May 18, 1916
Air War:
German ace Oswald Boelcke, in a Fokker E.IV, shoots down a Caudron G.4 for victory number 16. MdL Hubert Cagninacci and SLt Louis Vivien are both killed in the combat. Tomorrow will be Boelcke's 25th birthday.
American pilot Kiffin Yates Rockwell, flying Nieuport 11 N1454 for N.124, the 'Escadrille Americaine', shoots down a German two-seater for victory number 1.
North Sea:
Walther Becker, in UB-19, stops and scuttles British fishing vessel Osprey, 18 tons, bringing his score to 2 vessels and 2,214 tons.
Mediterranean Sea:
Claus Rücker, commanding U-34, captures and scuttles Greek freighter SS Adamantios Korais, 2,947 tons, bound from Barry for Savona with an unspecified cargo. His score is now 31 ships and 104,959 tons.
__________________
“Never do anything you can't take back.”
—Rocky Russo
|