Reproduced with kind permission of Martyn Chorlton

With the arrival in service of more North Sea airships the tempo of anti-submarine operations increased, as did the strength of the airship escorts to the coastal convoys. In addition, several special operations took place in conjunction with specialised submarine hunting units.

Explosive nets were laid across the expected tracks of home-coming German submarines, and were watched by hydrophone-carrying surface craft, and, when possible, by airships. On the other hand the German U-boats now carried heavier guns, and when returning home were more inclined to keep on the surface.

On 31st July 1918, C25, commanded by Captain Hopperton, RAF, had been sunk in this way. The Germans never claimed to have attacked or destroyed C25, but it was the opinion at Longside that this was in fact the case. No airship was attacked, however, while with a convoy, for by so doing the U-boat would have given away her own position.

On 13th August, when patrolling off the Aberdeen coast in hazy weather, NS9 was also shot at. When visiting the engineers I noticed eight shell bursts near the tail fin, and realised that we were being fired at. By the time I had regained the control position and got both engines running at full speed and the ship turned towards the area, the firing had stopped. No-one was able to see the U-boat or the gun flash because of the haze. NS6 joined in the search, but neither airship saw any sign of the submarine.

On thinking it over afterwards we realised that it was one thing to surprise a U-boat surfacing, and another to approach one already on the surface with guns manned. We should have had an anxious time approaching as our 269 ft length would be hard to miss at a range of 900 feet. We did not have any opportunity of testing that!

During September we and the other airships were busy on patrols, usually of twelve hours although I did three of over sixteen hours in NS9. In mid-September we had occasion to realise that even the newer NS airships were not immune from all the troubles of the older ships. What occurred will give some idea of what patrolling meant.

We had been out on patrol to the north-eastward out of sight of land, and were returning in the late afternoon. It had been a day of fresh blustering winds from the north east and the wind having backed to the south west, we were plugging back into a head wind. Our speed over the sea was obviously getting slower. Presently it became clear that unless the wind dropped we would have a very long journey home, and that there was no alternative base nearer than Norway. We hopped that our navigational errors of the past nine hours were not too great and looked forward to the time when we should sight land. We had increased speed to three-quarters power which gave an airspeed of 50 mph, and we were probably making about 25 mph over the sea and less in squalls. However, at 800 feet the air was fairly steady and the ship was handling easily except that the coxswain seemed to have difficulty in keeping the ship on course. Every time she swung off course the sea no longer moved behind us but just moved sideways. If this continued our trip homeward was going to be very long indeed.

At length the coxswain reported that the steering was getting stiffer and stiffer, and that he could hardly control the rudder. There was no alternative method of steering and it might take some time to find and rectify the fault, if it could be got at. If we let the ship get side to wind we would be drifting away from home faster than we had been approaching it before. Luckily, in the ‘spares bag’ we had two small blocks and tackle known in the navy as ‘Handy Billy’. By securing one to each rudder control in the cabin with a man on each, after some practice we managed to steer fairly well.

The engineer found that the bearing of the steering wheel had seized up, but fortunately he could get at it and hoped to be able to strip it down and free it in a short time. After a rather anxious period when our progress over the sea became slower and the gusts more frequent, he completed the job and we were able to dispense with our makeshift steering arrangements. By this time it was blowing hard so we increased to full speed which used up fuel fast, and we came down to about 100 feet over the sea in the hope that the wind might be slightly less, close to the waves.

Time went by slowly. The W/T operator was able to get a rough position from the Direction Finding (D/F) stations which tended to confirm our own idea of our position. Then the engineer came forward to ask which petrol tank was to be used next. This was important because it was desirable to keep the weights in the ship adjusted so that the trim was neither too nose nor too tail heavy. The report rubbed in that with the engines at full speed we were using petrol fast – pity that we had not filled right up with petrol, but then that would have meant one less bomb. Anyway, there was nothing we could do about it now. The urge to bother about our petrol consumption and how much we had left must be checked. After all, we were doing our best.

The next half-hour dragged by. Then to our relief the clouds above us thinned, the sea seemed less rough and the wind started to drop. Soon the sun came out and in the distance there was a faint blur on the horizon which gradually grew into the familiar landmark of Mormon Hill. Our navigation had been all right after all. The crew were all smiles again. The black cliffs of Peterhead harbour passed underneath. We were soon successfully landed and the airship back in its shed again.

