US Army Airships
Encyclopedia
Between 1908 and 1942 the U.S. Army had a program to operate airship
s. With few exceptions, they were non-rigid "blimp
s," These airships were intended to perform search and patrol operations in support of coastal fortifications and border patrol. During the 1920s, the Army operated many more blimps than the U.S. Navy.
operated balloons during the Civil War
. A balloon was used by the US Army in Cuba. These were ad-hoc and not part of an established branch of the Army. The use of observation balloon
s by many nations would continue until early World War II
. Balloons must either be tethered, or go where they are blown by the wind. The answer, pursued by nations like France, Germany and Britain, was a powered airship
, a streamlined shape, with an engine(s) and controls to allow it to be directed where ever the pilot wished.
In 1908 the Army experimented with its first powered aircraft, the SC-1
, or Signal Corps number 1. It was a small semi-rigid airship
with a top speed under 20 mph and an endurance of just over 2 hours. Following tests at Fort Myer
, the SC-1 was sent to Fort Omaha
, Nebraska, where the Signal Corps School was located. While the SC-1 was being tested at Fort Myer, the Signal Corps had built an airship hangar and a plant to produce hydrogen gas at Fort Omaha
. Fort Omaha became, for a while, the first permanent military airfield in the United States. The SC-1 was scrapped in 1912, and the base at Fort Omaha
closed in 1913.
The US Army operated French observation balloons during World War I
, but did not operate another airship until after the war ended.
Following the end of World War I, the U.S. Army acquired a variety of blimps from US, French and British sources. Plans were made for operating airships from both Fort Bliss
and Brooks Field, in Texas and Langley Field, Virginia. The first blimp operated by the Army was the A-4, which was operated primarily from Langley until transferred to the new Balloon and Airship School at Fort Scott
, Illinois. The Army operated several Navy C class blimps and D class blimps during the immediate post-WWI era.
Army blimps participated in the "Mitchell" bombing test in 1921. They were used for training, coastal patrol, and experimentation in the early 1920s. The Army purchased three British SST class blimp
s from the British, which were operated out of Biggs Field, Fort Bliss, and Brooks Field
, both in Texas for purposes of border patrol between 1920 and 1923.
During the 1920s the Army developed several "Motorized Observation Balloons". The OB-1 and MB were intended to fly to where needed, and then be tethered as observation balloons.
The US Army acquired the Italian semi-rigid airship Roma
in 1921. The Roma was the largest airship operated by the Army. It was based at Langley Field. With a cruising speed of 50 mph and a range of 7,000 miles, the Roma allowed the Army to consider transcontinental deployments, missions to Panama
, the fast transport of cargo and passengers, discovering threatening fleets far out at sea. The Roma was destroyed by fire in an accident near Norfolk, Virginia
on 21 February 1922. The Roma tragedy led Congress
to decree that all US airship operations would in the future use helium instead of hydrogen as the lifting gas
.
During the 1920s and 30s the US Army Airship Service was responsible for improvements in airship operation construction. These included the use of internal gondola suspension and the only advanced semi-rigid airship built in America, the RS-1. The army operated the RS-1 during the late 1920s until the requirement for a new envelope grounded the ship and resulted in it being scrapped. The Airship Service also supplied airship pilots and logistic support for stratospheric research flights.
The majority of the airships operated by the US Army during the 1920s and 30s were of the "TC" Classes. These were designed for coastal patrol duty. The US Army had long held the primary responsibility for coastal and harbor defense of the USA. The airship was seen as capable of searching for hostile ships. Then airships were to track those ships until they could be engaged by coastal defenses or Army bombers. One TC class, the C-41, was used for various public relation experiments in the 1930s, including landing on the Washington D.C. mall to lay a wreath at the Lincoln Memorial
and experimenting with picking up mail from a moving train.
