Top Dog for One DayIt happened during
Kieler Woche - Europe's largest sailing festival. Founded in 1882, 'Kiel Week' still attracts millions each June. The 1914 season was particularly special as the officially named Kaiser-Wilhelm-Canal's expanded locks were to be inaugurated by the Kaiser himself. Willhem II, who was an annual attendee aboard his Imperial Yacht, even invited the British Royal Navy who sent four 'ships of the line' and a cruiser squadron. Two days into the celebration and three days before Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria would be assassinated, pioneer German aviator Walter Schroeter of the
Kaiserliche Marine made international news when he fatally fell from a newly acquired seaplane during his initial solo flight. This day was also Schroeter's first anniversary as commander of
Seeflugstation Holtenau at Kiel. Schroeter had obtained his pilot's license (#244) exactly one year to the day before that.
(respectively from Der Deutsche Correspondent and the Spokesman-Review, 25 and 26 May 1914)
(image showing a German Zeppelin above the visiting British fleet; via faz.net)
These articles don't mention the aircraft type, which, ironically, arrived at Kiel with the British Fleet. It was the latest Wight Enlarged Navyplane that, along with a Sopwith Bat Boat, had been ordered by the German military after its unveiling at the March Olympia Aero & Marine Exhibition (reported here late last month:
https://forum.ww1aircraftmodels.com/index.php?topic=13750.msg255578#msg255578). Regarding the Navyplane:
"Three of which were bought by the Royal Navy and used with the seaplane carrier HMS Argus, the other four being bought by the German Navy. However, only one of which entered service in Germany, as when war seemed likely to break out, White refused to supply the potential adversary, and the remaining three planes saw service in anti-submarine patrols". (via h2g2.com)
(text image: William Hibbert Berry,
Aircraft in War and Commerce, London, 1918, p36
(image: Holtenau station showing the hangars where the Wight and Sopwith were kept, spring 1914; via apt-holtenau.de)
(image: Willhelm II's Imperial Yacht S.M.Y. Hohenzollern II at Kiel, 1914; via wikipedia)
Details on the
marineflieger's final flight: "
Schroeter took off for the first time on the occasion of the naval seaplane parade in the port of Kiel on a Samuel White biplane with a 200 hp Salmson recently bought from England. Shortly after takeoff, the biplane fell from a height of 50 m. According to a message, the pilot lost control of the machine, according to another, oversteered the machine. The true cause has not yet been discovered. Incidentally, it should be noted that not too long ago 2 English officers also died on the same type of machine. In Kapt.-Ltn. Schroeter, formerly at the Putzig station, e.g. Currently commander of the air station in Kiel, we lose one of the most capable and senior naval aviators. The loss will be felt very painfully everywhere." (via apt-holtenau.de). Evidently a memorial stone at Holtenau still commemorates the tragedy.
This quote also alludes to a story posted here three weeks ago involving another newly delivered Wight Navyplane that unexpectedly fell into the sea:
https://forum.ww1aircraftmodels.com/index.php?topic=13750.msg255697#msg255697. These calamities soured the British military's view of the Wight Enlarged Navyplane, which had been acclaimed in the press. Just one month earlier
Aeroplane Weekly even dubbed it 'The Top Dog' on the cover of their May 7 issue). A formal investigation was made into the design's structural integrity resulting in an 'Improved Navyplane' with an even longer wingspan to offset the weight of various reinforcements. This update would see service in the Gallipoli campaign, as reported here back in February and April:
https://forum.ww1aircraftmodels.com/index.php?topic=13750.msg253828#msg253828But what happened the afternoon prior with Schroeter in this Navyplane over Kiel is arguably even more remarkable. Here's an excerpt of this gloriously maverick unauthorized double flyover (published from a newfound forgotten manuscript) from the man flying it that day - British test-pilot Eric Gordon England. Gordon England had been involved with aviation since 1908. He taught himself to fly in 1911 gaining Pilot Certificate No. 68 in three hours:
"
Two weeks before the outbreak of the First World War, I was commissioned by J.S. White and Co of Cowes to deliver to the Germany Navy Air Service the then, very latest, Wight seaplane - with, I might mention, the full approval of our Admiralty.... The Germans had no machine to approach the Wight seaplane and were frightfully excited when I gave the first demonstration flight from the Naval Air Station at Kiel. A very sporting and nice little German naval officer, Kapitänleutnant Schroeter, insisted on being my passenger on the acceptance flights.