Finally, on 21st September we had been out on a long patrol during which we sighted a mine adrift off Aberdeen. We had this sunk by a trawler. We were then recalled as the wind was rising rapidly from the south east. On arrival we found that C15 and NS10 were circling waiting to land, while the landing party of some 300 men were having great difficulty in controlling C7 which was dragging about in the eddies at the entrance of the shed. By that time the squalls were reaching 45 mph and it was clear that we should have difficulty in getting down and into the shed. There was no shelter in the desolate hill country in which we could have moored, and no other station which we could reach.

At last we saw that C7 had been ripped. With reasonable luck little damage need be done and the ship could be repaired. C15 was also ripped soon after landing, and an effort was then made to dock the much larger NS10. This proved extremely hazardous and from the air we could see the ship swaying and plunging: one moment the car was twenty feet off the ground, and the next dashed to earth. The airmen on the handling guys were being carried off their feet, and were hanging on like grim death. This often took considerable courage even with an experienced team, in a struggle with a gale. Landing parties took great pride in it, and as Longside was in an exposed position there were often high winds, so the landing party had plenty of practice.

NS10 was ripped, and then it was our turn. We landed without too much difficulty, but once in the lee of the sheds the ship became unmanageable in the down drafts and back eddies. After some particularly fierce squalls when the airship envelope crashed down on the car and the 300 men were dragged hither and thither, we regretfully ripped our ship too, clear of the remains of the other three.

So ended for the moment the activities of NS9 and NS10 – a depressing sight on a rain-swept evening, with the silvery grey shapes of the four ships sprawled out on the trampled mud, and here and there the cars of the airships, standing in the wreckage. However, we knew that given time they could be repaired and that two new NS ships were being completed.

Thanks again to Brian Turpin for generously allowing us to publish this article.

Air Commodore Edward Maitland Maitland CMG DSO AFC FRGS (21 February 1880 – 24 August 1921)

After gaining his commission in the Essex Regiment in 1900, Maitland served in the Orange River Colony during the Boer War. On 19 August 1911 Maitland was attached to the Royal Engineers’ Air Battalion and later that year he was appointed Officer Commanding No. 1 Company, Air Battalion. (No. 1 Company, Air Battalion was subsequently renamed No. 1 Squadron, RFC and then No. 1 Squadron RAF). In 1914 Maitland transferred to the Royal Naval Air Service, taking up the post of Officer Commanding the Captive Balloon Detachment. On 1 April 1918, with the merger of the Royal Naval Air Service and the Royal Flying Corps, Maitland transferred to the Royal Air Force. He was subsequently promoted to Air Commodore.

Maitland took up ballooning in 1908. On 18 November 1908, he flew with Mr C C Turner and Prof A E Gaudron in a balloon named the Mammoth from Crystal Palace in England to Meeki Derevi in Russia. The distance of 1,117 miles was covered in thirty-six and a half hours. From 1909 Maitland was attached to the Balloon School at Farnborough Airfield. In addition to ballooning, he also experimented with powered aircraft but, following a bad crash, he restricted his attention to airships. In 1913 he carried out a parachute descent from the airship Delta and was awarded Royal Aero Club Certificate 1281 on 4 April of the same year. In 1919 Maitland was on board the Airship R34 when it completed the first transatlantic crossing.

On 24 August 1921 Maitland was killed when the R38 airship he was on board suffered structural failure and broke up in mid-air over the Humber.

From notes written by Air Vice Marshall P. E. Maitland and given to the author Brian Turpin.

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SON COMMANDER OF UNFORTUNATE N.S. 11

It was not until some time after the disaster of the N.S. 11 airship off the Norfolk coast that the rumour began to spread that Earlestown was affected by it.

It is now known that the Commander was the only son of Mr and Mrs Warneford, and the heartfelt sympathy of the township will be with the bereaved parents.

Captain W K Warneford’s home was with his parents, at Lansdown House, Huyton. He was cousin of Lieut. Warneford V.C., the first airman to bring down a Zeppelin.

Captain Warneford was only 24 years of age, but bore his responsibilities lightly, and on a number of occasions showed a cool head and a steady nerve in emergencies. He was an all-round sportsman and a general favourite among airship men.

He was born on July 19th, 1895, at Crewe. Leaving school, he became an apprentice engineer in the locomotive department of the London and North Western Railway. In October, 1914, be joined up in the RNAS and served in the first kite balloon section.

