Stage 1.Long parallel portion of hull with bluff nose and tail.External keel with walking way.Box rudders and elevators.Two cars.Four wing propellers.
Stage 2.Long parallel portion of hull with bluff nose, tail portionfiner than in Stage IInternal keel walking way.Box rudders and elevators.Three cars, foremost for control only.Four wing propellers.
Stage 3.Shorter parallel portion of hull framework, bluff nose andtapering tail.Internal keel walking way.Balanced monoplane rudders and elevators.Three cars, foremost for control only.Two foremost cars close together and connected bya canvas joint to look like one car.Four engines and four propellers. One engine in forwardcar driving pusher propeller. Three engines in aftercar driving two wing and one pusher propeller.
To the second stage belongs naval airship L 2, which was destroyed by fire a month after completion in 1913. In 1916 a fourth stage made its appearance, of which the first ship was L 30, completed in May, and to which the ill-fated L 33 belonged. This type is known as the super-Zeppelin, and has been developed through various stage until L 70, the latest product before the armistice. In this stage the following are its main features:
Stage 4.Short parallel portion of hull, long rounded bow andlong tapering stern. In all respects a goodstreamline shape.Internal keel walking way.Balanced monoplane rudders and elevators.Five cars. Two forward (combined as in Stage 3),one aft, and two amidships abreast.Six engines and six propellers. The after one of theforecar and the sidecars each contain one enginedriving direct a pusher propeller. The after carcontains three engines, two of which drive two wingpropellers; the third, placed aft, drives direct apusher propeller.In this stage the type of girders was greatly altered.
A company known as the Schutte-Lanz Company was also responsible for the production of rigid airships. They introduced a design, which was a distinct departure from Zeppelin or anyone else. The hull framework was composed of wood, the girders being built up of wooden sections. The shape of these ships was much more of a true streamline than had been the Zeppelin practice, and it was on this model that the shape of the super-Zeppelin was based. These ships proved of use and took part in raids on this country, but the Company was taken over by the Government and the personnel was amalgamated with that engaged on Zeppelin construction during the war.
In 1908, Italy, stimulated by the progress made by other continental nations, commenced experimental work. Three types were considered for a commencement, the P type or Piccolo was the first effort, then followed the M type, which signifies "medium sized," and also the semirigid Forlanini.
In the Forlanini type the envelope is divided into several compartments with an internal rigid keel and to-day these ships are of considerable size, the most modern being over 600,000 cubic feet capacity. During the war, Italian airships were developed on entirely dissimilar lines to those in other countries. Both we and our Allies, and to a great extent the Germans, employed airships exclusively for naval operations; on the other hand, the Italian ships were utilized for bombing raids in conjunction with military evolutions.
For this reason height was of primary importance and speed was quite a secondary consideration, owing to the low velocity of prevailing winds in that country. Flights were never of long duration compared with those carried out by our airships. Height was always of the utmost importance, as the Italian ships were used for bombing enemy towns and must evade hostile gunfire. For this reason weight was saved in every possible manner, to increase the height of the "ceiling."
In addition to the types already mentioned, three other varieties have been constructed since the war--the Usuelli D.E. type and G class. The G class was a rigid design which has not been proceeded with, and, with this single exception, all are of a semirigid type in which an essentially non-rigid envelope is reinforced by a metal keel. In the Forlanini and Usuelli types the keel is completely rigid and assists in maintaining the shape of the envelopes, and in the Forlanini is enclosed within the envelope. In the other types the keel is in reality a chain of rigid links similar to that of a bicycle. The form of the envelope is maintained by the internal pressure and not by the keel, but the resistance of the latter to compression enables a lower pressure to be maintained than would be possible in a purely non-rigid ship.
The M type ship is of considerable size, the P smaller, while the D.E. is a small ship comparable to our own S.S. design. The review of these three countries brings the early history of airships to a conclusion. Little of importance was done elsewhere before the war, though Baldwin's airship is perhaps worthy of mention. It was built in America in 1908 by Charles Baldwin for the American Government. The capacity of the envelope was 20,000 cubic feet, she carried a crew of two, and her speed was 16 miles per hour. She carried out her trial flight in August, 1908, and was accepted by the American military authorities. During the war both the naval and military authorities became greatly interested in airships, and purchased several from the French and English. In addition to this a ship in design closely resembling the S.S. was built in America, but suffered from the same lack of experience which we did in the early days of airship construction.
