The Friedrichshafen FF.19 was an unarmed maritime reconnaissancefloatplane built for the Imperial German Navy's (Kaiserliche Marine) Naval Air Service (Marine-Fliegerabteilung) that was produced by Flugzeugbau Friedrichshafen. Built in small numbers, the aircraft first flew in 1914 and saw service during the early months of World War I, mostly conducting maritime patrols over the North Sea, although they did attack British ships participating in the Raid on Cuxhaven at the end of the year.
The German Naval Air Service was impressed by a demonstration of the British Avro 503 single-engined floatplane in 1913 and bought the prototype. It then ordered a batch of five aircraft, plus one airframe for static testing, of similar performance and configuration in February 1914. The first airframe completed passed the static load requirement on 2 May when its wing failed at a loading of 7.02 times the force of gravity (g)s.[1]
The FF.19 was a two-seat biplane with a water-cooled 100PS (74kW)Mercedes D.Istraight-six engine mounted at the front of the fuselage. The two forward floats were attached to the fuselage by four pairs of V-shaped struts while the third float was connected directly to the tail structure. The wings were connected with six sets of interplane struts that gave the aircraft a three-bay configuration. It was unarmed, although some small bombs could be stored in the observer's cockpit.[2]
Operational history
The first batch of aircraft were delivered in May–June 1914 and the FF.19 became the first German aircraft to conduct successful tests with wireless telegraphy. When World War I began in August, the five Friedrichshafens and three AGO floatplanes were the only combat-worthy aircraft in the Naval Air Service.[3] A batch of 10 more floatplanes was ordered shortly after the start of the war and were delivered beginning in September through November.[4] The FF.19's activities during the war are not well documented, but one aircraft was interned by the Dutch after it was forced to make an emergency landing near the island of Schiermonnikoog on 14 August.[5][Note 1]
An oblique view of a FF.19
Several months later the British made their second attempt to attack the Zeppelin sheds that the Royal Navy believed to be at Cuxhaven[Note 2] on 24 November. Unlike the attempt the previous month which had been cancelled because of foul weather, the aerial attack on the Zeppelin base by the aircraft of the seaplane carriers of the Harwich Force was intended to bait the High Seas Fleet to sortie into the North Sea where they could be destroyed by the waiting Grand Fleet. The British ships had departed their bases on 23 November, but the aerial portion of the operation was cancelled on the evening of 23/24 November because the German battlecruisers were in the German Bight and the three seaplane carriers returned to port. The other ships continued on their mission with the Grand Fleet covering the Harwich Force as it sailed within visual distance of the island of Heligoland. Two seaplanes based on the island took off in response, although one was forced to return with engine trouble; the other aircraft, a FF.19, unsuccessfully attacked the light cruiserHMSLiverpool with five bombs before the British returned to base.[7]
The British returned for another try the following month with the carriers to be in a position north-east of Heligoland to hoist out their floatplanes on the morning of 25 December. The Germans had been alerted to the possibility of an imminent attack on their North Sea ports and were launching Zeppelins to search for any attackers that morning. A FF.19 on patrol spotted the Harwich Force after they had begun to move westward and had to return to Heligoland to deliver its report since it lacked a radio. The base alerted L.6 via searchlight to the presence of the British ships.[8] As the Zeppelin attempted to close the range on the British, the carrier Empress, the slowest of the carriers, was lagging behind. It was unsuccessfully attacked by a FF.19 with six 4.5-kilogram (9.9lb) bombs from an altitude of about 2,000 feet (610m) and then by a Friedrichshafen FF.29 with two 10-kilogram (22lb) bombs that landed closer, but failed to inflict any damage before the airship could attack.[9]
Later that morning, after the carrier Riviera had recovered the only aircraft to return to the carriers, the Harwich Force was again attacked by FF.19s from Heligoland. One aircraft dropped five bombs on destroyers and the other attacked a cruiser with two bombs, none of which hit their targets. During this operation one FF.19 remained airborne for five hours and 52 minutes.[10]
Data from Friedrichshafen Aircraft of WWI: A Centennial Perspective on Great War Airplanes;[2] Flugzeugbau Friedrichshafen GmbH: Diplom-Ingenieur Theodor Kober[3]
Borzutzki, Siegfried (1993). Flugzeugbau Friedrichshafen GmbH: Diplom-Ingenieur Theodor Kober[Friedrichshafen Aircraft Company: Diploma-Engineer Theodore Kober] (in German). Berlin: Burbach. ISBN3-927513-60-1.
