RNAS Tresco

RNAS Tresco
Near Tresco, Isles of Scilly, Cornwall in England
RNAS Tresco Shown within Cornwall
Coordinates	49°57′12″N 6°20′17″W / 49.95333°N 6.33806°W / 49.95333; -6.33806Coordinates: 49°57′12″N 6°20′17″W / 49.95333°N 6.33806°W / 49.95333; -6.33806
Type	Royal Naval Air Station
Site information
Owner	Royal Navy
Operator	Royal Navy
Site history
Built	1917 (1917)
In use	1917-1919 (1919)

RNAS Tresco was a Royal Naval Air Service base on Tresco, the second largest island in the Isles of Scilly. From February 1917 to May 1919 aircraft patrolled the Western Approaches and provided an escort for convoys. A total of thirteen U-boats were sighted and nine attacked.

Despite warnings from locals that the bay was too exposed for these relatively fragile machines, in January 1917 a handful of Short Type 184 seaplanes were stationed at Porthmellon on St Mary’s. They were followed by several Curtiss Type 12 flying-boats from RNAS Cattewater near Plymouth. Before the base became operational it was transferred to Tresco, and formed RNAS Tresco at New Grimsby. The first patrol was undertaken on 28 February 1917 and the first conclusive action took place on 27 May 1917, when an unidentified U-boat was spotted, on the surface, off Bryher. Before diving the U-boat shot at, and holed the aircraft's radiator, which was temporary fixed by one of the crew climbing onto the wing and plugging the hole with a handkerchief! The flying boat dropped two bombs and onshore observers witnessed the submarine's stern rising out of the water at an angle of 60° before she sank. Subsequent research suggests that the U-boat may have survived the attack. The crew of the Curtiss Type 12 were later decorated.

By the summer, full facilities had been established and from August there were around 22 planes including Short Type 184 and Felixstowe F.5 flyingboats. The squadron patrolled the Western Approaches of the English Channel and gained two DSCs, one DSM and a CGM. A number of other significant actions followed, notably the thwarting of U-boat attacks on the White Star liner, Persic which sustained damage but managed to reach port