Amongst the most interesting U.S. Army Airship Service experiments was to pursue the ability to operate airplanes from airships. While both the Germans and British had experimented with releasing fighters from rigid airships, it was the US Army which first flew an airplane from the ground and 'hooked' on to a trapeze suspended from an airship. Many tests involving a Sperry Messenger airplane and TC class blimps
were made in the mid-1920s. Eventually the technology was assumed by the US Navy on the "flying aircraft carriers", USS Akron (ZRS-4)
and USS Macon (ZRS-5)
.
The Army Airship Service developed new designs, and operated a number of blimps, primarily from Scott Field and Langley Field though the early 1930s when competition for funding from the rapidly growing Air Corps started its decline. In 1932 the Army contracted for two blimps significantly more capable than any in service, these were the TC-13 and TC-14. When Army Airship operations were terminated in 1937 a number of Army blimps were conveyed to the USN. Only TC-13 and 14 were operated by the Navy.
The Army had failed during the post-World War I era to establish a definite mission, much less a doctrine for accomplishing that mission, for its airships. By 1935 Congress was trying to eliminate funding for the Army airships, and Chief of the Air Corps Major General Benjamin Foulois
, who himself had been a pilot of the SC-1, was recommending the program be terminated. In mid-1937 the Army had finished operating airships.
As Congress refused to authorize expenditures for Army airships but did allow funding of observation balloons the army resurrected the "Motorized Observation Balloon" concept abandoned a decade before. The Motorized Observation Balloon continued in use for several more years. There were even new 'pony blimps' constructed. These were the five C-6, seven C-8 and four C-9 class airships. Two of the TE-3 class were re-designated C-7s. The last US Army airships were the two C-7s which were turned over to the USN in 1943.
Following World War II, the War Assets Administration put up for sale sixteen Motorized Observation Balloons of the C-6, 8 & 9 classes. One was briefly operated by the Douglas Leigh
Sky Advertising Company between 1948 and 1950, the C-6-36-11 made its last flight on 14 June 1950.
Company with intent to purchase the remaining undelivered wartime Zeppelin, the LZ 114, which was to have entered German Navy service as the L-72. Behind the scheme was almost certainly, General "Billy" Mitchell. Hensley visited the Zeppelin plant, inspected the LZ 114 and flew on a small passenger Zeppelin. The Inter-Allied Commission of Control ordered the L-72 turned over to France. In November 1919, the US Army contracted with the Zeppelin corporation for construction of the LZ 125, which was to be larger than the R38 class airship which the USN had contracted to purchase from Britain as the ZR-2. This attempt at performing an end run around the Joint Airship Board would have encountered legal problems as the US Senate refused to ratify the Allied Peace Treaty with Germany until October 1921. Complaints by the Secretary of the Navy resulted in the Secretary of War ordering the German contract terminated in December 1919. The US Army continued to show interest in the acquisition and operation of rigid airships well into the 1930s.
Airship
An airship or dirigible is a type of aerostat or "lighter-than-air aircraft" that can be steered and propelled through the air using rudders and propellers or other thrust mechanisms...
s. With few exceptions, they were non-rigid "blimp
Blimp
A blimp, or non-rigid airship, is a floating airship without an internal supporting framework or keel. A non-rigid airship differs from a semi-rigid airship and a rigid airship in that it does not have any rigid structure, neither a complete framework nor a partial keel, to help the airbag...
s," These airships were intended to perform search and patrol operations in support of coastal fortifications and border patrol. During the 1920s, the Army operated many more blimps than the U.S. Navy.
History
The Union ArmyUnion Army
The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...
operated balloons during the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
. A balloon was used by the US Army in Cuba. These were ad-hoc and not part of an established branch of the Army. The use of observation balloon
Observation balloon
Observation balloons are balloons that are employed as aerial platforms for intelligence gathering and artillery spotting. Their use began during the French Revolutionary Wars, reaching their zenith during World War I, and they continue in limited use today....
s by many nations would continue until early World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. Balloons must either be tethered, or go where they are blown by the wind. The answer, pursued by nations like France, Germany and Britain, was a powered airship
Airship
An airship or dirigible is a type of aerostat or "lighter-than-air aircraft" that can be steered and propelled through the air using rudders and propellers or other thrust mechanisms...