We must now see what had been happening in this country in those fateful years before the bombshell of war exploded in our midst.
It has been shown in the previous chapter that the development of the airship had been practically neglected in England prior to the twentieth century. Ballooning had been carried out both as a form of sport and also by the showman as a Saturday afternoon's sensational entertainment, with a parachute descent as the piece de resistance. The experiments in adapting the balloon into the dirigible had, however, been left to the pioneers on the Continent.
It appears that in the nineteenth century only one airship was constructed in this country, which proved to be capable of ascending into the air and being propelled by its own machinery. This airship made its appearance in the year 1848, and was built to the designs of a man named Partridge. Very little information is available concerning this ship. The envelope was cylindrical in shape, tapering at each end, and was composed of a light rigid framework covered with fabric. The envelope itself was covered with a light wire net, from which the car was suspended. The envelope contained a single ballonet for regulating the pressure of the gas. Planes, which in design more nearly resembled sails, were used for steering purposes. In the car, at the after end, were fitted three propellers which were driven by compressed air.
Several trips of short duration were carried out in this airship, but steering was never successfully accomplished owing to difficulties encountered with the planes, and, except in weather of the calmest description, she may be said to have been practically uncontrollable.
In the same year, 1848, Bell's airship was constructed. The envelope of this ship was also cylindrical in shape, tapering at each end to a point, the length of which was 56 feet and the diameter 21 feet 4 inches. A keel composed of metal tubes was attached to the underside of the envelope from which the car was suspended. On either side of the car screw propellers were fitted to be worked by hand. A rudder was attached behind the car. It was arranged that trials should be carried out in the Vauxhall Gardens in London, but these proved fruitless.
In the closing years of the nineteenth century appeared the forerunners of airships as they are to-day, and interest was aroused in this country by the performances of the ships designed by Santos-Dumont and Count Zeppelin. From now onwards we find various British firms turning their attention to the conquest of the air.
In 1903 Dr. Barton commenced the construction of a large non-rigid airship. The envelope was 176 feet long with a height of 43 feet and a capacity of 235,000 cubic feet; it was cylindrical in shape, tapering to a point at each end. Beneath the whole length of the cylindrical portion was suspended a bamboo framework which served as a car for the crew, and a housing for the motors supplying the motive power of the ship. This framework was suspended from the envelope by means of steel cables. Installed in the car were two 50 horse-power Buchet engines which were mounted at the forward and after ends of the framework. The propellers in themselves were of singular design, as they consisted of three pairs of blades mounted one behind the other. The were situated on each side of the car, two forward and two aft. The drive also include large friction clutches, and each engine was under separate control.
To enable the ship to be trimmed horizontally, water tanks were fitted at either end of the framework, the water being transferred from one to the other as was found necessary.
A series of planes was mounted at intervals along the framework to control the elevation of the ship.
This ship was completed in 1905 and was tried at the Alexandra Palace in the July of that year. She, unfortunately, did not come up to expectations, owing to the difficulty in controlling her, and during the trial flight she drifted away and was destroyed in landing.
From the year 1905 until the outbreak of war Messrs. Willows & Co. were engaged on the construction of airships of a small type, and considerable success attended their efforts. Each succeeding ship was an improvement on its predecessor, and flights were made which, in their day, created a considerable amount of interest.
In 1905 their first ship was completed. This was a very small non-rigid of only 12,500 cubic feet capacity. The envelope was made of Japanese silk, cylindrical in shape, with rather blunt conical ends. A long nacelle or framework, triangular in section and built up of light steel tubes, was suspended beneath the envelope by means of diagonally crossed suspensions.
A 7 horse-power Peugeot engine was fitted at the after end of the nacelle which drove a 10-feet diameter propeller. In front were a pair of swivelling tractor screws for steering the ship in the vertical and horizontal plane. No elevators or rudders were fixed to the ship.
The second ship was practically a semi-rigid. The envelope was over twice the capacity of the earlier ship, being of 29,000 cubic feet capacity. This envelope was attached to a keel of bamboo and steel, from which was suspended by steel cables a small car. At the after end of the keel was mounted a small rudder for the horizontal steering. For steering in the vertical plane two propellers were mounted on each side of the car, swivelling to give an upward or downward thrust. A 30 horse-power J.A.P. engine was fitted in this case. Several successful flights were carried out by this ship, of which the most noteworthy was from Cardiff to London.
