Editing Bomber (section)

===Early bombers===
[[File:Handley Page O-400.jpg|thumb|left|British [[Handley Page Type O]], 1918]]
On 16 October 1912, Bulgarian observer [[Prodan Tarakchiev]] dropped two of those bombs on the [[Turkey|Turkish]] railway station of Karağaç (near the besieged [[Edirne]]) from an [[Albatros Flugzeugwerke|Albatros]] F.2 aircraft piloted by [[Radul Milkov]], during the [[First Balkan War]].<ref name="Birth of a Legend">{{cite book | title = Birth of a Legend | first = Arthur H. Wagner, Leon E. Braxton, Ltcol Leon E. (Bill) | last = Capt Arthur H. Wagner Uscg (Ret) | publisher = Trafford Publishing | year = 2012 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=GdtPtUYP6-MC&pg=PA9 | page = 27 | isbn = 978-1466906020 | access-date = 2015-07-28 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160426053841/https://books.google.com/books?id=GdtPtUYP6-MC&pg=PA9 | archive-date = 2016-04-26 | url-status = live }}{{self-published source|date=January 2018}}</ref><ref name="The Balkan Wars: Scenes from the Front Lines">{{cite magazine|title=The Balkan Wars: Scenes from the Front Lines|url=https://world.time.com/2012/10/08/the-balkan-wars-scenes-from-the-frontlines/photo/bulgarian-bomber/|magazine=TIME|date=8 October 2012|access-date=28 July 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160327234541/http://world.time.com/2012/10/08/the-balkan-wars-scenes-from-the-frontlines/photo/bulgarian-bomber/|archive-date=27 March 2016|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}</ref> This is deemed to be the first use of an aircraft as a bomber.<ref name="Birth of a Legend"/><ref>I.Borislavov, R.Kirilov: ''The Bulgarian Aircraft, Vol. I: From Bleriot to Messerschmitt''. Litera Prima, Sofia, 1996 (in Bulgarian)</ref>

The first heavier-than-air aircraft purposely designed for bombing were the [[Italy|Italian]] [[Caproni Ca.1 (1914)|Caproni Ca 30]] and [[United Kingdom|British]] [[Bristol T.B.8]], both of 1913.<ref name= "Aerial">{{cite book|pages=9–10|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kr2Gc7btCxEC&pg=PA9|title=Aerial Interdiction: Air Power and the Land Battle in Three American Wars|isbn=978-0-7881-1966-8|author1=Mark|date=July 1995| publisher=DIANE |access-date=2015-10-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160501083900/https://books.google.com/books?id=kr2Gc7btCxEC&pg=PA9|archive-date=2016-05-01|url-status=live}}</ref> The Bristol T.B.8 was an early [[United Kingdom|British]] single [[Piston engine|engined]] [[biplane]] built by the [[Bristol Aeroplane Company]]. They were fitted with a prismatic [[Bombsight]] in the front [[cockpit]] and a cylindrical bomb carrier in the lower forward fuselage capable of carrying twelve 10&nbsp;lb (4.5&nbsp;kg) bombs, which could be dropped singly or as a salvo as required.<ref>{{Cite book|author=Mason, Francis K|title=The British Bomber since 1914|publisher=Putnam Aeronautical Books|location=London|year=1994|isbn=0-85177-861-5}}</ref>

The aircraft was purchased for use both by the [[Royal Naval Air Service]] and the [[Royal Flying Corps]] (RFC), and three T.B.8s, that were being displayed in [[Paris]] during December 1913 fitted with bombing equipment, were sent to France following the outbreak of war. Under the command of [[Charles Rumney Samson]], a bombing attack on [[Germany|German]] gun batteries at [[Middelkerke]], [[Belgium]] was executed on 25 November 1914.<ref>{{cite book|last=Taylor|first=Michael J. H.|title=Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation|year=1989|publisher=Studio Editions|location=London|pages=204}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|author=Thetford, Owen|title=British Naval Aircraft since 1912|edition=Fourth|publisher=Putnam|location=London|year=1994|isbn=0-85177-861-5}}</ref>

The dirigible, or airship, was developed in the early 20th century.  Early airships were prone to disaster, but slowly the airship became more dependable, with a more rigid structure and stronger skin.  Prior to the outbreak of war, [[Zeppelin]]s, a larger and more streamlined form of [[airship]] designed by German Count [[Ferdinand von Zeppelin]], were outfitted to carry bombs to attack targets at long range.  These were the first long range, strategic bombers. Although the German air arm was strong, with a total of 123 airships by the end of the war, they were vulnerable to attack and engine failure, as well as navigational issues.  German airships inflicted little damage on all 51 raids, with 557 Britons killed and 1,358 injured.  The German Navy lost 53 of its 73 airships, and the German Army lost 26 of its 50 ships.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Roadman|first1=LTC Julian A.|title=A Combat Nightmare in WWII|date=2013|publisher=Triumph Press|isbn=978-1484911846|pages=11–12}}</ref>

The  [[Caproni Ca.1 (1914)|Caproni Ca 30]] was built by [[Gianni Caproni]] in [[Italy]]. It was a twin-boom [[biplane]] with three 67&nbsp;kW (80&nbsp;hp) [[Gnome rotary engine]]s and first flew in October [[1914 in aviation|1914]]. Test flights revealed power to be insufficient and the engine layout unworkable, and Caproni soon adopted a more conventional approach installing three 81&nbsp;kW (110&nbsp;hp) [[Fiat A.10]]s. The improved design was bought by the [[Italian Army]] and it was delivered in quantity from August [[1915 in aviation|1915]].

While mainly used as a [[Trainer (aircraft)|trainer]], Avro 504s were also briefly used as bombers at the start of the [[World War I|First World War]] by the [[Royal Naval Air Service]] (RNAS) when they were used for raids on the German airship sheds.<ref>Mason, Francis K. ''The British Bomber since 1914''. London: Putnam Aeronautical Books, 1994. {{ISBN|0-85177-861-5}}. p. 21</ref>