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U.S. Naval Air Station Berehaven was a Lighter-than-Air (LTA) kite balloon station at Berehaven, County Cork, Ireland that the United States Navy (USN) operated in the First World War. It was commissioned on 29 April 1918 and decommissioned on 12 February 1919.
NAS Berehaven was a kite-balloon station where balloons were kept for use in conjunction with torpedo-boat destroyers. The balloons were transferred from the shore to the destroyers, made fast, and towed at an altitude of about . This station was on a sound formed within Bantry Bay behind Bere Island near Castletown.
History
At the start of the USA's involvement in the First World War five sites in Ireland were identified to be operated by the United States Navy in support of allied operations. They were Berehaven,Lough Foyle
Lough Foyle, sometimes Loch Foyle ( or "loch of the lip"), is the estuary of the River Foyle, on the north coast of Ireland. It lies between County Londonderry in Northern Ireland and County Donegal in the Republic of Ireland. Sovereignty over ...
, Queenstown (Cobh
Cobh ( ,), known from 1849 until 1920 as Queenstown, is a seaport town on the south coast of County Cork, Ireland. With a population of around 13,000 inhabitants, Cobh is on the south side of Great Island in Cork Harbour and home to Ireland's ...
), Wexford and Whiddy Island.
ENS Carl E. Shumway, USNRF was made the Commanding Officer of this kite-ballon station on 26 April 1918. The base was officially commissioned three days later on 29 April 1918.
NAS Berehaven was designed as a kite balloon station to provide destroyers with kite balloons for convoy and patrol duties. Practice balloon flights were made from towed trucks, since the naval air station was not close enough to Queenstown, where the destroyers were based, to permit easy transfer of kite balloons between station and ship. Berehaven was not very active because of the transfer problem and the operational requirements imposed on destroyers which did not afford time for kite balloon operations aboard.
Equipment
NAS Berehaven was a kite-balloon station where balloons were kept for use in conjunction with torpedo-boat destroyers. The balloons were transferred from the shore to the destroyers, made fast, and towed at an altitude of about . This station was on a sound formed within Bantry Bay behind Bere Island near Castletown.
Operations
In July 1918 most of Berehaven's US LTA personnel and kite balloon equipment were transferred to NAS Brest, France. Berehaven later became a kite balloon station again, supporting operations aboard the Royal Navy24-class sloop
The 24 class was a class of minesweeping sloops. They were derived from the preceding , but designed to appear double-ended. Twenty-four ships to this design (hence the class name) were ordered between December 1916 and April 1917 under the Emerg ...
in late July and early August 1918.
Berehaven then switched to support of balloon operations aboard the US battleships , and from late August through mid-October. The three battleships had been sent to Europe to protect the Allied convoys approaching Ireland, and operated from Bantry Bay.
In the latter part of October 1918, preparations were being made to move LTA operations from Berehaven to Queenstown to make kite balloons more accessible to ships there.
End of hostilities and closure
With the end of the war, the US Naval Air Stations Anti-submarine warfare patrols in Ireland were discontinued and all aircraft grounded and disarmed. When the Armistice of 11 November 1918 was signed NAS Berehaven had 16 kite balloons. The only United States Navy kite balloon base in the British Isles was disestablished on 12 February 1919.See also
*U.S. Naval Air Station Lough Foyle Ireland
U.S. Naval Air Station Lough Foyle was a seaplane station at Lough Foyle in Ireland, which was operated by the United States Navy (USN) and commissioned on July 1, 1918 with Commander Henry D. Cooke, USN as the commanding officer. Located near Qu ...
* U.S. Naval Air Station Queenstown Ireland
*U.S. Naval Air Station Wexford Ireland
U.S. Naval Air Station Wexford was a seaplane station at Ferrybank, Wexford, Ireland which was operated by the United States Navy (USN) and commissioned on 2 May 1918. Its mission was to operate Curtiss H-16 anti-submarine patrols (ASW) to co ...
*U.S. Naval Air Station Whiddy Island Ireland
U.S. Naval Air Station Whiddy Island was a US naval air station operated during the last year of World War I and commissioned 4 July 1918. Located on Whiddy Island in Bantry Bay, County Cork, Ireland, it was also known as Bantry Bay Station. The ...
References
;Notes ;Citations {{Reflist 1918 establishments in Ireland 1919 disestablishments in Ireland Aviation history of Ireland Ireland in World War I Military installations of the United States in Ireland Military installations closed in 1919 Closed installations of the United States Navy