No. 2, having been rebuilt and both enlarged and improved, became known as No. 3. The capacity of the envelope, which was composed of rubber and cotton, was increased to 32,000 cubic feet, and contained two ballonets. The gross lift amounted to about half a ton. As before, a 30 horse-power J.A.P. engine was installed, driving the swivelling propellers. These propellers were two-bladed with a diameter of 61 feet. The maximum speed was supposed to be 25 miles per hour, but it is questionable if this was ever attained.
This ship flew from London to Paris, and was the first British-built airship to fly across the Channel.
The fourth ship constructed by this firm was completed in 1912, and was slightly smaller than the two preceding ships. The capacity of the envelope in this instance was reduced to 24,000 cubic feet, but was a much better shape, having a diameter of 20 feet, which was gradually tapered towards the stern. A different material was also used, varnished silk being tried as an experiment. The envelope was attached to a keel on which was mounted the engine, a 35 horse-power Anzani, driving two swivelling four-bladed propellers. From the keel was suspended a torpedo-shaped boat car in which a crew of two was accommodated. Originally a vertical fin and rudder were mounted at the stern end of the keel, but these were later replaced by fins on the stern of the envelope.
This ship was purchased by the naval authorities, and after purchase was more or less reconstructed, but carried out little flying. At the outbreak of war she was lying deflated in the shed at Farnborough. As will be seen later, this was the envelope which was rigged to the original experimental S.S. airship in the early days of 1915, and is for this reason, if for no other, particularly interesting.
This ship was of similar design, but of greater capacity. The envelope, which was composed of rubber-proofed fabric, gave a volume of 50,000 cubic feet, and contained two ballonets. A 60 horsepower engine drove two swivelling propellers at an estimated speed of 38 miles per hour. She was constructed at Hendon, from where she made several short trips.
In the early days of the war an airship was constructed by Mr. Marshall Fox which is worthy of mention, although it never flew. It was claimed that this ship was a rigid airship, although from its construction it could only be looked upon as a non-rigid ship, having a wooden net-work around its envelope. The hull was composed of wooden transverse frames forming a polygon of sixteen sides, with radial wiring fitted to each transverse frame. The longitudinal members were spiral in form and were built up of three-ply lathes. A keel of similar construction ran along the under side of the hull which carried the control position and compartments for two Green engines, one of 40 horse-power, the other of 80 horse-power, together with the petrol, bombs, etc.
In the hull were fitted fourteen gasbags giving a total capacity of 100,000 cubic feet. The propeller drive was obtained by means of a wire rope. The gross lift of the ship was 4,276 lb., and the weight of the structure, complete with engines, exceeded this.
It became apparent that the ship could never fly, and work was suspended. She was afterwards used for carrying out certain experiments and at a later date was broken up.
Apart from the various airships built under contract for the Government there do not appear to be any other ships built by private firms which were completed and actually flew. It is impossible to view this lack of enterprise with any other feelings than those of regret, and it was entirely due to this want of foresight that Great Britain entered upon the World War worse equipped, as regards airships, than the Central Empires or any of the greater Allied Powers.
The French and German military authorities began to consider airships as an arm of the Service in the closing years of the nineteenth century, and devoted both time and considerable sums of money in the attempt to bring them to perfection. Their appearance in the British Army was delayed for many years on account of the expense that would be incurred in carrying out experiments. In 1902, Colonel Templer, at that time head of the Balloon Section, obtained the necessary sanction to commence experiments, and two envelopes of gold-beaters skin of 50,000 cubic feet capacity were built. With their completion the funds were exhausted, and nothing further done until 1907.
