The Flight

At 5:38am on 12th April the Bremen took off bound for New York. Everything went to plan as the plane gathered speed for lift-off but just as it was approaching the point on the runway where lift off would occur, Fitzmaurice remembered he "beheld a ghastly sight; an obstruction in the form of a wandering sheep appeared directly on the runway in the path of the plane. To strike the animal at this time would have meant wrecking the plane. It was simply an awful moment. I yelled at the top of my lungs above the roar of the engine "Sheep!". Fortunately sufficient speed was obtained to enable Koehl and myself to raise the machine off the ground". The Bremen was on its way and a little before 7am it could be seen over Galway city, heading for the ocean. Fitzmaurice later wrote "Dear old Ireland seemed nestled in peaceful sleep as we smashed through the air on our great adventure." Weather conditions were good and the sea was very calm, as predicted.

Greenly Island from the Air

Aerial photograph of Greenly Island, Newfoundland, where the Bremen landed on 13th April 1927 having departed Baldonnel aerodrome in Dublin the previous day, completing the first east-west trans-Atlantic flight.

Out of copyright

Greenly Island from the Air
Out of copyright

Greenly Island from the Air

Aerial photograph of Greenly Island, Newfoundland, where the Bremen landed on 13th April 1927 having departed Baldonnel aerodrome in Dublin the previous day, completing the first east-west trans-Atlantic flight.

Out of copyright

Enlarge image

The aircraft was piloted by Koehl and Fitzmaurice, each taking control for three hour stints. After about twenty hours of incident free flying, the flight seemed to be going like a dream but the pilots knew that trouble could arise at any moment. As dusk fell, huge storm clouds appeared in their path. The airmen soon found themselves in the middle of a fierce Atlantic storm. They took the plane up to about 6000 feet in an attempt to rise above the storm, and also, knowing they were near Newfoundland, to avoid mountain ranges, unseen because of the dense clouds. Both Koehl and Fitzmaurice had experience at blind flying and this was the ultimate test of their nerve and skill. Fitzmaurice wrote of the incident, "The cold was intense. The fog and sleet wrapt itself about us like the clinging hand of fate." Von Huenefeld takes up the story, "The furious sea sought to tear itself asunder. She [The Bremen] was simply not flying anymore, but dancing. What an eternity! Will this darkness never end."

However, worse was to follow. When Fitzmaurice used his flashlight to look at the instrument board, he realised that the floor of the cockpit was covered in oil. He checked the main oil guage. It indicated that the tank was less than a quarter full. He wrote: "Tense as the situation was at this moment our nervous systems suddenly became taut as a violin string stretched to breaking point. The precious fluid was pouring itself away on the floor of the plane. We were facing a situation beyond words. At this time the Bremen was headed on a southwesterly course for the coast of Newfoundland, but when we realized that at any moment our oil supply might become entirely depleted. The logical thing was to head directly Northwest and endeavor to strike land as soon as possible."