E C Cramp: photograph album

The photo shows RNAS aircrew at Stavros, with the float of a sea plane clearly visible in the background.

At some point after the close of the Gallipoli Campaign, Edgar Cramp was transferred off the Ark Royal to the RNAS station at Stavros on the Strymonian Gulf, east of Salonika.

While his records do not indicate the exact date of his move from ship to shore, a reference in the log of the Ark Royal may serve as a clue. Having just returned to Mudros on March 15 after being stationed for more than three months at Salonika, the Ark Royal’s log records the following for March 16.

Mudros
Lat 39.9, Long 25.24
3:30pm: Sub-Lieutenant Errington Royal Navy Reserve and 2 Air Service Ratings: Left for S.S CLACTON en route for Stavros

The Clacton was an auxiliary minesweeper that served in the Aegean region in 1915 and 1916.

Originally a steam passenger ship built in 1905, the 820 ton Clacton was requisitioned early in the war and sent to the Dardanelles.

The Clacton saw service throughout the Gallipoli Campaign and later during the Salonika operations. She was sunk by the German submarine U-73 on August 3, 1916, near to Chai Aghizi – close to the mouth of the Struma River to the north east of Stavros – with the loss of five crew.