VOLUME 25 aviation NUMBER 4 / I ■ wsm HERITAOE mi ii* I >•1 THE JOURNAL OF THE AVIATION HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF AUSTRALIA BRIiil ■ i; Registered by Australia Post Publication No. VBQ154 * 1 FE 2B crashed on taking offfrom makeshift airfield in a farmer’s paddock. Royal Australian Navy personnel formed salvage team. (RAAF MUSEUM POINT COOK) German propaganda experts made much of the 'Wolfchen and its exploits on the "Wo^ s raiding voyage. Aviation Heritage Vol 25. No. 4 72 VOLUME 25 Z/^IATION HERITAGE NUMBER 4 I--------------------- 1 I-------------- J THE JOURNAL OF THE AVIATION HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF AUSTRALIA CONTENTS EDITORIAL Page 74 The Air search for the Raider Wolf By Bert Cookson Page 82 ■ini* The RAF Vulcan in Australia By Dr. Denis O’Brien Page 93 Information Echo Vulcan VH480 flies over RAAF Laverton Base at an air show on 19 September 1965 (John Hop ton) Cover photo. Vulcan XH 481 at the end of its non-stop flight to Australia,July 1961. Once again the idea of Australia having a national repository where our rich aviation history could be preserved has been brought to public attention. AHS A AND EDITORIAL ADDRESS Recentnews of a proposed National Air and Space Museum has raised an issue that has been P.O. Box 287, Cheltenham, Victoria. 3192 on and off the political agenda for many years. EDITORIAL COMMITTEE The fact that, for the most part, preserving Australia’s avation heritage is still the result of David Anderson Dion Makowski the work and entepreneurial approach of a dedicated few is fair indication of the level of Denis Baker Bob Wills Fred Morton commitment of Australian government at all levels to the preservation and presentation of Australian aviation history. TREASURER Bert Cookson Australians have prided themselves as being among the most airminded people in the world- perhaps this refers solely to air travel. Membership is for one volume of Aviation Heritage and includes both Journal and AHS A The way in which priceless examples of aircraft types from the pre-WW 1 period until the News. Annual Membership fee is $22.50 present have been allowed to disappear on scrap heaps, or to be sold to foreign owners (Australian Currency) demonstrates convincingly that Australian airmindedness has not extended much to saving our Published by: Aviation Historical Society of air history. Australia, P.O. Box 287, Cheltenham, Victoria, The idea of establishing a National Air and Space Museum in Australia is a sound one. Those 3192 Australia. who will manage the organisation would do well to look to how other countries-Belgium, ©1989 Aviation Historial Society of Australia Switzerland, Holland for example, have attained a high degree of competence in restoring, ISSN0815-4392 preserving, and presenting aircraft collections. Printed by The Creative Print Centre — 555 5966 There would be much to learn from those systems which combine the enthusiastic inputs of the Services, airlines^and aeropsace industry,to create aviation museums of high mtemational standing. Australia needs an mtemational aviation collection. But there is also a need for firm political support and funding to make the project succeed. It is not enough to depend solely on amateur historians-competent though they may be, they are very restricted financially. Aviation Heritage Vol 25. No. 4 73 Wolf. By Bert Cookson Captain Frank McNamara VC in rear cockpit, carried out fruitless searches for the 'Wolf from the Gippsland coastline. His request for adequate armament to attack the 'Wolf, if he found it, was refused by Defence authorities. (RAAF MUSEUM POINT COOK) Of special interest was the aircraft carried During April and May of 1918, two aircraft It left Kiel on 30 November 1916 and by Wolf, probably the first ever carried by a of the Australian Flying Corps conducted a navigated via the coast of Norway, Iceland, commerce raider of any nation. Named series of searches off the coast of south­ and down the Atlantic, arriving off Wolfchen (Wolf Cub), it was a eastern Australia for German commerce Capetown on 16 January 1917. Here it laid Friedrichshafen FF33e (serial number 841) raiders. Although these were fairly two minefields of 50 mines each, before powered by a 150 hp Benz engine, and had a insignificant operations, there were crossing the Indian Ocean in a north-easterly crew of two. It was equipped with wireless significant features that deserve to be direction to lay further fields of 75 mines off and carried a number of small bombs. It recorded:- Bombay, and 100 off Colombo. was assembled during the outward crossing of the Indian Ocean and carried out 