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The Encyclopaedia of Plymouth History |
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During the First World War a Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) base was established at Chelson Meadow, known as RNAS Laira. It was a sub-station of the RNAS base at Mullion on the Lizard peninsula of Cornwall. The base was home to two airships, which were moored to the trees and painted in a camouflage khaki, brown and black. It is not clear when the area ceased to be used for military flights but the Chelson Meadow race-course was certainly used by civilian flyers such as Sir Alan Cobham. Meanwhile, down river at the Cattewater a seaplane base had been established on September 2nd 1913 and several trial flights were made from it. A Royal Naval Air Station was commissioned here in February 1917 and two hangars were erected close to the breakwater upon which a railway track was laid to enable a steam crane to move about lifting seaplanes into the water. Both the airship base and RNAS Cattewater came under the control of a large RNAS establishment at Tregantle, in Cornwall, of which Major-General J de M Hutchison, a retired admiral, was in charge. There were also hangers for kite balloons at Wilcove, near Torpoint, Cornwall.
Mr Harry Turner's father used to
pilot this airship On April 1st 1918 the Royal Naval Air Service merged with the Royal Flying Corps to become the Royal Air Force and RAF Cattewater came into existence. The unit at Tregantle was closed and headquarters were transferred to Mount Wise Barracks, with Brigadier-General H D Briggs in command. After the end of the First World War activities at the base quietened down. That was until May 16th 1919 when it suddenly became world famous when the first ever transatlantic air crossing landed here. Three aircraft actually left Newfoundland but two of them were forced to drop out because of fog en route. The remaining one, NC 4, having made stops at the Azores and Lisbon in Portugal, made it to Plymouth in just under 54 hours flying time, having covered some 4,320 miles. This event is commemorated by a plaque on the Barbican. By April 1922 there was only one Squadron left, Number 238, and that was then disbanded. The base was turned over to a Care and Maintenance Unit. It was expected that this was the end of the base but in 1923 the Cattewater Seaplane Station Bill became enacted and a programme of extension was started. During September 1928 the slipway was extended under the water by Messrs Pearn Brothers Ltd, of Gilwell Street, Plymouth. The slipway could then be used to launch the newest types of seaplanes. In addition, Messrs Arthur Carkeek & Son Ltd, of Plymouth and Redruth, won the contract to recondition all the existing buildings, provide new accommodation for officers and staff, extend the sick quarters and erect new lecture rooms. The work was expected to cost between £50,000 and £60,000. When the base re-opened on October 1st 1928 it was known as RAF Mount Batten. A variety of seaplanes were stationed here over the years, starting with the Southampton II's of 203 Squadron shortly after the base opened. They were followed in February 1929 by the Fairey IIID's of newly formed 204 Squadron, which stayed at Mount Batten until 1940. 203 Squadron left for Iraq in April of that year and was replaced by the re-formed 209 Squadron flying the Blackburn Iris. The Squadron left Mount Batten on May 1st 1935. On Thursday April 25th 1935 Mount Batten became the Fleet Air Arm's floatplane base, under the command of Group-Captain I T Lloyd. The total strength at that time was 23 officers and 203 airmen. That event was quickly followed, on Tuesday June 11th 1935, by the first ever meteorological course to be held at Mount Batten for the Fleet Air Arm. Work commenced in October 1938 on constructing underground oil tanks at Radford Quarry for the use of the air station. Messrs Wimpey of London were the contractors. This was followed in January 1940 by the opening of a pipeline from Turnchapel Wharf to the tanks. The variety of planes and squadrons continued and the Base became so crowded that the Fleet Air Arm had to move back to Lee-on-Solent. By the outbreak of the Second World War there was a squadron of the new Sunderland flying boats stationed at Mount Batten, which along with the two squadrons at Pembroke Dock in Pembrokeshire patrolled the south-western approaches. On Saturday September 9th 1939 a Sunderland launched the first attack on a German U-boat in the Channel and on Monday September 18th 1939 they helped to rescue the crew off the SS Kensington Court, which had been torpedoed 70 miles off the Isles of Scilly. The Sunderland's pilot, Flight-Lieutenant Barrett, was able to drop eight of his bombs on the spot where the U-boat had submerged before landing to pick up 14 of the crew from the stricken cargo vessel. All the crew were saved and as a result Flight-Lieutenant Barrett was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) at the first wartime investiture on Wednesday November 1st 1939. When 204 Squadron left for North Africa in they were replaced on April 1st 1940 by Number 10 Royal Australian Air Force Squadron, who not only stayed for the remainder of the War but were set to become Mount Batten's most famous occupants. A fascinating and detailed account of their wartime exploits hunting German U-boats has been told by Dennis Teague in his book "Strike First: They shall not pass unseen". By the time they left the base in October 1945, so Dennis Teague relates, they had flown 4,553,860 nautical miles, undertaken 3,177 operational flights, sunk 5 submarines, received 25 Distinguished Flying Crosses (DFC), one DFC with Bar, 9 Distinguished Flying Medals (DFM), 1 British Empire Medal (BEM) and had 36 'mentioned in despatches'. Before they left England they were awarded a Crest by His Majesty King George VI with the motto 'Strike First'. One notable flying boat flight landed at Mount Batten in the early hours of Saturday, January 17th 1942, with Sir Winston Churchill and Lord Beaverbrook on board. Their 18-hour flight had covered 3,287 miles. They left Plymouth for London by train at 11am. Following the Sunderlands of 201 Squadron came a Maintenance Unit. Sunderlands continued to visit Mount Batten from Pembroke Dock right up until Wednesday January 30th 1957, when Air Vice Marshall G I L Saye, the air officer commanding No. 19 Coastal Command, embarked on a flight from Pembroke Dock to return to that base for the disbandment ceremony of 201 and 230 Squadrons, the last in Britain to fly Sunderlands. Shortly after this, the RAF School of Combat Survival moved to the base. The School gave training on the difficulties likely to be experienced by air crews following a forced landing anywhere in the world. A Sunderland flying-boat from the French Navy touched down in Plymouth Sound on Tuesday March 3rd 1959. It carried two important passengers, both recently appointed to senior posts in the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO). Captain Kervella was the Air Commander at Brest and Captain de Lachadenede was the Chief of Staff there. They paid an official call upon the Air Officer Commanding 19 Group, Coastal Command, Air Vice-Marshall G I L Saye, at Mount Batten and later in the day called upon the Commander-in-Chief of Plymouth Command, Admiral Sit Richard Onslow, at Mount Wise. The French Navy were still using Sunderlands for reconnaissance work. 205 Squadron provided the aircraft for the last operational flight of a Sunderland flying boat on May 15th 1959. The formal end of flying from Mount Batten came on Saturday March 5th 1960, when a special ceremony was held at the base. In the 1950s Mount Batten became a main base for the Air/Sea Rescue service and their launches became a familiar post-war sight moored in the Cattewater. At the same time it was the headquarters of the Southern Maritime Air Region, which controlled the work of the squadrons based at RAF St Mawgan in Cornwall. Number 19 Group Coastal Command RAF left Mount Batten in 1968, which was the beginning of the run-down of the Station. The ceremony for the disbanding of the RAF Marine Branch was held at Mount Batten on January 8th 1986. RAF Mount Batten closed on Sunday July 5th 1992. The land and buildings were subsequently handed over to the Plymouth Development Corporation, who were responsible for the development and facilities seen there today.
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