RNAS South Shields query

[qn30jEkPz7]

Evening all,

 

I’m looking at doing a diorama of the seaplane station, sheds and scenery at South Shields on the river Tyne. I’ve assembled some resources e.g. maps, pictures but would appreciate any leads or additions if the BM hivemind has any?   

[europapete]

hhmm....google Tyneside ship building WW1, that may give you an idea of what the general area looked like at the time. Or, google WW1 South Shields. Regards, Pete in RI

[AWFK10]

Cross and Cockade published a gazetteer of WW1 flying sites over multiple issues of their journal. The entry for South Shields is:

 

Seaplane station (with sub station at Tees Bay/Seaton Carew II), Repair Depot and Acceptance Depot (sub station to Brough) RNAS/RAF April 1916 - 1919. Relinquishment confirmed 11 March 1920.

 

Five Type F seaplane sheds, 200 x 100 feet. Units:

• War Flight RNAS/RAF from April 916 - 1918 (disbanded). The C&C gazetteer doesn't say so but from an entry in Sturtivant and Page's Air Britain book "Royal Navy Aircraft Serials and Units 1911 -1919" it appears that in 1918 the War Flight first became 452 Flight RAF and subsequently came under the wing of 252 Squadron, which flew DH6s and Kangaroos on anti-submarine patrols from aerodromes such as Tynemouth and Seaton Carew.
• Seaplane Depot RNAS/RAF from 1916 to 22 April 1918: redesignated 18 Group Repair Depot and Store Base, which was disbanded in 1919.
• 2 (Northern) MAD sub-station from 22 April 1918. Formed under Brough for erection of Felixstowe F3s.
• 18 Group Workshops 1918 - 1919
• Storage Section (1919)

The RNAS operated a Kite Balloon Base (for 2 balloons) named 'Tyne', 1917 - 1918, and it seems probable that it was attached to this seaplane station.

 

From the Air Britain book, the depot erected Short 184s, e.g. N1131, N1134 and N1137 which were delivered from Frederick Sage in Peterborough during 1917. Some operated with the War Flight (as distinct from just passing through the depot prior to being issued to another flying station or scrapped), e.g. N1268: South Shields 14 June 1917, force landed 4 miles east of Seaham and sank 29 December (2 crew taken off by P62). The Sopwith Baby was another type handled and again some may have operated with the War Flight: N1104 was delivered to South Shields by 1 June 1917 and isn't reported as going anywhere else before being wrecked on 10 September. N1101 lasted a couple of weeks before being totalled in a landing accident, while N1105 appears to have been wrecked while touching down on arrival.

 

I used to be a member of the Arbeia Society. In one issue of their magazine, someone recounted how as a boy during WW1 he would hang out with the Tyne river pilots up on the Lawe while they awaited incoming ships. He described watching a seaplane taxi out, rev up for takeoff, bounce impotently out across the waves while failing to get airborne and finally capsize into the North Sea. As a boat set off to retrieve the pilot and the wreckage, there were a few sardonic comments from the old sailors but nobody turned a hair. It was quite a frequent spectacle, apparently.

[europapete]

That is a really nice bit of research, well done and thank you

[AWFK10]

Thanks, it's a pleasure: it gives me something to do and keeps me out from under my wife's feet! I grew up near South Shields, though on the other side of the river. As a young aviation enthusiast back in the 1970s, there were no WW2 airfield sites close to where we lived but there had been two (minor) WW1 aerodromes within a couple of miles of our house. I was frustrated by the almost complete absence of published information about them. Even when we started getting regional airfield histories, they focused on WW2 and many earlier sites were barely mentioned.  Since then, thanks largely to organisations like C&C and Air Britain, there's a lot more out there though it's generally in specialised publications. Luckily I also progressed to having more disposable income than I had as a schoolboy and I've accumulated quite a few of them along the way, so I'm only too happy to share information with fellow enthusiasts. 

[qn30jEkPz7]

7 hours ago, AWFK10 said:

Thanks, it's a pleasure: it gives me something to do and keeps me out from under my wife's feet! I grew up near South Shields, though on the other side of the river. As a young aviation enthusiast back in the 1970s, there were no WW2 airfield sites close to where we lived but there had been two (minor) WW1 aerodromes within a couple of miles of our house. I was frustrated by the almost complete absence of published information about them. Even when we started getting regional airfield histories, they focused on WW2 and many earlier sites were barely mentioned.  Since then, thanks largely to organisations like C&C and Air Britain, there's a lot more out there though it's generally in specialised publications. Luckily I also progressed to having more disposable income than I had as a schoolboy and I've accumulated quite a few of them along the way, so I'm only too happy to share information with fellow enthusiasts. 

Would you like a copy of the info and photographs I've put together so far? It isn't much but happy to send over what little I have

 

Am thinking of doing the wider area in 1/700 or 1/1400 to show the Lawe top, pier, beach, rail lines, sheds, slipways and a couple of the Folkestone F2s 

 

 

Edited May 13, 2020 by LostCosmonauts

[AWFK10]

Thanks, that would be great. I'll drop you a pm.

[Simon]

For anyone that hasn't seen them, there are some great photos of the sheds here:

 

http://northumbriangunner.blogspot.com/2015/05/south-sields-rnas-seaplane-base.html

 

and a thread here:  https://www.greatwarforum.org/topic/193084-south-shields-flyingboat-ramp/

 

Simon