He was then transferred to the airship section, and underwent his training at Barrow. he was put on the Anglesea patrol, the Dover patrol, and later he was sent on patrolling work connected with the Grand Fleet at East Fortune. With the temporary rank of major, he took over the command of the airship squadron at Longside.

He received double mention in despatches and in the birthday honour list his name appeared under the award of the Air Force Cross.

The Air Ministry despatched a letter to him in March congratulating him and the crew of N.S.11 on their devotion and high degree of efficiency as shown in the duration flight from Feb, 9th to 15th.

Mr. Warneford was for many years at Crewe Railway Works, and is now manager of the Viaduct Works at Earlestown. Mrs Warneford has made herself popular in the town by her work during the war in aid of men at the front.

July 1919

Friday 18 July 1919

TERRIBLE DISASTER ON NORTH NORFOLK COAST

BURNING AIRSHIP FALLS INTO SEA.
EYE-WITNESS ACCOUNTS

A terrible tragedy occurred in the early hours of Tuesday morning a few miles from Cley-next-Sea, and in a few short minutes one of our airships was reduced to a mass of twisted metal and her gallant crew either roasted to death or drowned.

The airship was the N.S.11 with a crew of two officers and five men which left Pulham – the station where the R.34 landed on her return from America – just previous to midnight on Monday on mine-sweeping patrol duty. At one o’clock there was a thunderstorm, accompanied by lightning in North Norfolk. The cause of the fire will probably never be known. It may have been caused by an accident on board the ship, or she may have run into an electrical storm, such as the R.34 encountered on her outward voyage across the Atlantic. Referring to this storm in his log, General Maitland said, “such a buffeting a non-rigid airship could never have stood.”

There is only one other case of a British airship catching fire in the air, and this was one of an experimental type, which was undergoing trials. The N.S. type of airship is of the non-rigid class with a capacity of 360,000 cubic feet, and is 262ft. in length. She has two Fiat engines of 250 h.p. each.

At the time of her distruction, N.S.11 was commanded by Capt.Warneford, R.A.F. Captain Warneford, who is a young unmarried officer, had the distinction of holding until recently with Lieut. Brow three unbroken records for flights in the N.S.11.

An unofficial member of the crew was a black cat, the airship’s mascot.

AT HOLT AND LETHERINGSETT
About 1 a.m. on Tuesday morning many residents in Holt and the little village of Letheringsett were awakened by the sound of the engines of an airship or aeroplane, and on investigation the found it was the former. A large airship was plainly to be seen going seawards, and passing just to the west of Holt between that town and Letheringsett. Rev. W. H. Finlayson, Rector of Letheringsett, in the course of an interview with a representative of this journal, said he could distinguish the airship quite plainly, and it reminded him of a Zeppelin; as far as he could see it had three gondolas. When he last saw it it was proceeding in the direction of the sea between Blakeney and Cley, and appeared to be travelling easily and well, although the engines were making considerable noise.

AT BLAKENEY
Later on our representative interviewed Mr. Page of Blakeney, who said that he was awakened by his wife, and his attention drawn to a brilliant light in the sky. The window of his bedroom faced east, and the light was north-north-east over the sea, in the direction of Cley. He could see that it was an airship enveloped in a mass of flames, and as he and his wife watched it the burning mass turned on end and dropped like a stone.

Mrs. G. Hudson of St. Margaret’s, Blakeney, interviewed by the Cromer representative of the Eastern Daily Press, said :– “I heard an awful explosion, and I saw a terrific glare. I rushed to the window with my glasses, and saw the airship apparently in its original position. While I was watching she suddenly took a header, and went down to the sea in flames. Just before she reached the surface she exploded again, and flaming fragments were scattered about. With the aid of my glasses I saw a black object drop out of the flames. It looked like a parachute, but I could not say definitely what it was. The mass burnt on the surface of the sea for hours.

“The time of the first explosion was about a quarter to two, and immediately after it came down in flames. I then heard a peal of thunder and saw a flash of lightning, and the rain came down in torrents.”

Mr. C. Long, of the White Horse Hotel, said he heard the noise of the airship’s engines about a quarter to one. He and his wife went to the bedroom window, but as it faced a different way they saw nothing of the craft., but they saw a great flash and heard the explosion. Mr. Long is the bowman of the Blakeney lifeboat, and he went and called his father, the coxwain, but with the tide out and the lifeboat in a dry harbour, it was practically useless to attempt a launch, and they heard that the Sheringham boat had been called out.

