A Sopwith Baby N1014 loaned by an early aircraft carrier HMS Raven II was embarked on HMAS Brisbane.

The aircraft was used in the search for the German Raider Wolf, which had made incursions into the southern oceans.

Records show HMAS Brisbane arrived in Colombo at the height of World War I on May 4, 1917 and sailed two days later with the Baby,  pilot Flight Sub Lieutenant Alfred Clemson and four mechanics on board.

Clemson and the flight crew disembarked upon Brisbane's return to Colombo on May 13, 1917.

Unfortunately the log of Brisbane’s activities is not available but it is understood FSLBT Clemson and the Baby made two flights daily each of an hour in duration in the early morning and late afternoon to try and locate the Wolf.

Allied naval intelligence had no good idea where the German ship was and it was causing a great deal of damage and consternation by sinking ships and laying minefields.

The Sopwith Baby was a single-seat armed reconnaissance seaplane of wood and fabric construction designed by the Sopwith Aviation Co Ltd in 1915. This one was one of the first batch licence-built by Blackburn.

The aircraft was stowed aft on the upper deck of Brisbane on a platform designed by the ship’s CO, Captain Claude Cumberledge RN.

For flight operations the Baby was craned overboard from this stowage and would take off from the sea and, after landing, would then be hoisted inboard.

HMAS Brisbane and upward of 25 other naval ships were searching for the Wolf in the Indian Ocean during May of 1917.

Brisbane again embarked a seaplane (type not specified) for patrols of the Bay of Bengal between May 30 and June 4 but returned it to the Royal Navy depot at Colombo (it had been left at Colombo by Raven II) when Brisbane was ordered to return to Australian waters.

By 1917 the Royal Navy had been routinely operating aircraft off cruisers for a number of years. Several RN ships, including cruisers equipped with embarked aircraft were at Gallipoli in 1915. In 1917 the RN operated about nine Seaplane tenders like the Raven II.

But most significantly Brisbane's embarkation of an aircraft was the first time the RAN had conducted such operations.

The event was the start the RAN's path toward a Fleet Air Arm and was when an aeroplane first became an integral part of an Australian ship's weapon system.

The RAN Fleet Air Arm may not have officially been founded until 1947, with numerous squadrons proudly playing a role in the organisation’s history over the years.

Today the RAN FAA is based at HMAS Albatross, west of Nowra.

Clemson was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross (DSC) along with Sub Lieutenant James Kerry in recognition of their conspicuous gallantry on February 28, 1917, when they carried out a reconnaissance of Rayak and Damascus in a seaplane.

During this flight they crossed two mountain ranges whose lowest ridges are 4000 feet high, and brought back valuable information.

Clemson was missing in action/prisoner of war on October 11, 1917 while flying a Short 184 from HMS Empress over Alexandretta.

He was awarded OBE in 1920.

Clemson reengaged in RAFVR in 1939 and then running the recruiting office in Glasgow.

A special Centenary of Naval Aviation ball will be held at the Fleet Air Arm Museum at HMAS Albatross on May 20 for defence personnel and former Fleet Air Arm members.

Tickets are $100 per head, which includes food and wine.

An exhibition of WW1 portraits by Melbourne artist George Petrou will be launched at the start of the evening together with the unveiling of his portrait of POACM Ben Sime MG, the Fleet Air Arm’s highest decorated member.  

The formalities during dinner will incorporate the presentation by Northrop Grumman Australia (NGA) and the unveiling of the Commander Fred Sherborne RAN (Rtd) display cabinet.  

NGA have sponsored the repatriation from Avignon, France and the display of then SBLT Sherborne’s Grumman ‘Wildcat’ relics from his August 1944 downing by German air and ground fire.

For tickets contact Dallas McMaugh 4424 3149.