiaircraft guns that she crash-lands off the coast ofEngland and her crew is captured.[16]
April 1–2 (overnight) through April 5–6 (overnight) – German Navy airships raid England for five more nights straight.[18]
April 15 – Royal Flying Corps and Royal Naval Air Service aircraft deliver 13 tons of stores intoKut el Amara,Mesopotamia, while it isbesieged by the Turks. It is the first time aircraft are used for such a purpose.
April 20 – TheEscadrille Américaine ("American Squadron"), later to be known as theLafayette Escadrille ("Lafayette Squadron"), is established as an American volunteer unit in France, equipped withNieuport 11s.
May 1 –Lydia Zvereva, the first Russian woman and eighth woman worldwide to earn a pilot's certificate, dies oftyphoid fever at the age of 26.[19]
May 2 – Eight GermanZeppelins raid the east coast ofEngland, causing 39 casualties. The ZeppelinLZ 59 (L 20) is wrecked in a storm offStavanger,Norway on the return journey.
May 17 –Parasite fighter experiments to launch aBristol Scout fighter from aFelixstowe Porte Babytrimotorflying boat begin in theUnited Kingdom with a successful flight and separation by the two aircraft. The experiments are intended to enhance the capability of fighter aircraft to intercept Germandirigibles patrolling over theNorth Sea at high altitudes. The concept soon falls out of favor as experiments with launching aircraft from ships meet with success.[20]
May 22 – The first operational use of rockets by aircraft, and the first aircraft-on-aircraft use of rockets, takes place when eight French aces includingCharles Nungesser,Joseph-Henri Guiguet, andJean Chaput flyingNieuport 16s make an early-morning attack that downed six German observation balloons usingLe Prieur rockets.[23]
June 24 –Eduardo Bradley and Angel María Zuloaga became the first to cross theAndes on an aerostat filled with coal gas. The eastbound flight reached an altitude of 8,100m where the temperature dropped to −30 °C. The adventure lasted three and a half hours from the moment of liftoff in Santiago to the landing in Cerro de la Cepa,Uspallata,Mendoza.
Since January 1, 46 Germanairshipsorties have crossed the coast ofEngland betweenYorkshire andKent, and German airships have attacked London twice. British aircraft defending England have contributed (withantiaircraft guns) to the shooting down of only one German airship.[9]
July 1 – TheBattle of the Somme begins. In the five months of the battle, the British lose 782 aircraft and 576 pilots but maintainair superiority over the battlefield.
July 18 –Morane-Saulniermonoplanes in French service have all their metal parts (spinners,struts, andcowlings) painted red to avoid confusion with GermanFokker monoplanes, the first time markings are used to identify a type of aircraft.
August 6 – FrenchaceCapitaineRené Fonck gains his first confirmed victory. He will become the highest-scoringAllied and second-highest-scoring ace overall of World War I.
August 23 – TheBrazilian Navy establishes a naval aviation arm with the creation of a naval aviation school.[32]
August 24–25 (overnight) – Led by the commander of the Imperial German Navy's airship force,Peter Strasser, aboard the ZeppelinL 32, 13 German naval airships attack England. Several are damaged by British antiaircraft fire and a British seaplane and most of their bombs miss their targets widely, butL 31 underKapitänleutnantHeinrich Mathy bombs southeast London, inflicting£130,000 in damage, including damage to a power station atDeptford, and killing nine and injuring 40 civilians.[33]
September 2–3 (overnight) – 12 German Navy and four German Armyairships raid southeastEngland in the largest airship raid of World War I; they drop 823 bombs totaling 38,979 pounds (17,681 kg), killing four people and injuring 12 and causing over£21,000 in damage.Royal Flying CorpsLieutenantWilliam Leefe-Robinson, flying aB.E.2c, shoots down the German Army Schütte-Lanz airshipSL 11, which falls spectacularly in flames near London, killing her entire crew of 16. Leefe-Robinson becomes the second pilot to shoot down an airship and the first to do it over the United Kingdom, and the German Army Airship Service withdraws from future bombing raids on England, leaving the bombing campaign to German naval airships. It is considered the turning point in the defense of the United Kingdom against German airship raids.[35]
September 5 – It is announced that Lieutenant William Leefe-Robinson has received theVictoria Cross for shooting downSL-11.[36]
September 23–24 (overnight) – Twelve German Navy Zeppelins attackEngland. Most scatter their bombs widely, and bombs strikeNottingham andGrimsby.L 33 bombs central London with 42 high-explosive and 20 incendiary bombs, hitting several warehouses and setting fire to an oil depot, a lumber yard, and several groups of houses, with 10 people killed and 12 seriously injured.L 31 under Heinrich Mathy also bombs London, destroying atramcar, damaging houses and shops, and killing 13 and injuring 33 people. Two of the newest Zeppelins are shot down,L 33 by ground fire andL 32 by Royal Air ForceLieutenantFrederick Sowrey;L 33's crew is captured atLittle Wigborough (the only armed enemy personnel to set foot in theUnited Kingdom during World War I) andL 32's crew is killed. Their loss shocks the German naval airship commander Peter Strasser.[39]
