By Robert Johnson
Sinking of the SMS Ostfriesland – July 21, 1921 – Virginia Capes
In a series of articles published during 1984 and 1985 in Wonderful West Virginia magazine, historian Richard André stated that Bomber No. 5 was the bomber that dropped the final 2,000-pound bomb, one of six, which sank the ceded German battleship, SMS Ostfriesland.
The first part of this essay speaks to the role of Bomber No. 5 in connection with its participation as part of the squadron assembled by General Billy Mitchell for potential use in the Battle of Blair Mountain, and its connections to Nicholas County. However, aircraft such as Bomber No. 5 and those like it, were essential to several demonstrations in 1921 to test whether naval vessels were vulnerable to aircraft attack.
One can easily envision the fragility of aircraft of the day, if one has seen a press photo of the Wright brothers first flight in 1903. By the time of military use of aircraft following the end of World War I, the De Havillands, Martins, Handley-Page 0/400s and others were still biplanes made of wood and wire, with open cockpits. A maximum ordnance load of a single, 1,000-lb. [~454 kg.] bomb was a customary undertaking. Although some period photos show another 100-lb bomb strapped under a wing, the bulk of the ordnance dropped during the naval-vessel bombing test ranged in weight from 300 to 2,000 lbs. [908 kg.]. Martin bombers used during the live-fire bombing runs, had a specially-designed and built bomb rack,* mounted directly along the centerline and slung under the lower wing.
So, why was the U.S. Air Service eventually able to demonstrate to the U.S. Navy that aircraft could seriously damage and even sink ships of the line? The only answer is: General Billy Mitchell. Mitchell single-handedly had the assumption and determination that air power was the next leap in military armament. He worked with (although the term may be misleading) both his service and the Navy to sink off the Virginia Capes everything from submarines to a battleship during the summer of 1921. Beginning on July 13, Mitchell’s 1st Provisional Air Brigade dropped 300-lb. bombs and shortly sank the former German destroyer, SMS G-102.
A few days later, the Air Service and Navy took turns dropping ordnance on the former German cruiser, SMS Frankfort. The Martin MB-2s dealt the final blows that quickly sank the vessel. By July 21, everything was in place to have the captured and ceded SMS Ostfriesland in Mitchell’s sights. Although none of the bombs dropped scored a direct hit, the final, 2,000 lb. bomb dropped by Bomber No. 5, sank the 24,000 tons dreadnought battleship.
By sinking the ceded German battleship, which had arrived during 1920 as a World War I reparations prize, Mitchell proved the capability of aircraft to deal serious blows to naval vessels. But concurrently, Mitchell severely annoyed both the U.S. Air Service and U.S. Navy and thereby set himself up for a notorious court-martial by 1925. The Navy brass had instructed Mitchell to have pauses between bombing runs to allow ship designers to view damage to incorporate better methods to protect ship integrity. Mitchell would have none of that and attacked as quickly as his squadron could function.
In the after-action report by General Pershing, he assured the Navy that their ship-based naval power had not been hampered by Mitchell’s demonstrations. Of course, Mitchell wrote a scathing rebuttal and likely leaked it to the press. The public considered him a folk hero by exposing the vulnerability of naval vessels to air power, but that did nothing to further his military reputation. Only four years later, after roasting the Air Service for incompetence following a series of aircraft disasters, Mitchell was demoted in a court-martial and resigned from the Air Service.
Of note is Mitchell’s belief and continual conversation as early as 1910, that the next global conflict would be with the Empire of Japan. Later, in 1926 Mitchell was also eerily spot on in his prediction that the Empire of Japan would attack the Navy fleet in Hawaii and would use aircraft to destroy American lives and assets. That is certainly what he and his airmen had demonstrated possible with the sitting-duck vessels his squadron had sent to the bottom in 1921.
For the history of this aircraft in the Mine Wars of southern West Virginia and its crash in Nicholas County, please see Part I of this essay.
* The Rock Island Arsenal fabricated the bomb racks used during the 1921 bombing trials.
Robert C. ‘Bob’ Johnson, President
Nicholas County Historic Landmark Commission
Appalachian Forest National Heritage Area
