RSA Review Spring 2020

17 RSA REVIEW • SPRING 2020 • Waiheke Island Explorer Bus Tour • Interislander - The Great Journeys of New Zealand. • Coastal Pacific, Tranz Alpine and Northern Explorer train tours. • North & South Island Tours. • ANZAC Tour in 2021 & 2022 & 2023 • Lawn Bowls holidays around New Zealand Contact: RAN – A member – Point Chevalier Memorial RSA - Auckland air power saved GaLLipoLi LandinG The 4120-ton cargo carrier SS Manica , which onlymonths before was hauling sewage before being converted into a wartime balloon carrier for the Royal Navy, was controlling a tethered 28,000cumobservation balloon acquired from the French , and the seaplanes worked together to block a Turkish move that could have led to a complete failure of the landings. On the first morning of the Gallipoli ground campaign, a 10,000-ton Turkish battleship Turgut Reis tried to attack the transports by lobbing 11-inch shells from the Narrows and across the peninsula. But each time it moved within range, the former German warship was driven off by indirect gunfire from a British battleship, HMS Triumph. On the other side of the peninsula as part of the Allies covering force, Triumph was unsighted. But it was able to rely on the spotting by balloon and seaplane observers, Britain’sfirstballoon-shipsystemwasurgently added to theRoyal Naval Air Service component in the Dardanelles campaigns land phase fol- lowing a request for balloon observation from LtGenl Sir Michael Birdwood, commander of the Anzac Corp. Manica joined the small force of RNAS seaplanes and wheeled aircraft supporting the operations. Together this aerial contingent did valuablework preparing the battle-space. They painstakingly mapping the peninsula, marked Turkish positions, and directed warship fire on enemy formations, camps andammunitiondumps,with the aircraft dropping light bombs on suitable targets. Supporting the Anzac landings, the fliers launched early in the morning of April 25. Through the day the seaplanes flewseven relays while the balloon remained up for nine hours. Already identified as a high-value target, Turgut Reis was soon spotted lurking in the Narrows by a seaplane and about 5.30am by the balloon observers (H A Jones, The War in the Air: RAF in the Great War, Vol II, pp 45-46). On their spotting reports, Triumph delivered several shots from its 10-inch guns forcing the Turkish warship to retire. Turgut Reis returned about 9am and opened fire, landing several shells among the transports just as the main body of Anzac troops began getting into their landing craft. This forced the unarmoured troopships to move out of range. But again, more spotting reports by Manica’s balloon crew enabled Triumph to shell the Turkish battleship back out of range. According to a visiting American observer, Triumph’s first salvo landed 1000 metres from the Turkish ship, the next 500m away. But the third went through Turgut Reis’s rigging and struck the water about 16m beyond her (Jones, p.46). Turgut Reis’s captain tried again in the afternoon, but was forced to retire again by the Manica -balloon- Triumph combination. “By 3pm (the) balloon and the presence of the Australian submarine AE2 had forced Turgut Reis to seek shelter in Gallipoli Harbour,” notes Hugh Dolan ( Gallipoli Air War , PanMacmillan, Sydney,2013, p.124). The Anzac landings were protected by a powerful naval force thatwasmore thanamatch for the single Turkish battleship. On station was a British squadron of four battleships, a cruiser, eight destroyers, a submarine depot ship, a seaplane tender, and four trawlers, as well as Manica . At that early stage the Turks occupied all the high ground, from where observers could direct Turgut Reis’s fire. If it had not been driven off quickly, some well- placed salvos from its guns could have caused crippling casualties especially among the main body of Anzacs preparing to go ashore to back up the hard- pressed first waves of assaulting troops. Because of the desperate initial fighting ashore, the Dardanelles Expeditionary Force commander, Sir Ian Hamilton, came under pressure from other senior commanders as the day wore on to consider evacuating the troops. But he decided the Anzacs should continue to hold their ground, urging them to “dig, dig, dig”. However, his decision might have been dif- ferent if Turgut Reis had been able to add the full weight of its big guns to the defensive fire from the shore on the landing force. Manica and its balloon and the aircraft worked tire- lessly to protect the Gallipoli landings and later phases of the fighting by directing gunfire from British warships. On April 27 the balloon crew located three transports on the other side of the peninsula trying to set up a ferry run for reinforcing Turkish forces from the Asiatic shore, and guided 15-inch gunfire from the battleship HMS Queen Elizabeth which sank the largest ship (Jones, pp 47-48). Referring to the indirect fire complication, New Zealand’s Evening Star newspaper on December 18, 1918 headlined a Glasgow report of that incident as the feat of “Blind Gunners Three shots.” It described the balloon/battle- ship teamwork involved as “one of the deftest and most remarkable feats of gunnery of the war” (Papers Past). Also, onApril 27 andagainonApril 30 Manica spotted the 11-inch gun German battle cruiser Goeben in the straits firing over the peninsula trying to harass Anzac transports and directed battleship fire which made it seek the shelter of the cliffs (Julian Corbett, History of the Great War: Naval Operations , vol 2, pp 359 & 370). The balloon also directed warship gunfire which destroyed a Turkish camp before the landings and , then a large ammunition dump onApril 26, and onApril 30 bombarded Turkish headquarters at Chana Kale leaving the town in flames. For most of the next month the Turgut Reis and Goeben continued their efforts to harass the transport ships supplying the Anzac area by lobbing shells over the peninsula. But each time they were driven off by battleship fire guided by the aerial observers. During the campaign, the Turks tried unsuc- cessfully to torpedo Manica and to bring the balloon down with shrapnel shells. Following Manica ’s success, six balloon ships were even- tually operated by the Royal Navy’s balloon service in the war. Before being hired formilitary service Manica carried diverse cargoes including Australian wool. Its last assignment before conversion for balloon war duty was to transport Manchester sewage down the ship canal for disposal in Liverpool Bay. After war service it returned to its civilianwork before being broken up in 1931. BOB COTTON records howa former tramp steamer and a relay of early seaplanes helped save the Anzac landings at Gallipoli frombecoming a deadly debacle and a miserable defeat on April 25, 1915. The three key players in the sea battle that was influentiaL in the success of the Allies’ Gallipies landing... Triumph (left), Manica (below), and Turgut Reis (bottom left) Blind gunners, three shots...oneof thedeftist and most remarkable feats of gunnery of the war.