ry outbreak of war
scouting trips were made out into the North Sea beyond the mouth of the
Thames by the Astra and Parseval, and both these ships patrolled the
Channel during the passage of the Expeditionary Force.

The Astra was also employed off the Belgian coast to assist the naval
landing party at Ostend, and together with the Parseval assisted in
patrolling the Channel during the first winter of the war.

The Beta was also sent over to Dunkirk to assist in spotting for
artillery fire and locating German batteries on the Belgian coast. Our
airships were also employed for aerial inspection of London and other
large towns by night to examine the effects of lighting restrictions
and obtain information for our anti-aircraft batteries.

With the single exception of the S.S. ship, which carried out certain
manoeuvres in France in the summer of 1916, our airships were confined
to operations over the sea; but if we had possessed ships of greater
reliability in the early days of the war, it is conceivable that they
would have been of value for certain purposes to the Army. The Germans
employed their Zeppelins at the bombardment of Antwerp, Warsaw, Nancy
and Libau, and their raids on England are too well remembered to need
description. The French also used airships for the observation of
troops mobilizing and for the destruction of railway depots. The
Italians relied entirely at the beginning of the war on airships,
constructed to fly at great heights, for the bombing of Austrian troops
and territory, and met with a considerable measure of success.

When it was decided, early in 1915, to develop the airship for
anti-submarine work difficulties which appeared almost insuperable were
encountered at first. To begin with, there were practically no firms
in the country capable of airship production. The construction of
envelopes was a great problem; as rubber-proofed fabric had been found
by experiment to yield the best results for the holding of gas, various
waterproofing firms were invited to make envelopes, and by
whole-hearted efforts and untiring industry they at last provided very
excellent samples. Fins, rudder planes, and cars were also entrusted to
firms which had had no previous experience of this class of work, and
it is rather curious to reflect that envelopes were produced by the
makers of mackintoshes and that cars and planes were constructed by a
shop-window furnisher. This was a sure sign that all classes