Dr. and Mrs. Kaye heard and saw the airship when she first passed overhead. The noise awakened them, and she thought it was the R.34 proceeding from Pulham to East Fortune. Afterwards they saw the glare in the sky and heard the explosion.

AT CLEY
Our representative was able to obtain some further information from an old seaman who lives at Cley, who said he had watched the airship proceeding to sea between Cley and Blakeney about 1.15. He did not think it was travelling at all easily, and appeared to be having trouble with the engines, so much so that, when a few miles out it appeared to turn round and head again for land. He watched its progress anxiously, as being an old Navy man he was sure that everything was by no means right. Whilst still some miles from land he saw a bright light, and heard an explosion, and within a few moments the whole airship was a glowing mass. It continued in a horizontal position for a short time, and then suddenly turned on end and pitched downwards at a terrific speed, and exploded either just at it reached the water of just before, he could not be certain which.

Mr. J. T. Elwin, who is home on leave, informed a representative of the Eastern Daily Press that he was awakened at 12.36 on Tuesday morning by the noise of an aircraft’s engine. “My relations and I watched it from the bedroom window. It appeared to be at a standstill over neighbouring houses, and was making a lot of noise. I came downstairs and saw it going over Cley Church towards the sea. As it disappeared from my view behind a plantation I noticed a flash come from it, but whether it was simply from the exhaust or anything else I could not say.”

Mrs. Catling said she saw the airship through her field-glasses distinctly. “It looked like one of the ‘Pulham Pigs’ as the are called locally. She watched it go out over the sea, and suddenly heard a big explosion. The airship seemed to be one mass of flames.

The Cley correspondent of this journal states that early on Tuesday morning a large airship came over Cley and hovered for some time; her engines were making an unusual noise, and she was flying so low that some people declared that the could see the men in her. A lady living in the Beech-road examined the airship with glasses and could see her distinctly. Shortly afterwards she heard a loud explosion and the whole airship went down, the sea one mass of flame, which lighted up the whole village, and there was light enough to read a newspaper. The mortar was fired from the coastguard station, and the rocket cart was quickly on the beach, standing by for the remainder of the night.

AT SHERINGHAM
Sheringham was awakened at 1.45 on Tuesday morning by the firing of the rocket, warning the lifeboat crew that their services were required. The crew quickly assembled, and proceeded across the golf links to the lifeboat, prepared the “J. C. Madge” for launching, and were away on their errand about a quarter to three. The message that what they thought to be a vessel on fire (this was the airship burning after it reached the sea) came from the coastguard at Morston, and the boat proceeded in the direction of the Blakeney Bell Buoy. Previous to the launching of the lifeboat, and to save time, the large motor fishing boat “White Heather” was rushed to the scene of the supposed disaster.

Soon afterwards a message came from Morston that the vessel believed to be on fire was still afloat, and was apparently drifting towards shore about a mile off Blakeney. The lifeboat had, in the meantime, proceeded further north and it was immediately decided to send out another motor boat, “The Maple Leaf”, which was got off at 3.30. It now appears that the first motor boat showed the lights which led Morston to believe that a distressed vessel was drifting ashore, and a further mistake appears to have occurred when the lifeboat saw rockets fired from the neighbourhood of Wells, and took it to be the signal that the vessel was ashore at Blakeney.

The motor boats and lifeboats continued to search, but at four o’clock the wind shifted to north, and began to blow hard with a choppy sea. This became so bad that the motor boats had to run for safety, and the reached Sheringham after a risky landing. The lifeboat remained in the vicinity of the buoy, but as there was no trace of anything she returned home.

Later on in the morning a portion of wreckage was washed up, at the old Hythe, some charred woodwork with aluminium attached, there was secured by Mr. H. R. Johnson, and handed over to the coastguard; it had the appearance of only having been in the water a short time.

WRECKAGE WASHED ASHORE
During Tuesday afternoon charred remnants of the airship were washed ashore at Weybourne and Sheringham, and two flying officers came over from Pulham to inspect them. Among the wreckage was part of a small cabin door, a portion of what appeared to be an airman’s cap smelling strongly of petrol, round white papier-mache articles of half-cylinder shape, four inches in diameter, resembling an inverted gas burner, and pieces of charred frame work and aluminium. The wreckage washed ashore also includes a broken propeller blade, a chair apparently belonging to the coxwain and marked N.S.11, a piece of a mica window, and portions of airship furniture.