, a streamlined shape, with an engine(s) and controls to allow it to be directed where ever the pilot wished.
In 1908 the Army experimented with its first powered aircraft, the SC-1
Signal Corps Dirigible No. 1
Signal Corps Dirigible No. 1 was the first powered aircraft ordered for the Signal Corps by the Aeronautical Division of the United States Army. The purchase of SC-1, a dirigible designed by Thomas Scott Baldwin was the result of urgings by Chief Signal Officer Brigadier General James Allen. After...
, or Signal Corps number 1. It was a small semi-rigid airship
Semi-rigid airship
Semi-rigid airships are airships with a partial framework. These often consist of a rigid, or occasionally, flexible, keel frame along the long axis under the aerodynamic hull envelope. The partial framework can also be located inside the hull...
with a top speed under 20 mph and an endurance of just over 2 hours. Following tests at Fort Myer
Fort Myer
Fort Myer is a U.S. Army post adjacent to Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington County, Virginia, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. It is a small post by U.S...
, the SC-1 was sent to Fort Omaha
Fort Omaha
Fort Omaha, originally known as Sherman Barracks and then Omaha Barracks, is an Indian War-era United States Army supply installation. Located at 5730 North 30th Street, with the entrance at North 30th and Fort Streets in modern-day North Omaha, Nebraska, the facility is primarily occupied by ...
, Nebraska, where the Signal Corps School was located. While the SC-1 was being tested at Fort Myer, the Signal Corps had built an airship hangar and a plant to produce hydrogen gas at Fort Omaha
Fort Omaha
Fort Omaha, originally known as Sherman Barracks and then Omaha Barracks, is an Indian War-era United States Army supply installation. Located at 5730 North 30th Street, with the entrance at North 30th and Fort Streets in modern-day North Omaha, Nebraska, the facility is primarily occupied by ...
. Fort Omaha became, for a while, the first permanent military airfield in the United States. The SC-1 was scrapped in 1912, and the base at Fort Omaha
Fort Omaha
Fort Omaha, originally known as Sherman Barracks and then Omaha Barracks, is an Indian War-era United States Army supply installation. Located at 5730 North 30th Street, with the entrance at North 30th and Fort Streets in modern-day North Omaha, Nebraska, the facility is primarily occupied by ...
closed in 1913.
The US Army operated French observation balloons during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, but did not operate another airship until after the war ended.
Following the end of World War I, the U.S. Army acquired a variety of blimps from US, French and British sources. Plans were made for operating airships from both Fort Bliss
Fort Bliss
Fort Bliss is a United States Army post in the U.S. states of New Mexico and Texas. With an area of about , it is the Army's second-largest installation behind the adjacent White Sands Missile Range. It is FORSCOM's largest installation, and has the Army's largest Maneuver Area behind the...
and Brooks Field, in Texas and Langley Field, Virginia. The first blimp operated by the Army was the A-4, which was operated primarily from Langley until transferred to the new Balloon and Airship School at Fort Scott
Fort Scott
General Winfield Scott, former General-in-Chief of the U.S. Army, was the namesake for five places named Fort Scott:*Fort Scott, Kansas, a city that grew up around a military fort of the same name**Fort Scott National Historic Site...
, Illinois. The Army operated several Navy C class blimps and D class blimps during the immediate post-WWI era.
Army blimps participated in the "Mitchell" bombing test in 1921. They were used for training, coastal patrol, and experimentation in the early 1920s. The Army purchased three British SST class blimp
SST class blimp
|-See also:-External links:* *...
s from the British, which were operated out of Biggs Field, Fort Bliss, and Brooks Field
Brooks City-Base
Brooks City-Base was a United States Air Force facility located in San Antonio, Texas, southeast of Downtown San Antonio.In 2002 Brooks Air Force Base was renamed Brooks City-Base when the property was conveyed to the Brooks Development Authority as part of a unique project between local, state,...
