lding.
80. Rigid Building.

In August, 1914, Europe, which had been in a state of diplomatic
tension for several years, was plunged into the world war. The naval
airship service at the time was in possession of two stations,
Farnborough and Kingsnorth, the latter in a half-finished condition.
Seven airships were possessed, Nos. 2, 3 and 4, and the four ex-army
ships--Beta, Gamma, Delta and Eta--and of these only three, Nos. 3, 4
and the Beta, were in any condition for flying. Notwithstanding this,
the utmost use was made of the ships which were available.

On the very first night of the war, Nos. 3 and 4 carried out a
reconnaissance flight over the southern portion of the North Sea, and
No. 4 came under the fire of territorial detachments at the mouth of
the Thames on her return to her station. These zealous soldiers
imagined that she was a German ship bent on observation of the dockyard
at Chatham.

No. 3 and No. 4 rendered most noteworthy service in escorting the
original Expeditionary Force across the Channel, and in addition to
this No. 4 carried out long patrols over the channel throughout the
following winter.

No. 17 (Beta) also saw active service, as she was based for a short
period early in 1915 at Dunkirk, and was employed in spotting duties
with the Belgian artillery near Ostend.

The Gamma and the Delta were both lying deflated at Farnborough at the
outbreak of the war, and in the case of the latter the car was found to
be beyond repair, and she was accordingly deleted. The Gamma was
inflated in January, 1915, and was used for mooring experiments.

The Eta, having been inflated and deflated several times owing to the
poor quality of the envelope, attempted to fly to Dunkirk in November,
1914. She encountered a snowstorm near Redhill and was compelled to
make a forced landing. In doing this she was so badly damaged as to be
incapable of repair, and at a later date was deleted.

No. 8, which was delivered towards the end of 1914, was also moored out
in the open for a short time near Dunkirk, and carried out patrol in
the war zone of the Belgian coast.

So ends the story of the Naval Airship Service before the war.

With the submarine campaign ruthlessly waged by the Germans from the
spring of 1915 and onwards, came the airship's opportunity, and the
authorities grasped the fact that, with development, here was the
weapon to defeat the most dangerous enemy of the Empire. The method o