HMA No 24r
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HMA 24r in flight.
HMA 24r was built by William Beardmore & Co at Inchinnan in Scotland. Part of the 23 class she too initially proved too heavy and was subjected to a complete overhaul and loss of an engine before finally being accepted in December 1917. She was hampered by having a poor top speed and was mostly used for training and mooring experiments at Pulham. HMA 24r was deleted in December 1919.
The Crew of HMA 24r
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Flt Lt Ralph Sleigh Booth
Ralph Sleigh Booth AFC became one of the all-time greats in the airship world and was First Officer on HMA 24r. By 1915 he had moved across to the airship division of the RNAS and captained a range of non-rigids. He was captain on board the breakaway R33 airship and went on to captain the R100 on its ground-breaking crossing to Montreal Canada in August 1930.
Engineer J S Middleton served on early non-rigids from 1914-1916 and was involved in the design and construction of Submarine Scout and Coastal Patrol airships at Kingsnorth. He then moved to Longside later becoming attached to HMA 9r followed by HMA 24r and then the R31. Source IWM oral histories.rigid) and rigids HMA No 9r, R31, HMA 23r, 24r, 25r, R36, and R33, R100, and R101.
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Pilot Victor Goddard was a young navy cadet in 1910 but by 1915 was a fully trained airship pilot. He served on several non-rigids during the war and later served on airships HMA 23r, HMA 24r and then was an advisor on both the R34 and R80 airships. He later went on to have a distinguished career in the RAF becoming an Air Marshall and received a knighthood in 1947.
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George Ernest Long joined the RNAS back in 1913 and had worked in the Kite Balloon section. He served on Willows No.2, No3, C.P.1 & 9, HMA 9r, and the R24. Later he was part of the R33 breakaway crew and worked on both the R100 and R101.
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Ass cox Thomas Hobbs joined the airship service in March 1915. He had served on P4 (non-rigid) and rigids HMA No 9r, R31, HMA 23r, 24r, 25r, R36, and R33, R100, and R101.
George Ryder Scott
Shown left: Rigger George Ryder Scott joined the service in 1918 and served on airships R24, R34, R32, and R36. In 1929 he joined the R100 crew.
Leonard Frederick Oughton joined the service in 1919 and served on HMA 24r, R33, R36. He lost his life in the R101 crash.