In 1907 the first complete military airship in England was built, which bore the grandiloquent title of Nulli Secundus. One of the envelopes constructed by Colonel Templer was used: it was cylindrical in shape with spherical ends. Suspended beneath the envelope by means of a net and four broad silk bands was a triangular steel framework or keel from which was slung a small car. A 50 horsepower Antoinette engine was situated in the forward part of the car which drove two metal-bladed propellers by belts. At the after part of the keel were fitted a rudder and small elevators, and two pairs of movable horizontal planes were also fitted forward. It is remarkable that no stabilizing surfaces whatsoever were mounted. The envelope was so exceedingly strong that a high pressure of gas could be sustained, and ballonets were considered unnecessary, but relief valves were employed. The first flight took place in September and was fairly successful. Several were made afterwards, and in October she was flown over London and landed at the Crystal Palace. The flight lasted 3 hours and 25 minutes, which constituted at the time a world's record. Three days later, owing to heavy winds, the ship had to be deflated and was taken back to Farnborough.
In 1908 the old ship was rebuilt with several modifications. The envelope was increased in length and was united to the keel by means of a covering of silk fabric in place of the net, four suspension bands being again used. A large bow elevator was mounted which made the ship rather unstable. A few flights were accomplished, but the ship proved of little value and was broken up.
This little airship made its first appearance in the spring of 1909. The envelope was fish-shaped and composed of gold-beater's skin, with a volume of 21,000 cubic feet. One ballonet was contained in the envelope which, at first, had three inflated fins to act as stabilizers. These proved unsatisfactory as they lacked rigidity, and were replaced after the first inflation by the ordinary type. Two 8 horse-power 3-cylinder Berliet engines were mounted in a long car driving a simple propeller, and at a later date were substituted by a R.E.P. engine which proved most unsatisfactory. During the autumn permission was obtained to enlarge the envelope and fit a more powerful engine.
Beta was completed in May, 1910. The envelope was that of the Baby enlarged, and now had a volume of 35,000 cubic feet. The car was composed of a long frame, having a centre compartment for the crew and engines, which was the standard practice at that time for ships designed by the Astra Company. A 35 horse-power Green engine drove two wooden two-bladed propellers by chains. The ship was fitted with an unbalanced rudder, while the elevators were in the front of the frame. This ship was successful, and in June flew to London and back, and in September took part in the Army manoeuvres, on one occasion being in the air for 7 3/4 hours without landing, carrying a crew of three. Trouble was experienced in the steering, the elevators being situated too near the centre of the ship to be really efficient and were altogether too small.
In 1912, Beta, having been employed regularly during the previous year, was provided with a new car having a Clerget engine of 45 horse-power. In 1913 she was inflated for over three months and made innumerable flights, on one occasion carrying H.R.H. the Prince of Wales as passenger. She had at that time a maximum speed of 35 miles per hour, and could carry fuel for about eight hours with a crew of three.
In 1910 the Gamma was also completed. This was a much bigger ship with an envelope of 75,000 cubic feet capacity, which, though designed in England, had been built by the Astra Company in Paris. The car, as in Beta, was carried in a long framework suspended from the envelope. This portion of the ship was manufactured in England, together with the machinery. This consisted of an 80 horse-power Green engine driving swivelling propellers, the gears and shafts of which were made by Rolls Royce. The engine drove the propeller shafts direct, one from each end of the crankshaft.
Originally the envelope was fitted with inflated streamline stabilizers on either side, but at a later date these were replaced by fixed stabilizing planes. At the same time the Green engine was removed and two Iris engines of 45 horse-power were installed, each driving a single propeller. There were two pairs of elevators, each situated in the framework, one forward, the other aft. In 1912, having been rigged to a new envelope of 101,000 cubic feet capacity, the ship took part in the autumn manoeuvres, and considerable use was made of wireless telegraphy.
In a height reconnaissance the pilot lost his way, and running out of petrol drifted all night, but was safely landed. When returning to Farnborough the rudder controls were broken and the ship was ripped. In this operation the framework was considerably damaged. When repairs were being carried out the elevators were removed from the car framework and attached to the stabilizing fins in accordance with the method in use to-day.
In 1910 it was arranged by a committee of Members of Parliament that the Clement-Bayard firm should send over to England a large airship on approval, with a view to its ultimate purchase by the War Office, and a shed was erected at Wormwood Scrubs for its accommodation. This ship arrived safely in October, but was very slow and difficult to control. The envelope, moreover, was of exceedingly poor quality and consumed so much gas that it was decided to deflate it. She was taken to pieces and never rebuilt.
