NAS Whiddy Island

NAS Whiddy Island was a US naval air station during the latter period of World War I. Located on Whiddy Island in Bantry Bay, County Cork, Ireland, it was also known as Bantry Bay Station. The base was built by local contractors. The first US personnel arrived on 12 March 1918 and flight operations began on 25 September 1918. The base, located on the eastern end of the island, operated under wartime conditions for only seven weeks and was closed on 15 February 1919. It was used by flying boats which monitored the area south of Kinsale (where the RMS Lusitania had been torpedoed) for submarine activity.^[1][2] The aircraft took off and landed in Bantry Bay and were pulled up a concrete ramp to the airfield for servicing and storage.

Another World War I US naval air station in Ireland was in County Wexford, NAS Wexford.

References

1. ^ Capt W H Stitz, A History of U.S. Naval Aviation, US Navy Dept Bureau of Aeronautics, Washington, 1930
2. ^ The United States Naval Air Service Queenstown Base in www.iol.ie, Shipwrecks of Cork Harbour

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NAS_Whiddy_Island"