B-class blimp

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B class
B class blimp.jpg
B-1, the first of the class. B-1 is easily identified by the dual lower fins, later B-types had only a single fin.
RolePatrol airship
ManufacturerVarious
First flight24 May 1917, at White City Amusement Park hangar in Chicago, IL
Retired14 August 1920
Primary userUS Navy
Number built20

The B class blimps were patrol airships operated by the United States Navy during and shortly after World War I. The Navy had learned a great deal from the DN-1 fiasco. The result was the very successful B-type airships. Dr. Jerome Hunsaker was asked to develop a theory of airship design, Lt. John H. Towers had returned from Europe having inspected British designs, and using reports from attachés on British airship operations, the Navy was prepared to seek bids for blimps from American manufacturers. [1] On 4 February 1917 the Secretary of the Navy directed that 16 nonrigid airships of Class B be procured. [2] A February 12, 1917 meeting with the Chief of the Bureau of Construction and Repair, and representatives of Goodyear, Goodrich, Connecticut Aircraft Company, Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Corporation, and U.S. Rubber Company, it was agreed that the order for 16 dirigibles was beyond the capability of any one company. The conference resulted in a committee to coordinate on sharing raw materials, information and experience. [3] Ultimately Goodyear manufactured 9 envelopes, Goodrich made 5 and Curtiss assembled the gondolas for all of those 14 ships. Connecticut Aircraft contracted with U.S. Rubber for its two envelopes and with Pigeon Fraser for its gondolas. The Curtiss-built gondolas used by Goodyear and Goodrich used modified Curtiss JN-4 fuselages powered by Curtiss OXX engines. [4] The Connecticut Aircraft blimps were powered by Hall-Scott engines. One ship, B-20 was equipped with a special control car. [5] All B-Class airships were delivered to the Navy between August 1917 (B-1) and September 1918 (B-20). [6]

Contents


First flight

The first flight of a B class blimp was made by the engineers who built it, Ralph Upson and Lt Preston, on May 24, 1917 at the White City Amusement Park, Chicago, Illinois, site where the B-1 had been assembled. Two more flights were made May 29, 1917. [7] Leaving at midnight May 29, 1917 on B-1s fourth flight, Upson decided that since the B-1 was performing well he would rather not land at the small White City facility. Instead they would fly directly to the incomplete hangar at Wingfootlake. [8] The B-1 was forced to land at Medina, Ohio due to an oil failure. Even with the forced landing the B-1 set a new record for distance flown. [7] Both Goodyear and Goodrich used the White City Hangar to erect B-type airships. [9] When the hangar at Wingfoot Lake near Akron Ohio became available in June 1917 Goodyear moved its activities there. [10]

Organization for Operations

An entire organization had to be created to operate the B-Class airships. [1] In 1917 There were few Naval Aviators qualified to pilot airships and few facilities for operations. There was no organization for operating the airships. Pilots had to be trained, so the Navy contracted with Goodyear to train Naval Aviators as airship pilots at Wingfootlake, Ohio. [11] The Navy set up airship stations along the East Coast, at Chatham, Massachusetts, Montauk, Long Island, Rockaway Beach in NY City, Cape May, New Jersey, Norfolk, Virginia, and Key West and Pensacola, Florida. Bases were also established at San Diego, California, and Coco Solo in the Panama Canal Zone. [12]

Operational history

The 16 original B-types operated extensively from the East coast bases starting in October 1917, mostly on training missions, but also patrol operations. Several B-Class airships were lost. At least one was involved in a search and rescue operation for a downed Navy float plane. B-types also operated from San Diego and Coco Solo.

One Chatham-based B-type was involved in spotting a U-boat and called in seaplanes to attempt an attack. [13] The B-type airships operated some 13,500 hours covering some 300,000 square miles and trained over 160 Naval Aviators in airship operations. [14]

In mid-1918 or early-1919 three gondolas were rebuilt by Goodyear as B-17, -18, and -19 They were given new Bureau Numbers (A-5464, A-5465 and A-5467) The new airships had pusher engines ( B-1 through B16 had tractor engines). [15] Goodyear also built one new car which appears to have been the B-20 (BuNo A-5257). [16]

It is believed that the B-type airships were painted olive drab. [13] Other sources have them being painted with aluminum powdered dope. [17] One suffered a chemical reaction in the rubber coating and turned pink, it was nicknamed "The Pink Lady." [17]

Many of the "B"s were stricken soon after the Armistice. The Navy Table (there are two dates, May and September 1919, lists the B-Class airships to remain in service. They were B-1, B-3, B-8, B-17, B-18 and B-19). [13] Two, B-3 and B-15, survived until 1924.

