"Artic Mission recounts two concurrent Navy Department penetrations of the Arctic in 1958, one an unclassified project, the other absolutely secret. Sailing under the direct orders of the Commander in Chief, the nuclear submarine Nautilus would, if successful, reaffirm U.S. technological prowess with a stupendous demonstration; an under-ice transit of the Arctic Basin via the North Pole. The airships unclassified mission was an Office of Naval Research project, with the objective to assess the suitability of non-rigid airships for support of field parties deployed throughout the North, ashore and afloat. That August, BUNO 126719 crossed the Arctic Circle, the sole military airship ever to do so, en route to rendezvous with a U.S. Air Force ice-rafted camp in the Arctic Ocean. As 719 pressed north, Nautilus pierced the geographic pole, then without changing course logged the first-ever transit of the deep-ocean Arctic, Pacific to Atlantic. Based on interviews and correspondence with dozens of participants, and on Navy Department reports, the work presents first-hand material throughout, and is a distinct contribution to naval literature."--Amazon.
"GRIPPING. ... One of the greatest polar rescue efforts ever mounted." —Wall Street Journal The riveting true story of the largest polar rescue mission in history: the desperate race to find the survivors of the glamorous Arctic airship Italia, which crashed near the North Pole in 1928. Triumphantly returning from the North Pole on May 24, 1928, the world-famous exploring airship Italia—code-named N-4—was struck by a terrible storm and crashed somewhere over the Arctic ice, triggering the largest polar rescue mission in history. Helping lead the search was Roald Amundsen, the poles’ greatest explorer, who himself soon went missing in the frozen wastes. Amundsen’s body has never been found, the last victim of one of the Arctic’s most enduring mysteries . . . During the Roaring Twenties, zeppelin travel embodied the exuberant spirit of the age. Germany’s luxurious Graf Zeppelin would run passenger service from Germany to Brazil; Britain’s Imperial Airship was launched to connect an empire; in America, the iconic spire of the rising Empire State Building was designed as a docking tower for airships. But the novel mode of transport offered something else, too: a new frontier of exploration. Whereas previous Arctic and Antarctic explorers had subjected themselves to horrific—often deadly—conditions in their attempts to reach uncharted lands, airships held out the possibility of speedily soaring over the hazards. In 1926, the famed Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen—the first man to reach the South Pole—partnered with the Italian airship designer General Umberto Nobile to pioneer flight over the North Pole. As Mark Piesing uncovers in this masterful account, while that mission was thought of as a great success, it was in fact riddled with near disasters and political pitfalls. In May 1928, his relationship with Amundsen corroded beyond the point of collaboration, Nobile, his dog, and a crew of fourteen Italians, one Swede, and one Czech, set off on their own in the airship Italia to discover new lands in the Arctic Circle and to become the first airship to land men on the pole. But near the North Pole they hit a terrible storm and crashed onto the ice. Six crew members were never seen again; the injured (including Nobile) took refuge on ice flows,unprepared for the wretched conditions and with little hope for survival. Coincidentally, in Oslo a gathering of famous Arctic explorers had assembled for a celebration of the first successful flight from Alaska to Norway. Hearing of the accident, Amundsen set off on his own desperate attempt to find Nobile and his men. As the weeks passed and the largest international polar rescue expedition mobilized, the survivors engaged in a last-ditch struggle against weather, polar bears, and despair. When they were spotted at last, the search plane landed—but the pilot announced that there was room for only one passenger. . . . Braiding together the gripping accounts of the survivors and their heroic rescuers, N-4 Down tells the unforgettable true story of what happened when the glamour and restless daring of the zeppelin age collided with the harsh reality of earth’s extremes.
Originally published in 1990, Sky Ships is easily the most comprehensive history of U.S. Navy airships ever written. The Naval Institute Press is releasing this new edition— complete with two hundred new photographs—to commemorate the twenty-fifth anniversary of the book’s publication. Impressed by Germany’s commercial and military Zeppelins, the United States initiated its own airship program in 1915. Naval Air Station Lakehurst in New Jersey was homeport for several of the largest machines ever to navigate the air. The success of the commercial rigid airship peaked in 1936 with transatlantic round trips between Central Europe and the Americas by Hindenburg and by Graf Zeppelin— ending with the infamous fire in 1937. That setback, the onset of war, and the accelerated progress of heavier-than-air technology ended rigid airship development. The Navy continued to use blimps to protect Allied shipping during World War II. Following the war, the Navy persisted with efforts to integrate the airships, but the program was finally discontinued in the early 1960s.
"The Motor Boys Under the Sea; or, From Airship to Submarine" by Clarence Young takes readers on an exhilarating journey as the Motor Boys transition from airship adventures to underwater exploration. Young's storytelling keeps readers engaged as they follow the boys' underwater escapades. This installment in the Motor Boys series is an ideal choice for young readers, highlighting the spirit of exploration, innovation, and the pursuit of new frontiers.
Airships are the forgotten weapon of World War II. Forgotten Weapons analyzes the development of airships as weapons for antisubmarine warfare, examines how scientists and airmen collaborated to combat U-boats and reveals the little-known accomplishments of airship crews. As William F. Althoff demonstrates, the naval airship logged an admirable operational record during the Battle of the Atlantic, the longest continued armed contest during the war. Their useful deployment depended first, however, on effective collaboration between naval airmen and government-sponsored research institutions, such as the National Defense Research Committee (NDRC). The Battle of the Atlantic saw a race to gain technological advantage German measures met by Allied counter measures with both sides producing various weapons and sensors designed either to destroy or to protect Allied merchant shipping. For the antisubmarine campaign, U.S. contract laboratories devised the magnetic airborne detector (MAD), microwave radar, the Loran long-range navigation systems, radio sono-buoys, and pattern ordnance, all of which were fitted to airships. Key NDRC projects exploited lighter-than-air platforms for airborne tests. Hurried into production, special devices for antisubmarine warfare were fitted onto fleet airships as well as in airplanes and surface forces. The result turned the tide against the U-boat menace and saved countless lives, supplies, and shipping. This book is an invaluable history and reference for readers interested in airships, antisubmarine warfare, the Battle of the Atlantic, and the bygone squadrons of unique airmen who helped defeat the Nazi war on commerce from 1939 to 1945.
Numerous books have been written on airships, but few concentrate on their bases and infrastructure to support their operations. British Airship Bases of the Twentieth Century starts with documenting the primitive facilities from which the early machines flew in the years prior to the First World War. The outbreak of the First World War resulted in airships being adopted for military purposes and bases were established across Britain. Most of these were operated by the Royal Naval Air Service for the protection of shipping against U-boats. In the 1920s, an attempt was made by the British Government to build airships for commercial transport. The locations where these giants of the sky were constructed are described as well as the proposed overseas passenger terminals. The latter part of this enthralling and detailed book chronicles the attempt to establish the airship as a means of transport to link together the far flung lands of the British Empire. Reference is also made at attempts to revive the airship in the closing decade of the 20th century and the locations associated with them. Illustrations: 170 black and white photographs
Kingsnorth Airship Station played a vital role during the First World War, developing airships which successfully protected the fleet from submarine attack. It was the proud boast of the Airship Service that no vessels accompanied by one of their airships were lost to submarine attack. This book tells the story of Kingsnorth, exploring the development of the station, the challenges faced and overcome, the people who contributed to the station’s success and how the station and its legacy have changed the local area. Contemporary accounts and pictures bring this story to life, whether for the local historian, military enthusiast or a relative linked with Kingsnorth.