September 25–26 (overnight) – Nine German Navy Zeppelins set out to attack England. Some turn back and the rest scatter their bombs widely over the countryside and sea.L 22, however, bombs an armament factory complex inSheffield, killing 28 and injuring 19 people, andL 21 drops several bombs onBolton.[40]
October 1–2 (overnight) – Eleven German Navy Zeppelins set out to attack England. Three turn back and the others fail to drop their bombs or scatter their bombs widely, killing one British soldier. Royal Flying CorpsSecond Lieutenant W. J. Tempest in aB.E.2c shoots downL 31 in flames outside London, killing its entire crew, including the famed airship commander Heinrich Mathy, who leaps to his death from the burning Zeppelin.[41]
October 8 –Die Fliegertruppen des Deutschen Kaiserreiches ("The flying troops of the German Kaiser’s Reich"), the air arm of theImperial German Army (Deutsches Heer), is reorganized and renamed theLuftstreitkräfte ("German Air Combat Forces"). In either cause, the service's name usually is translated into English as "Imperial German Air Service."[29][43]
October 19 – German Navy Zeppelins participate in aHigh Seas Fleet sortie into theNorth Sea. The ZeppelinL 14 sights part of the Royal Navy'sHarwich Force, but German and British ships do not come into contact with one another. Five Zeppelins suffer serious mechanical breakdowns during the operation.[45]
October 28 – German aceHauptmannOswald Boelcke is killed in a mid-air collision between hisAlbatros D.II and the fighter of the German aceErwin Böhme. A highly influential pilot considered by the some the "father" of the German fighter force, and the author of theDicta Boelcke, the first formal codification of the rules of aerial warfare, he is Germany's leading ace with 40 victories at the time of his death. World War I will end with him tied withOberleutnantLothar von Richthofen andLeutnantFranz Buchner as the 10th-highest-scoring German aces of the conflict.[46]
November 19 –Ruth Law sets a new distance record for cross-country flight by flying 590 miles (950 km) non-stop fromChicago toNew York State. She flies on toNew York City the next day.
November 27–28 (overnight) – Eight German Navy Zeppelins set out to attack industrial targets in theBritish Midlands. Plagued by bad weather, mechanical problems, and British air defenses, they accomplish little, althoughL 34 bombsWest Hartlepool, killing four and injuring 11 people. Royal Flying Corps Second LieutenantIan V. Pyott ofNo. 36 Squadron shoots downL 34 in flames overCastle Eden, killing her entire crew including her famed commanderMax Dietrich. Soon thereafter, three Royal Naval Air ServiceBE.2cs, one of them flown byFlight LieutenantEgbert Cadbury, shoot downL 21 offLowestoft.[47][48]
November 28 – The first bombing of central London by a fixed-wing aircraft takes place when aGermanLVG C.II biplane flown by R. Brandt drops six bombs nearVictoria station.[49]
December 28 – While ground crewman are walking the German Navy ZeppelinL 24 to her shed atTondern, Germany, she is slammed against her hangar by wind and catches fire. She and the ZeppelinL 17, which is in the hangar, are destroyed in the resulting blaze.[51]
December 28–29 (overnight) – Six German Navy airships – five Zeppelins and theSchütte-LanzSL12 – attempt a raid on England but are recalled due to bad weather.SL12 is unable to return to base and lands nearby, where she is battered to pieces by wind.[51]
December 31 – 17,341officers and men are deployed in theUnited Kingdom for home air defense. Among them are 12,000 officers and men manningantiaircraft guns and 2,200 officers and men assigned to the 12Royal Flying Corpssquadrons assigned to home air defense, operating 110 aeroplanes.[52]
^Peattie, Mark R.,Sunburst: The Rise of Japanese Naval Air Power 1909–1941, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 2001,ISBN1-55750-432-6, p. 35.
^Layman, R.D.,Before the Aircraft Carrier: The Development of Aviation Vessels 1849–1922, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1989,ISBN0-87021-210-9, p. 78.
^Scheina, Robert L.,Latin America: A Naval History 1810–1987, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1987,ISBN0-87021-295-8, pp. 198–199.
^Whitehouse, Arch,The Zeppelin Fighters, New York: Ace Books, 1966, p. 139.
^Whitehouse, Arch,The Zeppelin Fighters, New York: Ace Books, 1966, p. 138.
^Angelucci, Enzo,The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present, New York: Orion Books, 1987, p. 108.
^Franks, Norman,Aircraft vs. Aircraft: The Illustrated Story of Fighter Pilot Combat From 1914 to the Present Day, London: Grub Street, 1998,ISBN1-902304-04-7, p. 20.
^Whitehouse, Arch,The Zeppelin Fighters, New York: Ace Books, 1966, p. 131–133.
^abcWhitehouse, Arch,The Zeppelin Fighters, New York: Ace Books, 1966, no ISBN, p. 130.
