WWI Prototypes Marked Origin of Littoral Combat Ship

By David F. Winkler

The Navy currently is developing the Littoral Combat Ship to meet its requirement for a craft that can travel at high speed, have a minimal draft to operate within the littoral, evade minefields, and deliver fire to destroy enemy targets. The origins of this radical new multimission ship, however, date back to an initial — and equally radical — attempt to meet those same requirements during World War I.

A major problem confronting allied naval commanders during World War I was the German U-Boat menace. Convoy operations and a North Sea mine barrage helped curtail the threat, but the commanders agreed that strikes at German U-Boat facilities at Kiel, Cuxhaven, Wilhelmshaven, and Heligoland Island could truly set back the German undersea effort. But how? Minefields, shore fortifications, as well as a fleet of modern warships canceled out a raid by allied surface combatants. Also, the enemy facilities were beyond the range of allied bombers based in France and England.

Rear Adm. William S. Sims, commander of U.S. Naval Forces in Europe, welcomed suggestions. One proposal for a ferryboat to carry seaplanes to within striking distance morphed into a concept where seaplanes would be ferried using towed lighters. The problem was that seaplanes needed fairly calm seas for liftoff and could not carry much ordnance. The North Sea rarely offered idyllic flying conditions for seaplanes.

Enter Cmdr. Henry C. Mustin, assigned at the time to the battleship USS North Dakota. Responding to a message sent out by Navy Secretary Josephus Daniels calling for “war-winning” ideas, Mustin, a proponent for using aircraft offensively, proposed that aircraft be launched from fast, motorized sea sleds. To cripple the German naval infrastructure, Mustin envisioned 2,800 of these sleds, launching a variety of scout planes, fighters, bombers, and torpedo planes.

By December 1917, the proposal had won the approval of the Navy’s first Chief of Naval Operations, Adm. William S. Benson, as well as the British Admiralty. Mustin received orders to report to the Bureau of Construction and Repair in Washington, D.C., to oversee the project. Mustin quickly established a timetable to have the units in place to launch strikes in the spring of 1919.

Murray & Tregutha won the contract to design and build the sleds. Caproni, an Italian aircraft manufacturer, received the contract to build the aircraft. Murray & Tregutha delivered the first two sea sleds in the fall of 1918 and Mustin acquired a Caproni Ca.5 bomber from the Army to begin sea trials. Powered by four 450-HP engines, the sleds achieved speeds approaching 50 knots. With the aircraft attached and its engine running, the sleds exceeded that.

Unfortunately, on a sea trial conducted on Nov. 15, 1918, the release mechanism on the Caproni aircraft did not disengage and the trial was a failure. However, during the following spring, using a Curtis N-9 seaplane piloted by Lt. j.g. F. M. Johnson, USNR, Mustin demonstrated the viability of the concept. Of course, by this time the war was over and production plans had been canceled. Rather than sea sleds, the Navy would turn to another larger vessel to launch aircraft: the aircraft carrier.

Mustin’s efforts were not for naught though. As World War II approached, the Navy sought designs for fast motor torpedo boats. The old sea sled plans were dusted off and features were incorporated into what became the famed World War II PT Boat.

Source: John Fass Morton, Mustin: A Naval Family of the 20th Century, Naval Institute Press, 2003.

Dr. David F. Winkler is a historian with the Naval Historical Foundation