as: "Give us water-planes. Give
us them of great size and power, large enough to carry a gun and gun
crew, and capable of taking twelve-hour cruises at a speed much greater
than that of the fastest dirigible air-ship, and we shall be on the
highroad to aerial supremacy at sea."

The Admiralty, acting on this advice, at once began to co-operate
with the leading firms of aeroplane constructors, and at a great rate
machines of all sizes and designs have been turned out. There were light
single-seater water-planes able to maintain a speed of over a mile a
minute; there were also larger machines for long-distance flying which
could carry two passengers. The machines were so designed that their
wings could be folded back along their bodies, and their wires, struts,
and so on packed into the main parts of the craft, so that they were
almost as compact as the body of a bird at rest on its perch, and they
took up comparatively little space on board ship.

A brilliantly executed raid was carried out on Cuxhaven, an important
German naval base, by seven British water-planes, on Christmas Day,
1914. The water-planes were escorted across the North Sea by a light
cruiser and destroyer force, together with submarines. They left
the war-ships in the vicinity of Heligoland and flew over Cuxhaven,
discharging bombs on points of military significance, and apparently
doing considerable damage to the docks and shipping. The British ships
remained off the coast for three hours in order to pick up the returning
airmen, and during this time they were attacked by dirigibles and
submarines, without, however, suffering damage. Six of the sea-planes
returned safely to the ships, but one was wrecked in Heligoland Bight.

But the present efficient sea-plane is a development of the war. In the
early days many of the raids of the "naval wing" were carried out in
land-going aeroplanes. Now the R.N.A.S., which came into being as
a separate service in July, 1914, possess two main types of flying
machine, the flying boat and the twin float, both types being able to
rise from and alight upon the sea, just as an aeroplane can leave and
return to the land. Many brilliant raids stand to the credit of the
R.N.A.S. The docks at Antwerp, submarine bases at Ostend, and all
Germany's fortified posts on the Belgian coast, have seldom been free
from their attentions. And when, under the stress of public outcry, the
Government at last gave its consent to a measure