targetship

The German armored light cruiser Frankfort, later sunk in bombing maneuvers in Chesapeake Bay on July 18, 1921. It involved ordnance tests between the Air Service and the Navy. The 49th (Pursuit) and 96th (Bombardment) Squadrons, First Brigade, commanded by Major Henry J. F. Miller, was sent to Langley Field, Virginia by train to take part in this Naval exercise from from June 20 to July 21, 1921. This contingent consisted of five captains, forty first lieutenants, forty-three cadets and 290 enlisted men. Here the Frankfort appears to be settling in the water after taking bomb hits.

There's a typo in the LOC caption, this is SMS Ostfriesland, a Helgoland-class battleship of the Imperial German Navy.

Ostfriesland would survive the war, only to be turned over to the United States as part of war reparations in April 1920. It is while in the United States that the Ostfriesland would gain its historical notoriety as a target ship, and be forever linked with air power proponent General Billy Mitchell.

See Aerofiles:
aerofiles.com/ostfriesland.html

There is a typo, her name is Ostfriesland (SMS) An early German Dreadnought, she survived the war like most German battlewagons. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMS_Ostfriesland

Thanks for catching the typo and for the further information. We'll adjust the description when we update.

The Frankfort was a German armored light cruiser that was sunk on July 18, 1921, during bombing practice by U.S. Air Service, First Brigade, including the 96th Bombardment Squadron and the 49th Pursuit Squadron, operating out of Langley Field, Virginia.