About the same time, interest having been aroused in this country by the success of airships on the Continent, the readers of the Morning Post subscribed a large sum to purchase an airship for presentation to the Government. This was a large ship of 350,000 cubic feet capacity and was of semi-rigid design, a long framework being suspended from the envelope which supported the weight of the car. It had two engines of 150 horse-power which developed a speed of about 32 miles per hour. The War Office built a shed at Farnborough to house it, and in accordance with dimensions given by the firm a clearance of 10 feet was allowed between the top of the ship and the roof of the shed. Inconceivable as it may sound, the overall height of the ship was increased by practically 10 feet without the War Office being informed. The ship flew over and was landed safely, but on being taken into the shed the envelope caught on the roof girders, owing to lack of headroom, and was ripped from end to end. The Government agreed to increase the height of the shed and the firm to rebuild the ship. This was completed in March, 1911, and the ship was inflated again. On carrying out a trial flight, having made several circuits at 600 feet, she attempted to land, but collided with a house and was completely wrecked. This was the end of a most unfortunate ship, and her loss was not regretted.
Towards the end Of 1910 the design was commenced of the ship to be known as the Delta, and in 1911 the work was put in hand. The first envelope was made of waterproofed silk. This proved a failure, as whenever the envelope was put up to pressure it invariably burst. Experiments were continued, but no good resulting, the idea was abandoned and a rubber-proofed fabric envelope was constructed of 173,000 cubic feet volume. This ship was inflated in 1912. The first idea was to make the ship a semi-rigid by lacing two flat girders to the sides of the envelope to take the weight of the car. This idea had to be abandoned, as in practice, when the weight of the car was applied, the girders buckled. The ship was then rigged as a non-rigid. A novelty was introduced by attaching a rudder flap to the top stabilizing fin, but as it worked somewhat stiffly it was later on removed. This ship took part in the manoeuvres of 1912 and carried out several flights. She proved to be exceedingly fast, being capable of a speed of 44 miles per hour. In 1913 she was completely re-rigged and exhibited at the Aero Show, but the re-designed rigging revealed various faults and it was not until late in the year that she carried out her flight trials. Two rather interesting experiments were made during these flights. In one a parachute descent was successfully accomplished; and in another the equivalent weight of a man was picked up from the ground without assistance or landing the ship.
The Eta was somewhat smaller than the Delta, containing only 118,000 cubic feet of hydrogen, and was first inflated in 1913. The envelope was composed of rubber-proofed fabric and a long tapering car was suspended, this being in the nature of a compromise between the short car of the, Delta and the long framework gear of the Gamma. Her engines were two 80 horse-power Canton-Unne, each driving one propeller by a chain. This ship proved to be a good design and completed an eight-hour trial flight in September. On her fourth trial she succeeded in towing the disabled naval airship No. 2 a distance of fifteen miles. Her speed was 42 miles per hour, and she could carry a crew of five with fuel for ten hours.
On January 1st, 1914, the Army disbanded their Airship Section, and the airships Beta, Gamma, Delta and Eta were handed over to the Navy together with a number of officers and men.
The rapid development of the rigid airships in Germany began to create a considerable amount of interest in official circles. It was realized that those large airships in the future would be invaluable to a fleet for scouting purposes. It was manifest that our fleet, in the event of war, would be gravely handicapped by the absence of such aerial scouts, and that Germany would hold an enormous advantage if her fleet went to sea preceded by a squadron of Zeppelin airships.
The Imperial Committee, therefore, decided that the development of the rigid airship should be allotted to the Navy, and a design for Rigid Airship No. 1 was prepared by Messrs. Vickers in conjunction with certain naval officers in the early part of 1909.
As will be seen later this ship was completed in 1911, but broke in two in September of that year and nothing more was done with her. In February, 1912, the construction of rigid airships was discontinued, and in March the Naval Airship section was disbanded.
In September, 1912, the Naval Airship section was once more reconstituted and was stationed at Farnborough. The first requirements were airships, and owing to the fact that airship construction was so behindhand in this country, in comparison with the Continent, it was determined that purchases should be made abroad until sufficient experience had been gained by British firms to enable them to compete with any chance of success against foreign rivals.
First a small non-rigid, built by Messrs. Willows, was bought by the Navy to be used for the training of airship pilots. In addition an Astra-Torres airship was ordered from France. This was a ship of 229,450 cubic feet capacity and was driven by twin Chenu engines of 210 horse-power each. She carried a crew of six, and was equipped with wireless and machine guns. The car could be moved fore and aft for trimming purposes, either by power or by hand. This was, however, not satisfactory, and was abandoned.