56 1 It was the first time that an enemy Heading towards Australia, it sailed well to flights altogether, being instrumental in the aircraft had been anywhere near the south and rounded New Zealand where, capture of the Matunga, Wainma, Winslow, Australia. on 25 June 1917, 25 mines were laid at the and Hitachi Maru. northern tip, and 35 in the vicinity of Cook Strait. Wolf crossed the Tasman Sea and, on The crews of the ships must have 2 It was the first time that an act of war 3 July, laid two fields of 15 mines each off wondered what had struck them when, out (the mining and subsequent sinking of Cape Howe, the south-easterly point of the of the blue, an aeroplane, no doubt the first one of our ships) had ever occurred in Australian mainland. After leaving many had seen, flew over and dropped Australian waters. Australian waters it sailed north- ea st to Fiji, bombs to convince the captains that their then westward to pass around New Britain wisest course was to head towards the Wolf 3 It involved Australia’s first and only and sowed its last 107 mines off Singapore. and capture. VC airman of World War One. It then returned the way it had come, arriving back in Germany to a victorious The loss of the Australian ship referred to In the latter half of 1916, the German cargo welcome on 16 February 1918. in the introduction occurred on 6 July 1917, ship Wachtfels of the Hansa shipping line of just three days after Wolf had departed, Bremen was converted into an armed when SS Cumberland struck a mine 10 merchant cruiser at Kiel Harbour in During its 15 months at sea,Wolf steamed miles off Gabo Island near Cape Howe, and Germany,and renamed Wolf. Of 6,000 tons, about 96,000 kilometres. It sank or captured, settled in about seven fathoms. with a crew of 350, it carried seven 5.9 in. either by gunfire or as a result of mines, 24 It was fortunate that the weather was fairly guns, four 22 in. torpedo tubes, and several ships with a total tonnage of 102, 037. calm, permitting some temporary repairs to hundred mines. be carried out It was refloated on the llth^ Aviation Heritage Vol 25. No. 4 74 Instructional staff, 2nd Lieut M.G. Clarke, available, steel tubing had to be obtained and a tow was commenced towards Twofold RFC, who reported on 22/4/18 and was from Melbourne and a new one made up at Bay, where more substantial repairs would relieved on 25/4/18 by Lieut C. Matulich, Yairam. On 30/4/18 the machine was again have enabled the ship to reach Sydney. After AFC., W.O. S J. Hendy, Aviation serviceable and patrols were resumed. 23 miles the repairs proved to be insufficient Instructional Staff, who returned to Central for the task and it sank. There it lay for 35 Flying School on 23/4/18. years until 1952, when cargo of lead and Patrols were arranged to commence each day at about the same time (2pm) for a copper^worth a very considerable sum^was Sergeant L.G. Carter, Corporals A.G. period of about a week. After this had gone recovered. Cairns, G. WHson, T. Carrol, S. Hill, L,V. on regularly for some days I arranged to Archer, also of the Aviation Instructional leave one morning just before dawn, in All shipping had been instructed to stay Staff. outside the 100 fathom line as a precaution order to be out at sea by daybreak. Just at this time, the crack in the crank case (which against mines, but the master of the Communications had been there some months previotisly) Cumberland had obviously decided to take a Commander Telegraphist McSweeney showed signs of becoming worse, and short cut It was a costly mistake. Mine — and RAN Petty Officers Kiikham, Coster precautions were taken to make No. 6 sweeping operations were carried out once it and McLaughlin, and 4 other naval ratings. cylinda- secine. was established that enemy mines wCTe the A Guard composed of one NCO and six cause of the sinking, and many of the mines other ranks was furnished by die Permanent Although the staff worked all night to were destroyed, but a number subsequently Guard, 3rd Military District broke loose from their moorings and were finish this job they could not complete it in time to get the machine into the air before carried up the east coast of Australia. The I left Central Flying School, Laverton, in dawn. Next morning dense low clouds last recorded disposal was on 21 February, the FE2B machine (fitted with one Lewis rendCTed observations almost impossible, 1921, at Noosa, Queensland. Gun in the observer’s seat), W.O. Hendy. and we were again prevented from carrying AIS., acting as aerial gunnw. Time of out our object Subsequent to this (5/5/18) When Wolf returned to Germany in departure from CFS - 3.00 pm on 20/4/18.