Air Vice Marshal Charles Humphrey Kingsman Edmonds, (20 April 1891 – 26 September 1954) was an air officer of the Royal Air Force (RAF).
He first served in the Royal Navy and was a naval aviator during the First World War, taking part in the Cuxhaven Raid in December 1914; and while serving in the Gallipoli Campaign (1915) he was the first man to sink an enemy ship from an aircraft, using a torpedo.
In the interbellum he remained in the RAF, becoming a senior staff officer during World War II.
Early life
Edmonds was one of four children born to Charles Edmonds and his wife Mary Elizabeth (née Harris), in Lincoln, Lincolnshire. In 1903, at the age of 14, he joined the Royal Navy as cadet. On 15 July 1911 he was promoted from midshipman to sub-lieutenant, serving aboard the battleship from 10 October 1911, taking part in blockade operations during the First Balkan War.
Edmonds then learned to fly at the Bristol School at Larkhill on Salisbury Plain, being granted Royal Aero Club Aviators' Certificate No. 206 on 16 April 1912 after soloing a Bristol Biplane. On 17 February 1913 he was promoted to lieutenant. On 17 May 1913 he was posted to the Central Flying School for a course of instruction, then on 13 August was posted to Calshot Naval Air Station. He served in the Naval Wing of the Royal Flying Corps until 1 July 1914, when it became the Royal Naval Air Service.
World War I
In late 1914 Edmonds took part in the Cuxhaven Raid. On 24 December 1914, under the command of Commodore Reginald Tyrwhitt, the light cruisers and , together with eight destroyers of the 3rd Destroyer Flotilla, sailed from Harwich with the seaplane carriers , and , each carrying three Short seaplanes. Two destroyers and ten submarines under the command of Commodore Roger Keyes acted as escort. At 0600 on 25 December the force was in a position north of Heligoland and the seven of the seaplanes were successfully launched by 0700. Their principal objective was to attack the airship sheds at Cuxhaven, but were also tasked with reconnoitring the naval base at Wilhelmshaven. Poor weather over the land meant that none of the aircraft found their objective, but a thorough survey of German naval installations was made, and a number of bombs dropped on various targets. While the British aircraft flew over Germany, the naval force cruised off the enemy coast awaiting their return. Intercepted radio traffic showed that the Germans were well aware of their presence, but remarkably their navy made no attempt to interfere. Attacks were made by a number of German seaplanes and two Zeppelins, but were driven off by British fire. Only three aircraft (Edmonds among them) managed to return to the fleet, while three others ran low on fuel and were obliged to come down at sea near Nordeney, where they were picked up by the submarine . The seventh pilot also came down on the sea after suffering an engine failure and was picked up by Dutch trawler, and taken to Holland, before eventually returning to England. Following the raid Edmonds was awarded the Distinguished Service Order. On 25 March 1915 he was promoted to flight commander, with seniority from 23 February, and served aboard in the Mediterranean and Aden.
He then served aboard the seaplane carrier during the Gallipoli Campaign. On 12 August 1915, flying a Short 184 seaplane, he made history by launching the first ever aerial torpedo attack on a Turkish merchant ship. It subsequently sank, although it had already been hit by the British submarine . Five days later, he successfully attacked another Turkish ship, the first to have been sunk entirely by this method.
While flying Short Type 184 No. 849 on 11 February 1916, he suffered an engine failure and on landing on a heavy sea, the aircraft capsized. Edmonds and his observer (Lieutenant Erskine Childers, the author of The Riddle of the Sands) were rescued by HMT Charlsen. On 14 March 1916 he received a mention in despatches from the Vice Admiral Commanding the Eastern Mediterranean Squadron covering operations between the time of the landing on the Gallipoli Peninsula in April 1915, and the evacuation in December 1915 – January 1916. On 5 May 1916 Edmonds was posted to , for Special Service in the RNAS. On 30 June 1916 he was promoted to squadron commander, eventually becoming Officer Commanding, No. 6 Wing RNAS, based at Otranto on 13 March 1917. He was promoted to wing commander on 31 December 1917.