In April 1918, Messrs. Vickers were asked to forward proposals for a rigid airship which afterwards became e known as No. 9. Full details of the vicissitudes connected with this ship will be given in the chapter devoted to Rigid Airships.
In July, approval was granted for the construction of six non-rigid ships. Three of these were to be of the German design of Major von Parseval and three of the Forlanini type, which was a semi-rigid design manufactured in Italy. The order for the Parsevals was placed with Messrs. Vickers and for the Forlaninis with Messrs. Armstrong.
The Parseval airship was delivered to this country and became known as No. 4; a second ship of the same type was also building when war broke out; needless to say this ship was never delivered. At a later date Messrs. Vickers, who had obtained the patent rights of the Parseval envelope, completed the other two ships of the order.
The Forlanini ship was completing in Italy on the declaration of war and was taken over by the Italians; Messrs. Armstrong had not commenced work on the other two. These ships, although allocated numbers, never actually came into being.
This airship deserves special consideration for two reasons; firstly, on account of the active-service flying carried out by it during the first three years of the war, and, secondly, for its great value in training of the officers and men who later on became the captains and crews of rigid airships.
The Parseval envelope is of streamline shape which tapers to a point at the tail, and in this ship was of 300,000 cubic feet capacity. The system of rigging being patented, can only be described in very general terms. The suspensions carrying the car are attached to a large elliptical rigging band which is formed under the central portion of the envelope. To this rigging band are attached the trajectory bands which pass up the sides and over the top of the envelope, sloping away from the centre at the bottom towards the nose and tail at the top. The object of this is to distribute the load fore and aft over the envelope. These bands, particularly at the after end of the ship, follow a curved path, so that they become more nearly vertical as they approach the upper surface of the envelope. This has the effect of bringing the vertical load on the top of the envelope; but a greater portion of the compressive force comes on the lower half, where it helps to resist the bending moment due to the unusually short suspensions. A single rudder plane and the ordinary elevator planes were fitted to the envelope. A roomy open car was provided for this ship, composed of a duralumin framework and covered with duralumin sheeting. Two 170 horse-power Maybach engines were mounted at the after end of the car, which drove two metal-bladed reversible propellers. These propellers were later replaced by standard four-bladed wooden ones and a notable increase of speed was obtained.
Two officers and a crew of seven men were carried, together with a wireless installation and armament.
This airship, together with No. 3, took part in the great naval review at Spithead, shortly before the commencement of the war, and in addition to the duties performed by her in the autumn of 1914, which are mentioned later, carried out long hours of patrol duty from an east coast station in the summer of 1917. In all respects she must be accounted a most valuable purchase.
Parseval No. 5 was not delivered by Germany owing to the war, so three envelopes and two cars were built by Messrs. Vickers on the design of the original ship. These were delivered somewhat late in the war, and on account of the production of the North Sea airship with its greater speed were not persevered with. The dimensions of the envelopes were somewhat increased, giving a cubic capacity of 325,000 cubic feet. Twin Maybach engines driving swivelling propellers were installed in the car, which was completely covered in, but these ships were slow in comparison with later designs, and were only used for the instruction of officers and men destined for the crews of rigid airships then building.
An experimental ship was made in 1917 which was known as Parseval 5; a car of a modified coastal pattern with two 240 horse-power Renault engines was rigged to one of envelopes. During a speed trial, this ship was calculated to have a ground speed of 50 to 53 miles per hour. The envelope, however, consumed an enormous amount gas and for this reason the ship was deflated and struck off the list of active ships.
This digression on Parseval airships has anticipated events somewhat, and a return must now be made to earlier days.
Two more Astra-Torres were ordered from France, one known as No. 8, being a large ship of 4,00,000 cubic feet capacity. She was fitted with two Chenu engines of 240 horse-power, driving swivelling propellers. This ship was delivered towards the end of the year 1914. The second Astra was of smaller capacity and was delivered, but as will be seen later, was never rigged, the envelope being used for the original coastal ship and the car slung to the envelope of the ex-army airship Eta.
