HMS Manica

HMS "Manica" was a British cargo steamship that became the first kite balloon ship of the Royal Naval Air Service. She saw active service in the Dardanelles Campaign of 1915 directing the fire of the supporting ships at Anzac Cove.
Ships of the similar type included and .
Building.
Sir James Laing & Sons Ltd built the ship in 1896 at their Deptford Yard, London as the tramp steamer "Manica" for the Ellerman & Bucknall Steamship Co.
Conversion to operate the kite ballon involved fitting "a long sloping deck from forecastle to waist, fixing a dynamo to drive a hydrogen compressor", and the installation of a winch. A "wireless telegraphy house" and quarters for the naval officers and men were added.
Service.
In 1915 she was chartered by the Admiralty as a kite balloon ship.
Events from "Manica"s war service:
Reports and other references to the ship.
http://www.tayyareci.com/hvtarihi/canakkale/canak5.asp: "Because of the failure of allied air forces, a fixed balloon ship, weighed 3500 tons and named Manica, came to Dardanelles from England on 22 March. On 26 March, Serno and Schneider flew for reconnaissance and in the evening Schneider and Hüseyin Sedat repeated the reconnaissance and flew up to Limni. According to their report, it was understood that there would be no new naval attack. At the end of the same day, they returned to Istanbul."
http://www.naval-history.net/xDKCas1917-05May.htm "Sunday 13 May 1917 on board of the ship the general servants James Barton (due to illness) and Edward H. Buckley died. Wednesday 16 May died the air mechanic Horace Thompson due to illness"
Report in "The Times" newspaper.
"The Times" of London carried an article in its 13 May 1918 edition as follows:
FIRST KITE BALLOON
"SPOTTERS" FINE WORK FOR THE FLEET
It was not until the early months of 1915 that the Kite Balloon Division of the R.N.A.S. came into being. When the demand for observation balloons for the Dardanelles operations came through in March of that year the Royal Navy was able to send out a completely equipped Kite Balloon Section in a specially fitted steamer. The vessel, the Manica, a converted tramp, which arrived just a month after the demand was made, immediately proved the value of the unit. Within three days a Turkish camp was shelled under the direction of the kite balloon, and the occupants thrown into confusion; while in the following week the "Spotter" directed fire on the Gaba Tepe position, which resulted in the destruction if the barracks.
The triumph, however, came before April was out, for from their aerial perch the observers spotted, lying quietly in the water on the other side by the Peninsular out of sight of our warships, a large Turkish transport. The transport apparently considered herself quite safe-but in warfare the unexpected often happens. H.M.S. Queen Elizabeth was operating near the balloon ship, and the bearings of the Turkish vessel were given her. The first shot fell short. By this time the other ships near by were beginning to take an interest in what was happening to Elizabeth's invisible target, which was lying nine miles the other side of the Peninsula. A second shot went nearer the mark. Again the direction was corrected, and a third heavy projectile screamed overland. By the telephone wire of the kite balloon came the words, "Got her. She's sinking by the head." The signalman semaphored this literally to the Queen Elizabeth and a roar of laughter went up as the various ships read the laconic message.
Repeated attacks were made by the Turks on the solitary kite balloon and her parent ship, but were fought back. The effect on the Turkish shipping was evident, for whenever the Manica's offspring ascended, the enemy craft, remembering the fate of the transport, hustled off out of range of our big guns.
The official record of the Manica for the next fortnight was as follows:
This and other work was a wonderful tribute to the efficacy of the new observation contrivance, and it should be remembered that barely two months before there was not a single kite balloon in England, and that the whole of the section was in an embryonic state. The experience gained in the Manica was the foundation of what is now an active branch of the Royal Navy.