Though the B-Class airships were deployed late in the war their operations influenced Lighter-than-Air policy in the period between the wars. "the airship's greatest value to the allies during the past war was in convoy work. Indeed, it was common knowledge that a submarine would not attack a convoy escorted by airships. The value depended not so much on their ability to detect a submarine previous to its attack . . . but on the certainty of their locating the submarine after a torpedo attack, with the resultant destruction of the submarine by depth charges from either the airship or surface escort." [18]


Operators

Flag of the United States.svg  United States

Specifications (Curtiss-built B-type)

General characteristics

Performance

Armament

See also

Related Research Articles

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K-class blimp Class of non-rigid airships built by the Goodyear Aircraft Company for the U.S. Navy (1938-59)

The K-class blimp was a class of blimps built by the Goodyear Aircraft Company of Akron, Ohio for the United States Navy. These blimps were powered by two Pratt & Whitney Wasp nine-cylinder radial air-cooled engines, each mounted on twin-strut outriggers, one per side of the control car that hung under the envelope. Before and during World War II, 134 K-class blimps were built and configured for patrol and anti-submarine warfare operations, and were extensively used in the Navy’s anti-submarine efforts in the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean areas.

G-class blimp American non-rigid airship

The G-Class Blimps were a series of non-rigid airships (blimps) used by the United States Navy. In 1935, instead of developing a new design airship, the Navy purchased the Goodyear Blimp Defender for use as a trainer and utility airship assigning it the designator G-1. Defender was built by the Goodyear Aircraft Company of Akron, Ohio and was the largest blimp in the company’s fleet of airships that were used for advertising and as passenger airships. Goodyear built additional G-class airships for the Navy during World War II to support training needs.

L-class blimp Class of non-rigid airships built by Goodyear Aircraft Company for the U.S. Navy (1930s)

The L-class blimps were training airships operated by the United States Navy during World War II. In the mid-1930s, the Goodyear Aircraft Company built a family of small non-rigid airships that the company used for advertising the Goodyear name. In 1937 the United States Navy awarded a contract for two different airships, K-class blimp designated K-2 and a smaller blimp based upon Goodyear's smaller commercial model airship used for advertising and passenger carrying. The smaller blimp was designated by the Navy as L-1. It was delivered in April 1938 and operated from the Navy's lighter-than-air facility at Lakehurst, New Jersey. In the meantime, the Navy ordered two more L-Class blimps, the L-2 and L-3, on September 25, 1940. These were delivered in 1941. L-2 was lost in a nighttime mid-air collision with the G-1 on June 8, 1942.

J-class blimp

The J-class blimps were non-rigid airships designed by the Navy Bureau of Aeronautics and Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company in the early 1920s for the US Navy.

M-class blimp

The Goodyear Aircraft Company of Akron, Ohio built the M-class blimp for the US Navy as the follow-on to the K-class anti-submarine warfare blimp used during World War II. It was a significantly larger airship, 50% larger than its predecessor. Four airships, designated M-1 through M-4, were delivered in early 1944. Operations of K-ships in tropical regions had shown a need for a blimp with greater volume to offset the loss of lift due to high ambient temperatures.

SSZ class airship

The SSZ non-rigid airships or "blimps" were developed in United Kingdom during World War I from the earlier SS class. The main role of these craft was to escort convoys and scout or search for German U-boats. A secondary purpose was to detect and destroy mines.

U.S. Army airships 1908–1937 U.S. Army program to operate airships

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The SCDA O-1 was an Italian semi-rigid airship, the only true semi-rigid airship to serve with the United States Navy.

DN-1

The DN-1 was the United States Navy's first airship.

