Basil Smith: H.M.S. Ben-my-Chree and Short Type 184 Seaplane

Artist: Basil Smith
1925 -
Nationality: British
Artwork Year: 1981
Image Size: 7 by 6 inches
Overall Size: 10 by 9 inches
Medium: Mixed Media on Hot Press Illustration Board

World wars have a tendency to disrupt old habits. Take, for example, the case of the H.M.S. Ben-my-Chree. Built in 1908 for the Isle of Man Packet Company, she placidly hauled freight across the English Channel for a number of years. Kaiser Wilhelm and World War I changed all that, and by May of 1915 the Ben-my-Chree found herself steaming out of Harwich, EWnglnad with two experimental seaplanes in her hold. Her mission: to seek out and destroy two notorious German cruisers which had taken control of the Dardanelles. The seaplanes carried by the Ben-my-Chree were Short 184s, among the first aircraft ever designed to launch torpedos. The Ben-my-Chree never engaged the two cruisers, yet she did not come away empty-handed. On August 12, 1915, Flight Commander C.H.K. Edmonds, piloting a fragile and undependable seaplane with only a forty-five minute supply of fuel, sighted and sank a five thousand ton enemy transport -- the first successful attack of its kind. The Ben-my-Chree, with her cargo of fearsome new weapons, went on to wage war against Turkish forces in Sinai, Palestine, and Arabia. However, her seaplanes proved to be her demise. She was ambushed at anchor in January of 1917 by a camouflaged Turkish gun battery. A shell struck the airplane hangar, setting fire to the fueled craft inside. The blaze was not put out until the warm waters of the Mediterranean closed over the valiant Ben-my-Chree.

This painting was originally published on the Fleetwood® Trains & Boats & Planes & More Collection Description Card for the H.M.S. Ben-my-Chree and Short Type 184 Seaplane.

Artwork Copyright © 1981 Unicover Corporation. All Rights Reserved under United States and international copyright laws. You may not reproduce, distribute, transmit, or otherwise exploit the Artwork in any way. Images of the Artwork may be watermarked and/or digitally watermarked. Any sale of the physical original does not include or convey the Copyright or any right comprised in the copyright.

Our Stock Number (SKU): XB07107

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