The Royal Naval Air Service invested heavily in aircraft of all types - aeroplanes, seaplanes, airships, and kite balloons - in order to counter the German U-boats. Under the Royal Air Force, the air campaign against U-boats continued uninterrupted. Aircraft bombed German U-boat bases in Flanders, conducted area and 'hunting' patrols around the coasts of Britain, and escorted merchant convoys to safety. Despite the fact that aircraft acting alone destroyed only one U-boat during the war, the overall contribution of naval aviation to filing U-boat attacks was significant. Only five merchant vessels succumbed to submarine attack when convoyed by a combined air and surface escort during World War I. This book examines aircraft and weapons technology, aircrew training, and the aircraft production issues that shaped this campaign. Then, a close examination of anti-submarine operations – bombing, patrols, and escort – yields a significantly different judgment from existing interpretation of these operations. This study is the first to take an objective look at the writing and publication of the naval and air official histories as they told the story of naval aviation during the Great War. The author also examines the German view of aircraft effectiveness, through German actions, prisoner interrogations, official histories, and memoirs, to provide a comparative judgment. The conclusion closes with a brief narrative of post-war air anti-submarine developments and a summary of findings.

Introduction: British naval aviation and the U-boat menace --Technology: Aircraft and U-boats -- Training and production -- Attacking 'at source': Bombing the Flanders U-boat bases -- Hunting the enemy: Air patrols in Home Waters -- Aircraft and convoy escort -- British official assessments -- German assessment.