C-class blimp

The C-class blimp was a patrol airship developed by the US Navy shortly after World War I, a systematic improvement upon the B-type which was very suitable for training, but of limited value for patrol work. Larger than the B-class, these blimps had two motors and a longer endurance. Once again, the envelope production was split between Goodyear and Goodrich, with control cars being built by the Burgess division of Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company. Originally the Navy ordered 30 but reduced the number to 10 after the armistice in November 1918. All ten of the "C" type airships were delivered in late 1918, and examples served at all of the Navy's airship stations from 1918 to 1922. In 1921, the C-7 was the first airship ever to be inflated with helium. The Navy decommissioned its last two remaining C-type blimps, the C-7 and C-9 in 1922.

D-class blimp

The D class blimp was a patrol airship used by the US Navy in the early 1920s. The D-type blimps were slightly larger than the C-type and had many detail improvements. The Navy continued the practice of dividing the envelope production between Goodyear and Goodrich. The control cars were manufactured by the Naval Aircraft Factory. The major improvements over the C-type blimps were a better control car design and easier, more reliable controls and instrumentation. The engines were moved to the rear to reduce noise and allow better communications between crew members. The fuel tanks were suspended from the sides of the envelope. The envelope was identical to the C-type, except an additional six-foot panel was inserted for a total length of 198 feet (60 m) and a volume of 190,000 cubic feet (5,400 m3). The last of the D-Class, D-6, had a different control car designed by Leroy Grumman who later founded the Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation.

E-class blimp

The E class of US Navy blimps comprised a single airship, built during World War I by Goodyear as one of a group of three small blimps offered to the US government. Two were purchased for the US Navy and one for the US Army. The Navy blimps were designated E-1, F-1, and the Army airship A-1. These airships had identical envelopes but different cars. The E-1 was delivered to Pensacola, Florida in December 1918. It was flown only at Pensacola serving as a trainer at the Airship School. A new envelope was provided in December 1920. E-1 was retired from service sometime in 1924.

F-class blimp

The F class of US Navy blimps comprised a single airship, built during World War I by Goodyear as one of a group of three small blimps offered to the US government. Two were purchased for the US Navy and one for the US Army. The Navy blimps were designated E-1, F-1, and the Army airship A-1. Classified as an "Experimental Engine Testing Dirigible." F-1 had the same envelope size as the E-1, due to the use of a tractor mounted 125 hp Union engine, the performance was different. F-1 spent its entire career at Hampton Roads. It was flown in both tractor and pusher configurations. It also may have been flown with a Curtiss OXX engine. F-1 was removed from inventory in November 1923.

H-class blimp 1921 blimp of the United States Navy

The H class blimp was an observation airship built for the U.S. Navy in the early 1920s. The original "H" Class design of 1919 was for a twin engined airship of approximately 80,000 cubic feet volume. Commander Lewis Maxfield suggested that a small airship which could be used either as a tethered kite balloon, or be towed by a ship until releasing its cable, would be able to scout on its own. The concept was an airship similar to the later Army Motorized Kite Balloons.

The K-1 was an experimental blimp designed by the United States Navy in 1929. Due to the inability to get Congressional approval for the construction of an airship the navy used the ploy of ordering a "universal" control car which could be used on the J-type airships from the Naval Aircraft Factory. An order was placed with Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company for an envelope to hold "experimental gases". To complete the deception, there is no record of the US Navy assigning a serial number to the K-1, Standard Army TC type tail fins were procured from Goodyear. Unlike past Navy blimps, the control car was not suspended from external cables, but was hung from cables attached to the top of the envelope, and the car was carried flush against the envelope as in modern blimps. The control car carried bunks and a galley so that a relief crew could be carried, and was completely enclosed. The K-1 was also the first Navy blimp to have a taxi wheel. Like the Graf Zeppelin, the fuel for the K-1 was "blau gas" a mixture of combustible gases with the same density as air, which meant that the valving of gas as the fuel was consumed was not necessary. The only serious drawback was the tendency of the fuel to leak into the helium which then could not be run through the Lakehurst purification plant, which meant the expensive helium had to be vented to atmosphere when too contaminated or an overhaul was necessary.