I then discovered that the Kaiser was going to open the Kiel Canal officially a few days later, and for this great event the whole of the British Atlantic Fleet was to visit Kiel Harbour. So I entered into a conspiracy with Schroeter that we would work things so that the acceptance flights would be timed to have us in the air at the time of the official opening. The plot succeeded. Schroeter, in broken English, told me he had instructions that the whole of the acceptance flight was to take place outside Kiel Harbour, over the Baltic. The official instruction had gone out that no aeroplane was to be flying over the Kaiser's yacht or the battleships, all dressed for the display, during the official opening. The only flight to take place at the time was to be made by a Zeppelin. All official aircraft were to be grounded.
Schroeter remarked: "Isn't it a pity that we will not be able to see the wonderful display of the Kaiser's yacht sailing forth through the lock gates of the Canal, at which instance the whole of the combined Fleets are to fire a Royal Salute?" I replied: "Isn't it a pity that I do not understand a word of German?" Whereupon Schroeter grinned mightily and slapped me on the back. We duly took off and headed out to the Baltic. By chance, of course, I happened to know the exact hour of the opening.
In good time, I turned and headed for the entrance to the Kiel Canal. As we came near we saw that the Royal Yacht, SMY Hohenzollern II - a most splendid vessel, gleaming white - was within a few feet of the lock gates. Then the prearranged pantomime commenced. My gallant German companion, who was seated behind me, started to pat me on the back and gesticulate violently. I looked very puzzled and kept shaking my head, but otherwise paid no attention to his antics at all. The absurd performance went on until we were right over the Kaiser's yacht. At that instant, the lock gates parted and the ship came out of the harbour. Then every battleship which lined Kiel Harbour was surrounded by what appeared to be little bits of cotton-wool. It was a sight never to be forgotten.
Schroeter made some very weird signs and grimaces to me and at that moment I spotted the Zeppelin coming over. On went full throttle, up went the nose of the machine and we climbed over the Zeppelin. So, I became the first Englishman ever to fly over a Zeppelin. All very wicked and improper. We completed the set duration of our flight and then I made one of the spectacular almost-on-to-the-slipway-landings for which, in those days, I had made myself famous on the Wight seaplane. As we moved up the slipway under power, our manœuvre scattered the Commanding Officer of the air station, his brother officers, and all the ratings who were waiting to see the inevitable fireworks. The Commanding Officer came up to me as I got down from the machine. In first-class English he started to bellow, with immense solemnity, of the wickedness I had perpetrated.
I thought there must have been something wrong, I explained, because Schroeter had made himself quite a nuisance during the flight. Now I realised what it was he had been trying to tell me. At the time, unfortunately, I had not been able to follow what he was saying, because of my lack of knowledge of the German language. I had only Schroeter's word for it subsequently, but he told me he had explained to the CO that he had done his best to make me understand, but as his English vocabulary was extremely limited he had had to address me in German. Of course, what with the noise etc, he had failed to make me understand. My own impression was that the Commander of the station was far too good a sailor not to know what had really happened and decided to accept it all in good faith." (Frederick Warren Merriam,
Echoes from Dawn Skies: Early Aviators: A Lost Manuscript Rediscovered, 2021)
Neither Gordon England nor Schroeter ever flew in combat, but climbing above both the Kaiser's yacht and a Zeppelin with the world watching made the Wight Navyplane and its international crew 'Top Dog' for one day. Within twenty-four hours this plane and Walter Schroeter would both meet their demise. War would be declared within weeks. Holtenau would soon become the mother station for the
Fliegerwesen der Marine, and the Kiel Canal would become the subject of British attacks. The Kiel Mutiny (
Kieler Matrosenaufstand) of the German Imperial Navy's
Hochseeflotte, in November 1918, would trigger the revolution that ended the German monarchy and lead to the Weimar Republic. The British Royal Navy would not return to
Kieler Woche on friendly terms until 1931. Film footage from that event can be seen here:
https://youtu.be/9xgFnozM7Pc. And to see a possible 'macabre souvenir' pertaining to today's news click over to the War Relics Forum:
https://www.warrelics.eu/forum/imperial-germany-austro-hungary/imperial-aviator-macabre-souvenir-9978/.
