26 October 1913

On 26 October 1913, the First Lord of the Admiralty, Winston Churchill, outlined his future policy for the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS). He recommended three new types of aircraft: an overseas fighting seaplane, to operate from a ship, a scouting seaplane to work with the fleet at sea, and a home-defence fighting aeroplane, to repel enemy aircraft and to carry out patrol duties along the British coast.