British blimps operated by the USN

During the First World War, the US Navy trained crews at British bases, and operated British designed and built blimps on combat patrols. The Navy purchased three types of British blimps. Operations were flown in a US SSZ and airships operated by the Royal Navy.

Records concerning the history of French airships in US Navy service are fragmentary. A number of airships of various classes were operated by the US Navy (USN) during World War I from the French Naval Base at Paimbœuf, which was designated a US Navy Air Station from 1 March 1918 onward. It appears that at least 13 French manufactured airships were operated by the USN from Paimbœuf; six were eventually shipped to the United States and one was returned to France before the armistice. The Navy operated or ordered four Astra-Torres type airships, one T-2—the Captain Caussin, two CM types, and three or four VZ types.

The SST class of non-rigid airship or "blimp" was developed in Great Britain during World War I from the earlier SS class airship. The main role of these craft was to escort convoys and scout or search for German U-boats. A secondary purpose was to detect and destroy mines.

References

  1. 1 2 Althoff, William F, SkyShips, New York: Orion Books, 1990, ISBN   0-517-56904-3, pgs. 4-5.
  2. ↑ http://www.history.navy.mil/avh-1910/PART02.PDF [ dead link ]
  3. ↑ Grossnik, Roy A. 1986 Kite Balloons to Airships . . . the Navy's Lighter-than-Air Experience, Washington D.C.: Deputy Chief of Naval Operations (Air Warfare) and the Commander, Naval Air Systems Command, pgs. 6-7.
  4. ↑ "Navy History and Heritage Command Aircraft History Card Listing A-52 Through A-999/Bureau Numbers A-201 to A-299".
  5. ↑ Shock, James R., U.S. Navy Airships 1915-1962, 2001, Atlantis Productions, Edgewater Florida, ISBN   0-9639743-8-6, page 17
  6. ↑ Shock, James R., U.S. Navy Airships 1915-1962, 2001, Atlantis Productions, Edgewater Florida, ISBN   0-9639743-8-6, pages 15-19
  7. 1 2 Shock, James R., U.S. Navy Airships 1915-1962, 2001, Atlantis Productions, Edgewater Florida, ISBN   0-9639743-8-6, page 15
  8. ↑ Clark, Basil, The History of Airships, New York: St Martin's Press, 1961, Library of Congress 64-12336, p. 147.
  9. ↑ Shock, James R., American Airship Bases and Facilities, 1996, Atlantis Productions, Edgewater Florida, ISBN   9780964948037, page 106
  10. ↑ Shock, James R., American Airship Bases and Facilities, 1996, Atlantis Productions, Edgewater Florida, ISBN   9780964948037, page 107
  11. ↑ Grossnik, Roy A. 1986 Kite Balloons to Airships . . . the Navy's Lighter-than-Air Experience, Washington D.C.: Deputy Chief of Naval Operations (Air Warfare) and the Commander, Naval Air Systems Command, pgs. 9-10.
  12. ↑ Shock, James R., U.S. Navy Airships 1915-1962, 2001, Atlantis Productions, Edgewater Florida, ISBN   0-9639743-8-6, page 14
  13. 1 2 3 Shock, James R., U.S. Navy Airships 1915-1962, 2001, Atlantis Productions, Edgewater Florida, ISBN   0-9639743-8-6, page 21
  14. ↑ Lord Ventry and Kolesink, Eugene M., Airship Saga, 1982, Blandford Books Ltd., Poole, Dorset, England, ISBN   0-7137-1001-2, page 138.
  15. ↑ Shock, James R., U.S. Navy Airships 1915-1962, 2001, Atlantis Productions, Edgewater Florida, ISBN   0-9639743-8-6, page 18
  16. ↑ Shock, James R., U.S. Navy Airships 1915-1962, 2001, Atlantis Productions, Edgewater Florida, ISBN   0-9639743-8-6, page 19
  17. 1 2 Lord Ventry and Kolesink, Eugene M., Airship Saga, 1982, Blandford Books Ltd., Poole, Dorset, England, ISBN   0-7137-1001-2, page 139
  18. ↑ Notes on the Operation of Nonrigid Airships, 1920, Government Printing Office, Washington D.C.
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