AT MELTON CONSTABLE
Reports from Melton Constable state that the ill-fated aircraft passed over that place about 12.45. Mr. C. Dyer, a foreman in the Works, says it was so low down that he could plainly see the number N.S.11, and as he was watching it a light was shown. Mr. W. E. Newman, the Assistant Engineer, and Dr, Skrimshire also state that it was exceedingly low, the later stating that when he saw it it was apparently only a very short distance above the houses. Mr. Newman was of the opinion that the engines were running well at this time.

NAMES OF OFFICERS AND CREW

Following are the names and addresses of the officers and ratings of the lost airship :

Capt. W. K. Warneford (commander). Lansdowne House, Huyton, Liverpool.

Capt. A. S. Elliott, who had recently been staying with his wife at Harleston.

Flight-Sergt. O’Connor. 68 Macfarlane road, Wood-lane, Shepherd’s Bush.

Sergt. Lewry, Leesland-road, Gosport.

Sergt. Waghorn, of the Star Inn, Crayford, Kent.

A.C. 2 Jarrett. 33, Dillyn-road, Lower Syndenham.

A.C. 2 Jacques, Victoria-road, Long Eaton.

A.C 1 Cameron, 16 Beasley-street, Gorton, Manchester.

L.A.C Conelly, Midfield Cottage, Inveresk, Midlothian

THE KING’S MESSAGE
The following message was received at Pulham on Wednesday afternoon from His Majesty the King :–

“His Majesty the King desires to express his deepest sympathy with the relatives of the officers and men who lost their lives in the airship N.S.11 while employed in mine clearing operations.”

The following reply was sent :– “It is requested that the grateful appreciation of the officers and men at Pulham Airship Station should be conveyed to his Majesty the King for his kind message, which has been transmitted to the relatives of the officers and men of N.S.11. – From Commanding Officer, Airships, Pulham.

WRECKAGE REMOVED
On Wednesday night a R.A.F. car from Pulham removed some portions of the destroyed airship which had been washed up at Sheringham, amongst them being a petrol tank, some of the wood work was very little damaged by fire.

NO BODIES FOUND
Up to the time of going to press no news of any bodies of the crew having been found is to hand, and it is thought that it may be some days before they are washed ashore.

The article was provided by the The Norfolk Heritage Centre at the Norfolk and Norwich Millennium Library. We would like to thank the Norfolk Heritage Centre and Peter Franzen, Editor of the Eastern Daily Press and Archant Norfolk for giving us permission to publish the article.

AIRSHIP BURNT AT SEA

LOSS OF 7 LIVES

In the early hours of Tuesday morning an airship was seen to catch fire and fall into the sea off the Norfolk coast. The Sheringham lifeboat at once put out, and salved a small part of the aluminium wreckage. The crew were not found. The Air Ministry have, up to the time of going to press, issued no official statement.

The Airship is the N.S.11, with a crew of two officers and five men, which left Pulham – the station where the R34 landed on her return from America – at about midnight on Monday on mine-sweeping patrol duty. At 1 o’clock there was a severe thunderstorm accompanied by lightning. The cause of the fire will probably never be known. It may have been caused by an accident on board the ship, or she may have run into an electrical storm, such as the R34 encountered on her outward voyage across the Atlantic. Referring to this storm in his log, General Maitland said “such a buffeting a non-rigid airship could never have stood.

There is only one other case of a British airship catching fire in the air, and this was one of an experimental type, which was undergoing trials. The N.S. type of airship is of the non-rigid class with a capacity of 360,000 cubic feet, and is 262ft. in length. She has two Fiat engines of 250h.p. each.

EYE-WITNESS STORIES

Mr J. T. Elwin, of Newgate, Cley-next-the-Sea, said that he was awakened at 12.30 on Tuesday morning by the noise of an airships engine. He called out to his mother, “I can hear a Zepp., but it is not working right.” “My relations and I watched it from the bedroom window,” continued Mr Elwin. “It appeared at a standstill over neighbouring houses, and was making a lot of noise. I came downstairs and saw it going over Cley Church towards the sea. As it disappeared from my view behind a plantation I noticed a flash come from it, but whether it was simply from the exhaust or anything else I could not say.”