, both in Texas for purposes of border patrol between 1920 and 1923.
During the 1920s the Army developed several "Motorized Observation Balloons". The OB-1 and MB were intended to fly to where needed, and then be tethered as observation balloons.
The US Army acquired the Italian semi-rigid airship Roma
Roma (airship)
- References :NotesBibliography* Tampa Times, February 22, 1922. Page 1.* New York Times, February 22, 1922. Page 1....
in 1921. The Roma was the largest airship operated by the Army. It was based at Langley Field. With a cruising speed of 50 mph and a range of 7,000 miles, the Roma allowed the Army to consider transcontinental deployments, missions to Panama
Panama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
, the fast transport of cargo and passengers, discovering threatening fleets far out at sea. The Roma was destroyed by fire in an accident near Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. With a population of 242,803 as of the 2010 Census, it is Virginia's second-largest city behind neighboring Virginia Beach....
on 21 February 1922. The Roma tragedy led Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
to decree that all US airship operations would in the future use helium instead of hydrogen as the lifting gas
Lifting gas
Because of the Archimedes' principle, a lifting gas is required for aerostats to create buoyancy. Its density is lower than that of air . Only certain lighter than air gases are suitable as lifting gases.- Hot Air :...
.
During the 1920s and 30s the US Army Airship Service was responsible for improvements in airship operation construction. These included the use of internal gondola suspension and the only advanced semi-rigid airship built in America, the RS-1. The army operated the RS-1 during the late 1920s until the requirement for a new envelope grounded the ship and resulted in it being scrapped. The Airship Service also supplied airship pilots and logistic support for stratospheric research flights.
The majority of the airships operated by the US Army during the 1920s and 30s were of the "TC" Classes. These were designed for coastal patrol duty. The US Army had long held the primary responsibility for coastal and harbor defense of the USA. The airship was seen as capable of searching for hostile ships. Then airships were to track those ships until they could be engaged by coastal defenses or Army bombers. One TC class, the C-41, was used for various public relation experiments in the 1930s, including landing on the Washington D.C. mall to lay a wreath at the Lincoln Memorial
Lincoln Memorial
The Lincoln Memorial is an American memorial built to honor the 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. It is located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The architect was Henry Bacon, the sculptor of the main statue was Daniel Chester French, and the painter of the interior...
and experimenting with picking up mail from a moving train.
Amongst the most interesting U.S. Army Airship Service experiments was to pursue the ability to operate airplanes from airships. While both the Germans and British had experimented with releasing fighters from rigid airships, it was the US Army which first flew an airplane from the ground and 'hooked' on to a trapeze suspended from an airship. Many tests involving a Sperry Messenger airplane and TC class blimps
Tc-3
The TC-3 and the TC-7 were the two US Army Corps non-rigid blimps used for parasite fighter trials conducted in 1923-24. A single Sperry Messenger biplane was equipped with a skyhook to engage the temporary trapeze mounted to the control carriage of the blimp itself. The first successful docking...
were made in the mid-1920s. Eventually the technology was assumed by the US Navy on the "flying aircraft carriers", USS Akron (ZRS-4)
USS Akron (ZRS-4)
USS Akron was a helium-filled rigid airship of the United States Navy that was lost in a weather-related accident off the New Jersey coast early on April 4, 1933, killing 73 of the 76 crew and passengers on board...
and USS Macon (ZRS-5)
USS Macon (ZRS-5)
USS Macon was a rigid airship built and operated by the United States Navy for scouting. She served as a "flying aircraft carrier", launching Curtiss F9C Sparrowhawk biplane fighters. In service for less than two years, in 1935 Macon was damaged in a storm and lost off California's Big Sur coast,...
.
