e in October, 1915, a fast carrier at the Dardanelles accompanied
ships detailed for the bombardment of Dedeagatch, and her seaplanes not
only co-operated in spotting but also made a valuable reconnaissance of
the Bulgarian coast and railway. But as a rule fighting and
reconnaissance aircraft had mainly to work from shore bases. To assist
in this direction, units were sent overseas to be nearer their sphere
of action, as, for instance, the R.N.A.S. squadrons stationed at Dunkirk
which, besides general reconnaissance, helped the Navy to keep open the
Straits of Dover, carried out bombing raids against German bases and
dockyards, such as Ostend, Zeebrugge, and Bruges, and co-operated with
monitors in the bombardment of the Belgian coast. The development of a
long-range seaplane or flying boat was also taken in hand, though an
efficient type was not produced until the last year of the war.

As with the Army, an important part of naval aircraft duties was
spotting for gunfire; and likewise single-seater fighters were required
for the protection of our own aircraft, for preventing enemy aircraft
reconnaissance, for attacking the enemy's fleet and protecting our own.
The use of offensive patrols steadily increased during the war.

_Bombing._

I have already referred to bombing and mentioned the attack on
Dusseldorf as an instance of the work done. Bombing raids had always
been looked on with favour by the R.N.A.S. and were used throughout the
war as a means of countering hostile aircraft operations from bases in
Belgium. One of the first successful raids was that against the
Friedrichshaven Zeppelin works by three Avro machines, which flew 250
miles over enemy country on November 21st, 1914. Another noteworthy
example was the attempted raid against Cuxhaven on Christmas Day, 1914,
carried out by seaplanes, which were still in an experimental stage,
and three carriers escorted by naval units. Powerful machines for
bombing purposes were ordered and bombs of greatly increased size and
gear for dropping them were designed.

_Torpedo Attack._

The impetus given to bombing helped forward another use of naval
aircraft: torpedo attack. This is likely to develop in the future into
one of the most important uses of aircraft in naval operations, but
during the war it was never given an objective by the German fleet. In
May, 1915, two Sunbeam Short machines were embarked in the
"Ben-my-Chree" for operations at Gallipoli, and it