Mr. E. A. Standgroom said that half an hour after the airship had passed over he heard a tremendous explosion, and the whole place was lit up as brightly as day.

Mrs. Catling, also of Pley [sp], said that she saw the airship distinctly. It looked like one of the “Pulham Pigs,” as they call them locally. She watched it go out over the sea and suddenly heard a big explosion. The airship seemed to be one mass of flames.

BURNING ON THE SEA

Mrs G Hudson, of St Margaret’s, Blakeny [sp], said “I heard an airship a little before 12.30 and looked out of my bedroom window. I took my field glasses and located it quite easily as it came from the south-east. It was one of the big silvered type and appeared to be going along splendidly, indeed so gracefully that I turned to my husband and said, “I should not mind being in her.” It continued its journey out of my sight and I got into bed again, but I could not sleep and listened to the noise of the engines in the distance. This lasted for about half-an-hour. The next thing I heard was an awful explosion and I saw a terrific glare. I rushed to the window again with my glasses and saw the airship apparently in its original position.

“While I was watching she suddenly took a header and went down to the sea in flames. Just before she reached the surface she exploded again and flaming fragments were scattered about. With my glasses I saw a black object drop out of the flames. It looked like a parachute, but I could not say definitely what it was. The mass burnt on the surface of the sea for hours. The time of the first explosion was about a quarter to 2 and immediately after it came down in flames. I then heard a peal of thunder and saw a flash of lightning and the rain came down in torrents. I feel confident that the airship was not struck by lightning, because there was no lightning till afterwards.”

It is also known that due to the problems with the complicated drive shafts required for the Rolls Royce engines, these were replaced with 240hp FIAT engines. The engines in this view have yet to be identified but they don’t appear to be 240hp FIATs such as the A12.

Gary has undertaken extensive research of NS-Class airships for his series of paintings A Voyage to the Interior, a fantasy journey of a North Sea airship over Africa. We will be taking a look at Gary’s work in an upcoming feature on this site, but in the meantime visit www.voyageart.co.uk

The Fiat Mefistofele began life as a 1908 Fiat SB 4 chain-driven Grand Prix car, using an engine of no less than 18 litres, with two individual but linked-together cylinder blocks. By 1922 it had come into the hands of John Duff, who was racing it at Brooklands when he became the innocent party in one of the biggest blow-ups ever recorded in the entire history of motorsport. One of the cylinder blocks exploded, separated itself from the rest of the engine, and departed skywards, taking the bonnet and several other supplementary components with it. Duff rather lost interest in the car after that, and went off instead to help start Bentley’s winning run at Le Mans.

Ernest Eldridge

The shattered remains of the Fiat were taken over by an amazing character, Ernest Eldridge. He looked at the 18-litre engine and came to the conclusion that it was a little on the small side. It certainly was, in comparison with his current Isotta-Maybach, which had a 20.5-litre Maybach engine insinuated into an extended 1907 Isotta-Fraschini chassis. Eldridge managed to acquire a 21.706 litre six-cylinder A-12 Bis Fiat airship engine. The Fiat A-12 engine was a six-cylinder liquid cooled in-line, single overhead camshaft, engine of 260 horsepower. It was used in such aircraft as the S.I.A. 7B1, Fiat R-2, and S.A.M.L. S-2 reconnaissance aircraft, and the Caproni Ca. 46 bomber. Eldridge was then obliged to lengthen Mephistopheles to accommodate it. The story goes that elements of a London bus chassis were used in the conversion.

The rebuilt car was no crude job, though. It was given rather elegant new bodywork with a shapely tail, and it had the centre line of the front wheels farther ahead of the radiator than any other record car of its day. Eldridge had also breathed on the engine, which, modified with four valves per cylinder, 24 spark plugs – all fired by Magneti Marelli magnetos, but with only two carburettors, now gave a full 320bhp at 1,800 rpm on a 5 to 1 compression ratio. Still chain-drive, of course, no front brakes and two tons in racing trim.

The vehicle’s 1923 debut at Brooklands saw Ernest Eldridge establish his first 1/2 mile record from a standing start. Soon afterwards, on 12th July 1924 at Arpajon in France, he broke the absolute speed record by achieving a top speed of 146.01 mph. Other records over distances of 5 km and 10 km would follow.