The Army Airship Service developed new designs, and operated a number of blimps, primarily from Scott Field and Langley Field though the early 1930s when competition for funding from the rapidly growing Air Corps started its decline. In 1932 the Army contracted for two blimps significantly more capable than any in service, these were the TC-13 and TC-14. When Army Airship operations were terminated in 1937 a number of Army blimps were conveyed to the USN. Only TC-13 and 14 were operated by the Navy.
The Army had failed during the post-World War I era to establish a definite mission, much less a doctrine for accomplishing that mission, for its airships. By 1935 Congress was trying to eliminate funding for the Army airships, and Chief of the Air Corps Major General Benjamin Foulois
Benjamin Foulois
Benjamin Delahauf Foulois , was a United States Army general who learned to fly the first military planes purchased from the Wright Brothers. He became the first military aviator as an airship pilot, and achieved numerous other military aviation "firsts"...
, who himself had been a pilot of the SC-1, was recommending the program be terminated. In mid-1937 the Army had finished operating airships.
As Congress refused to authorize expenditures for Army airships but did allow funding of observation balloons the army resurrected the "Motorized Observation Balloon" concept abandoned a decade before. The Motorized Observation Balloon continued in use for several more years. There were even new 'pony blimps' constructed. These were the five C-6, seven C-8 and four C-9 class airships. Two of the TE-3 class were re-designated C-7s. The last US Army airships were the two C-7s which were turned over to the USN in 1943.
Following World War II, the War Assets Administration put up for sale sixteen Motorized Observation Balloons of the C-6, 8 & 9 classes. One was briefly operated by the Douglas Leigh
Douglas Leigh
Douglas Leigh was an American advertising executive and lighting designer, and a pioneer in signage and outdoor advertising. He is famous for making New York City's Times Square the site of some of the world's most famous electric billboards...
Sky Advertising Company between 1948 and 1950, the C-6-36-11 made its last flight on 14 June 1950.
The US Army and the rigid airship
During World War I the Joint Airship Board assigned the US Navy the role of acquiring and developing rigid airships. This did not dissuade the Army from pursuing its own course. Colonel William Hensley flew as an observer on the return voyage of the British R34 airship from Long Island, New York to the UK in the summer of 1919. Hensley was then sent on a confidential mission to contact the ZeppelinZeppelin
A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship pioneered by the German Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin in the early 20th century. It was based on designs he had outlined in 1874 and detailed in 1893. His plans were reviewed by committee in 1894 and patented in the United States on 14 March 1899...
Company with intent to purchase the remaining undelivered wartime Zeppelin, the LZ 114, which was to have entered German Navy service as the L-72. Behind the scheme was almost certainly, General "Billy" Mitchell. Hensley visited the Zeppelin plant, inspected the LZ 114 and flew on a small passenger Zeppelin. The Inter-Allied Commission of Control ordered the L-72 turned over to France. In November 1919, the US Army contracted with the Zeppelin corporation for construction of the LZ 125, which was to be larger than the R38 class airship which the USN had contracted to purchase from Britain as the ZR-2. This attempt at performing an end run around the Joint Airship Board would have encountered legal problems as the US Senate refused to ratify the Allied Peace Treaty with Germany until October 1921. Complaints by the Secretary of the Navy resulted in the Secretary of War ordering the German contract terminated in December 1919. The US Army continued to show interest in the acquisition and operation of rigid airships well into the 1930s.
External links
- http://www.wolfsshipyard.mystarship.com/Misc/Airships/Airships.htm
- "Wild Night In The T-C-10", September 1931, Popular Mechanics article/photos on the TC-10, of the TC Class
- Article about the Fort Tilden blimp hangar
- Photo of the MB spraying for Gypsy moth in an early "crop dusting" experiment
- Photograph of the Army Airship Roma
- Local press coverage of the Roma accident
- "The West Point Of The Air"" Popular Mechanics, June 1930, photo pages 930, 932, 937, 941, 942, 943, 944,