^Layman, R.D.,Before the Aircraft Carrier: The Development of Aviation Vessels 1849–1922, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1989,ISBN0-87021-210-9, p. 101.
^Whitehouse, Arch (1966).The Zeppelin Fighters. New York: Ace Books. pp.134–137.
^Peattie, Mark R.,Sunburst: The Rise of Japanese Naval Air Power 1909–1941, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 2001,ISBN1-55750-432-6, pp. 14, 29, 253, 255.
^Whitehouse, Arch,The Zeppelin Fighters, New York: Ace Books, 1966, p. 137.
^Johnsen, Frederick A., "Mother Ships,"Aviation History, January 2018, p. 48.
^Franks, Norman,Aircraft Versus Aircraft: The Illustrated Story of Fighter Pilot Combat From 1914 to the Present Day, London: Grub Street, 1998,ISBN1-902304-04-7, p. 29.
^Haddow, G.W.; Peter M. Grosz (1988).The German Giants - The German R-Planes 1914–1918 (3rd ed.). London: Putnam.ISBN0-85177-812-7.
^Layman, R.D.,Before the Aircraft Carrier: The Development of Aviation Vessels 1849–1922, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1989,ISBN0-87021-210-9, p. 113.
^Angelucci, Enzo,The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present, New York: Orion Books, 1987, p. 63.
^abBlumberg, Arnold, "The First Ground-Pounders,"Aviation History, November 2014, p. 39.
^Layman, R.D.,Before the Aircraft Carrier: The Development of Aviation Vessels 1849–1922, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1989,ISBN0-87021-210-9, pp. 96, 101.
^Layman, R.D.,Before the Aircraft Carrier: The Development of Aviation Vessels 1849–1922, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1989,ISBN0-87021-210-9, p. 50.
^Scheina, Robert L.,Latin America: A Naval History 1810–1987, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1987,ISBN0-87021-295-8, p. 195.
^Whitehouse, Arch,The Zeppelin Fighters, New York: Ace Books, 1966, no ISBN, pp. 163–164.
^Angelucci, Enzo,The American Fighter: The Definitive Guide to American Fighter Aircraft From 1917 to the Present, New York: Orion Books, 1987,ISBN0-517-56588-9, p. 460.
^Whitehouse, Arch,The Zeppelin Fighters, New York: Ace Books, 1966, pp. 140–146, 165.
^Whitehouse, Arch,The Zeppelin Fighters, New York: Ace Books, 1966, p. 146.
^Whitehouse, Arch,The Zeppelin Fighters, New York: Ace Books, 1966, no ISBN, p. 165.
^Kilduff, Peter,The Red Baron: Beyond the Legend, London: Cassell, 1994,ISBN0-304-35207-1, p. 223.
^Whitehouse, Arch,The Zeppelin Fighters, New York: Ace Books, 1966, no ISBN, pp. 166–171.
^Whitehouse, Arch,The Zeppelin Fighters, New York: Ace Books, 1966, no ISBN, pp. 172–173.
^Whitehouse, Arch,The Zeppelin Fighters, New York: Ace Books, 1966, no ISBN, pp. 174–177.
^Mondey, David, ed.,The Complete Illustrated History of the World's Aircraft, Secaucus, New Jersey: Chartwell Books, Inc., 1978,ISBN0-89009-771-2, p. 27.
^Grey, P. L.; Thetford, O. (1970) [1962].German Aircraft of the First World War (2nd ed.). London: Putnam. p. xxix.ISBN978-0-370-00103-6.
^Whitehouse, Arch,The Zeppelin Fighters, New York: Ace Books, 1966, no ISBN, p. 178.
^Franks, Norman,Aircraft Versus Aircraft: The Illustrated Story of Fighter Pilot Combat From 1914 to the Present Day, London: Grub Street, 1998,ISBN1-902304-04-7, p. 63.
^Thetford, Owen,British Naval Aircraft Since 1912, Sixth Edition, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1991,ISBN1-55750-076-2, p. 39.
^Whitehouse, Arch,The Zeppelin Fighters, New York: Ace Books, 1966, no ISBN, pp. 178–181.
^Donald, David (1997).The Encyclopedia of World Aircraft. Prospero Books. p. 553.ISBN1-85605-375-X.
^Whitehouse, Arch,The Zeppelin Fighters, New York: Ace Books, 1966, no ISBN, pp. 218–221.
^abWhitehouse, Arch,The Zeppelin Fighters, New York: Ace Books, 1966, no ISBN, p. 182.
^Whitehouse, Arch,The Zeppelin Fighters, New York: Ace Books, 1966, no ISBN, pp. 183–184.
^Donald, David, ed.,The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft, New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1997,ISBN0-7607-0592-5, p. 68.
^Donald, David, ed.,The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft, New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1997,ISBN0-7607-0592-5, p. 185.
^Thetford, Owen,British Naval Aircraft Since 1912: Sixth Revised Edition, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1991,ISBN1-55750-076-2, p. 481.
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