On January 1st, 1914, an important event took place: the Army disbanded their airship service, and the military ships together with certain officers and men were transferred to the Naval Air Service.
Before proceeding further, it may be helpful to explain the system by which the naval airships have been given numbers. These craft are always known by the numbers which they bear, and the public is completely mystified as to their significance whenever they fly over London or any large town. It must be admitted that the method is extremely confusing, but the table which follows should help to elucidate the matter. The original intention was to designate each airship owned by the Navy by a successive number. The original airship, the rigid Mayfly, was known as No. 1, the Willows airship No. 2, and so on. These numbers were allocated regardless of type and as each airship was ordered, consequently some of these ships, for example the Forlaninis, never existed. That did not matter, however, and these numbers were not utilized for ships which actually were commissioned. On the transfer of the army airships, four of these, the Beta, Gamma, Delta and Eta, were given their numbers as they were taken over, together with two ships of the Epsilon class which were ordered from Messrs. Rolls Royce, but never completed. In this way it will be seen that numbers 1 to 22 are accounted for.
In 1915 it was decided to build a large number of small ships for anti-submarine patrol, which were called S.S.'s or Submarine Scouts. It was felt that it would only make confusion worse confounded if these ships bore the original system of successive numbering and were mixed up with those of later classes which it was known would be produced as soon as the designs were completed. Each of these ships was accordingly numbered in its own class, S.S., S.S.P., S.S. Zero, Coastal, C Star and North Sea, from 1 onwards as they were completed.
In the case of the rigids, however, for some occult reason the old system of numbering was persisted in. The letter R is prefixed before the number to show that the ship is a rigid. Hence we have No. 1 a rigid, the second rigid constructed is No. 9, or R 9, and the third becomes R 23. From this number onwards all are rigids and are numbered in sequence as they are ordered, with the exception of the last on the list, which is a ship in a class of itself. This ship the authorities, in their wisdom, have called R 80--why, nobody knows.
With this somewhat lengthy and tedious explanation the following table may be understood:
No. Type. Remarks.1. Rigid Wrecked, Sept. 24, 1911.2. Willows Became S.S. 1.3. Astra-Torres Deleted, May 1916.4. Parseval Deleted, July, 1917.5. Parseval Never delivered from Germany.(Substitute ship built by Messrs. Vickers).6. Parseval Built by Messrs. Vickers.7. Parseval Built by Messrs. Vickers.8. Astra-Torres Deleted, May, 1916.9. Rigid Deleted, June, 1918.10. Astra-Torres Envelope used for C 1.11. Forlanini Never delivered owing to war.12. Forlanini Never delivered owing to war.13. Forlanini Never delivered owing to war.14. Rigid Never built.15. Rigid Never built.16. Astra-Torres See No. 8.17. Beta Transferred from Army.Deleted, May, 1916.18. Gamma Deleted, May, 1916.19. Delta Deleted, May, 1916.20. Eta Transferred from the Army.Fitted with car from No. 10.Deleted May, 1916.21. Epsilon Construction cancelled May, 1916.22. Epsilon Construction cancelled May, 1916.23. Rigid 23 Class.24. Rigid 23 Class.25. Rigid 23 Class.26. Rigid 23 Class.27. Rigid 23x Class.28. Rigid 23x Class. Never completed.29. Rigid 23x Class.30. Rigid 23x Class. Never completed.31. Rigid 31 Class.32. Rigid 31 Class, building.33. Rigid 33 Class.34. Rigid 33 Class.35. Rigid Cancelled.36. Rigid Building.37. Rigid Building.38. Rigid Building.39. Rigid Building.40. Rigid Building.80. Rigid Building.
In August, 1914, Europe, which had been in a state of diplomatic tension for several years, was plunged into the world war. The naval airship service at the time was in possession of two stations, Farnborough and Kingsnorth, the latter in a half-finished condition. Seven airships were possessed, Nos. 2, 3 and 4, and the four ex-army ships--Beta, Gamma, Delta and Eta--and of these only three, Nos. 3, 4 and the Beta, were in any condition for flying. Notwithstanding this, the utmost use was made of the ships which were available.
On the very first night of the war, Nos. 3 and 4 carried out a reconnaissance flight over the southern portion of the North Sea, and No. 4 came under the fire of territorial detachments at the mouth of the Thames on her return to her station. These zealous soldiers imagined that she was a German ship bent on observation of the dockyard at Chatham.