Castle, Ian (2011). The Zeppelin Base Raids, Germany 1914. Oxford. ISBN978-1-84908-244-0.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
Herris, Jack (2016). Friedrichshafen Aircraft of WWI: A Centennial Perspective on Great War Airplanes. Great War Aviation Centennial Series. Vol.21. n.p.: Aeronaut Books. ISBN978-1-935881-35-3.
Klaauw, Bart van der (March–April 1999). "Unexpected Windfalls: Accidentally or Deliberately, More than 100 Aircraft 'Arrived' in Dutch Territory During the Great War". Air Enthusiast (80): 54–59. ISSN0143-5450.
Layman, R. D. (1985). The Cuxhaven Raid: The World's First Carrier Air Strike. London: Conway. ISBN0-85177-327-3.
Friedrichshafen FF.33 was a German single-engined reconnaissance three-bay wing structure biplane, using twin floats, designed by Flugzeugbau Friedrichshafen in 1914 for the Marine-Fliegerabteilung aviation forces of the Kaiserliche Marine.
The Friedrichshafen FF.41a was a large, German-built, three-seat, twin-engine floatplane reconnaissance aircraft designed by Flugzeugbau Friedrichshafen in 1917.
Friedrichshafen FF.49 was a German, two-seat, single-engine float-plane designed by Flugzeugbau Friedrichshafen in 1917.
The Raid on Cuxhaven was a British ship-based air-raid on the Imperial German Navy at Cuxhaven mounted on Christmas Day, 1914.
The Friedrichshafen FF.29 was an unarmed maritime reconnaissance floatplane built for the Imperial German Navy's Naval Air Service that was produced by Flugzeugbau Friedrichshafen during World War I. The aircraft entered service in November 1914, mostly conducting maritime patrols over the North Sea and the English Channel, and played a small role in the Raid on Cuxhaven the following month. A FF.29 became the first aircraft to be transported by a submarine when it was used in experiments in January 1915. In May an emergency landing by a FF.29 was the cause of the action off Noordhinder Bank when German forces were searching for the floatplane when they encountered a superior British force. The aircraft was also involved in developing methods of controlling artillery fire from the air.
The Friedrichshafen FF.31 was a two-seat prototype German maritime reconnaissance floatplane built by Flugzeugbau Friedrichshafen during the First World War. Although primarily intended for reconnaissance duties, the aircraft was provided with a machine gun to engage other aircraft. Although it was satisfactory for its intended mission, it lacked the performance necessary for use as a fighter. A pair of aircraft were built in 1915 and it was not accepted for production by the Imperial German Navy's Naval Air Service.
The Friedrichshafen FF.34 was a German biplane floatplane of the 1910s produced by Flugzeugbau Friedrichshafen.
The Friedrichshafen FF.40 was a German three-seat floatplane of the 1910s produced by Flugzeugbau Friedrichshafen.
The Friedrichshafen FF.43 was a German single-seat floatplane fighter of the 1910s produced by Flugzeugbau Friedrichshafen.
The Friedrichshafen FF.48 was a German two-seat floatplane fighter of the 1910s produced by Flugzeugbau Friedrichshafen.
The Friedrichshafen FF.53 was a German torpedo-carrying biplane floatplane of the 1910s produced by Flugzeugbau Friedrichshafen.
The Friedrichshafen FF.60 was a German experimental floatplane produced by Flugzeugbau Friedrichshafen.
The Friedrichshafen FF.35 was a German three-seat floatplane torpedo bomber built during World War I by Friedrichshafen Flugzeugbau built for the Imperial German Navy's Naval Air Service. Only one prototype was constructed in 1916 and it saw limited operational use during the war in Courland.
The Friedrichshafen FF.27 was a reconnaissance floatplane built in Germany during World War I.
The Friedrichshafen FF.1 was a German experimental floatplane built in 1912. It was the first aircraft designed and built by the newly established Flugzeugbau Friedrichshafen. Only one prototype was constructed and it set a German national record for endurance in 1913 before crashing in early 1914.
The Friedrichshafen FF.2 was a floatplane built in Germany in 1913. It was derived from a design by the Swiss pilot and designer René Grandjean. Only one aircraft was built before the design was reworked into the Friedrichshafen FF.4 the following year.
The Friedrichshafen FF.4 was a seaplane built in Germany in the early 1910s.
The Friedrichshafen FF.17 was an experimental floatplane built in Germany in 1914. Originally designed and flown with a single main float and two outriggers as the FF.17, it was later modified as the FF.17b with two floats.
The Friedrichshafen FF.63 was a German experimental floatplane produced by Flugzeugbau Friedrichshafen.
The Friedrichshafen FF.67 was a German experimental floatplane produced by Flugzeugbau Friedrichshafen.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
