This, the final chapter, looks at the reports of the last British naval attaché in Berlin, Captain Wilfred Henderson. Henderson – or ‘Wilf’ as he was known in the service – was an extremely able and well thought of officer. Earlier in his career, he had been a close associate of Admiral Fisher and had served as secretary to the Committee on Designs, the body responsible for producing the plans of the Dreadnought. Subsequently, he wrote the Admiralty manual on seamanship. He was by all accounts eminently suited for the position of naval attaché. However, at the time of his arrival in the German capital he was preoccupied with the health of his wife, a consideration that almost led him to resign his post only a few months after taking it up. In the end he did not do so, but the outbreak of the First World War meant that he was resident in Germany for less than a year. During this time he mostly reported on technical matters, focusing on airships [206, 215] and submarines [208, 221]. He also held a number of interesting interviews with Admiral Tirpitz [207, 216] and Prince Henry of Prussia [210] and reported on and then discounted the possibility of a new German naval Novelle [218, 220, 222]. Interestingly, he sent in no reports on the question of the German threat and, although informed by Admiral Tirpitz that he could inspect Germany's ship yards, on the instructions of the British Admiralty, he never did so.

206. Wilfred Henderson, Germany N.A. No.47/13

Berlin, 17 October 1913

Loss of German Naval Airship L.2

I have the honour to attach hereto what details I have been able to obtain concerning the destruction by fire and explosion of the German Naval Airship L.2, which took place this morning at 10 am at the Johannisthal flying ground.

I also append some remarks concerning the recent loss of L.1.

[Enclosure]

206a. Loss of German Naval Airship L.2.

The accident which resulted in the loss of the German Naval Airship L.2. was witnessed by an expert German Airman who was watching the flight, and he informs the German admiralty that at about 10 a.m. he saw a sudden flash of flame in the foremost Gondola; the envelope above that Gondola immediately caught fire and the flame spread with great rapidity from bow to stern accompanied by the explosion of the Gasoline tanks.