No. 3 and No. 4 rendered most noteworthy service in escorting the original Expeditionary Force across the Channel, and in addition to this No. 4 carried out long patrols over the channel throughout the following winter.
No. 17 (Beta) also saw active service, as she was based for a short period early in 1915 at Dunkirk, and was employed in spotting duties with the Belgian artillery near Ostend.
The Gamma and the Delta were both lying deflated at Farnborough at the outbreak of the war, and in the case of the latter the car was found to be beyond repair, and she was accordingly deleted. The Gamma was inflated in January, 1915, and was used for mooring experiments.
The Eta, having been inflated and deflated several times owing to the poor quality of the envelope, attempted to fly to Dunkirk in November, 1914. She encountered a snowstorm near Redhill and was compelled to make a forced landing. In doing this she was so badly damaged as to be incapable of repair, and at a later date was deleted.
No. 8, which was delivered towards the end of 1914, was also moored out in the open for a short time near Dunkirk, and carried out patrol in the war zone of the Belgian coast.
So ends the story of the Naval Airship Service before the war.
With the submarine campaign ruthlessly waged by the Germans from the spring of 1915 and onwards, came the airship's opportunity, and the authorities grasped the fact that, with development, here was the weapon to defeat the most dangerous enemy of the Empire. The method of development and the success attending it the following chapters will show.
The development of the British airships of to-day may be said to date from February 28th, 1915. On that day approval was given for the construction of the original S.S. airship.
At this time the Germans had embarked upon their submarine campaign, realizing, with the failure of their great assaults on the British troops in Flanders, that their main hope of victory lay in starving Great Britain into surrender. There is no doubt that the wholesale sinking of our merchant shipping was sufficient to cause grave alarm, and the authorities were much concerned to devise means of minimizing, even if they could not completely eliminate the danger. One proposal which was adopted, and which chiefly concerns the interests of this book, was the establishment of airship stations round the coasts of Great Britain. These stations were to be equipped with airships capable of patrolling the main shipping routes, whose functions were to search for submarines and mines and to escort shipping through the danger zones in conjunction with surface craft.
Airship construction in this country at the time was, practically speaking, non-existent. There was no time to be wasted in carrying out long and expensive experiments, for the demand for airships which could fulfil these requirements was terribly urgent, and speed of construction was of primary importance. The non-rigid design having been selected for simplicity in construction, the expedient was tried of slinging the fuselage of an ordinary B.E. 2C aeroplane, minus the wings, rudder and elevators and one or two other minor fittings, beneath an envelope with tangential suspensions, as considerable experience had been gained already in a design of this type.
For this purpose the envelope of airship No. 2, which was lying deflated in the shed at Farnborough, was rushed post haste to Kingsnorth, inflated and rigged to the fuselage prepared for it. The work was completed with such despatch that the airship carried out her trial flight in less than a fortnight from approval being granted to the scheme. The trials were in every way most satisfactory, and a large number of ships of this design was ordered immediately. At the same time two private firms were invited to submit designs of their own to fulfil the Admiralty requirements. One firm's design, S.S. 2, did not fulfil the conditions laid down and was put out of commission; the other, designed by Messrs. Armstrong, was sufficiently successful for them to receive further orders. In addition to these a car was designed by Messrs. Airships Ltd., which somewhat resembled a Maurice Farman aeroplane body, and as it appeared to be suitable for the purpose, a certain number of these was also ordered.
About this period the station at Farnborough was abandoned by the Naval Airship Service to make room for the expansion of the military aeroplane squadrons. The personnel and airships were transferred to Kingsnorth, which became the airship headquarters.
The greatest energy was displayed in preparing the new stations, which were selected as bases for the airships building for this anti-submarine patrol. Small sheds, composed of wood, were erected with almost incredible rapidity, additional personnel was recruited, stores were collected, huts built for their accommodation and that of the men, and by the end of the summer the organization was so complete that operations were enabled to commence.
The S.S., or submarine scout, airship proved itself a great success. Beginning originally with a small programme the type passed through various developments until, at the conclusion of the war, no fewer than 150 ships of various kinds had been constructed. The alterations which took place and the improvements effected thereby will be considered at some length in the following pages.