SSZ class airship

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The SSZ (Sea Scout Zero) non-rigid airships or "blimps" were developed in United Kingdom during World War I from the earlier SS ("Sea Scout") 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.[1]

Design and development

File:Cockpit of an airship.jpg
SSZ 8 airship cockpit, Alberta, Canada
File:Airship SSZ17 LandingPembroke1917.jpg
SSZ 17 landing at Pembroke, 1917. Note the boat-shaped car and scoop to supply air to the ballonets.

The SSZ was built at the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) airship station at Capel-le-Ferne[2] near Folkestone to the design of three officers that were serving there[3] as a successor to the SS class.[4]

Similar to other SS class types, the SSZs had an envelope of Script error: No such module "convert". capacity containing two ballonets of Script error: No such module "convert". each;[5] and like the SSPs, the fuel was contained in aluminium tanks slung on the axis of the envelope.[6]

The design of the car was a departure from that of other SS types. It was streamlined, boat-shaped and watertight, was floored from end-to-end, and was enclosed with sides of fabric-covered 8-ply wood[3] or aluminium. The car was comfortable and accommodated a 3-man crew – the forward position being occupied by the wireless operator/gunner with the pilot seated amidships, and the engineer was stationed at the rear.[6]

A single water-cooled Script error: No such module "convert". Rolls-Royce Hawk engine was mounted on bearers above the level of the rear of the car, and drove a Script error: No such module "convert". diameter four-bladed propeller in pusher configuration.[6]

The SSZ design was judged superior to the SSP, which had been developed at RNAS Kingsnorth at the same time, and so the SSP was cancelled.[4]

Operational history

The SSZ's patrolled extensively from late 1917 to late 1918. The average patrol lasted eight hours, but there were instances of flights of much greater duration – three of 25–26 hours; one of 30 h 20 min; and a record of 50 h 55 min held by SSZ.39 in the summer of 1918.[6] After the Armistice SSZ-73 became the only airship to fly under a bridge. Maj. Thomas Elmhirst (CO RNAS Anglesey), piloted SSZ-73 under the Menai Suspension Bridge. The act did not harm Elmhurst's career.[7]

On 16 August 1918, a makeshift SSZ ship was being assembled from the old SSZ-23 envelope and a spare SS Zero car at RNAS Howden airship station.[8] Petrol fumes from a spillage in the car were ignited some time later by a spark when the radio equipment was being tested, and the ensuing fireball, fed by fuel and gas, completely enveloped and destroyed the old SSZ-23 envelope/spare car hybrid and R23X class airship R27 which were sharing a hangar.[8] Although the hangar itself survived, one airman lost his life, and two further blimps that were moored nearby, SSZ.38 and SSZ.54, were also destroyed.[9]

File:SSZ 37 over ship WWI IWM Q 48005.jpg
An SSZ airship escorts a Royal Navy sloop.

The SSZ's greater stability in flight and longer endurance enabled them to operate in worse weather conditions than had previously been attempted,[6] and early in 1917 all existing SS types were superseded by the SS Zero.[2] They were turned out as fast as they could be built, and a total of 77 SSZs were produced between 1916 and 1918, two of which were acquired by France and two by the United States.[5] The US Navy operated two SSZ's. SSZ-23 (A-1030), and SSZ-24 (A-1029), the SSZ-23 envelope was destroyed in a hangar fire Howden in 1918, SSZ-23 the car was sent from Howden to the US on 4 August 1918.[10] SSZ-24 apparently burned at Hampton Roads in the summer of 1918.[11] The SSZ-23 was at Cape May, NJ, for erection on 5 February 1919. The SSZ-23 was withdrawn by mid-1920.[12]


Operators

Specifications

Data from [5]

General characteristics

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See also

References

Notes

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  1. ↑ TAnti-Submarine Warfare in World War I: British Naval Aviation. Retrieved on 13 September 2018.
  2. ↑ a b Twenty-One Years of Airship Progress. flightglobal.com. Retrieved on 28 March 2009.
  3. ↑ a b Whale (2008), p.60.
  4. ↑ a b Castle (2009) p23
  5. ↑ a b c SSZ data. Airship Heritage Trust. Retrieved on 18 March 2009.
  6. ↑ a b c d e Whale (2008), p.61.
  7. ↑ Mowethorpe, Ces, Battlebags British Airships of the First World War, 1995, Alan Sutton Publishing Limited, Phoenix Mill, Far Trupp Stroud, Gloucestershire Template:ISBN page 109
  8. ↑ a b Mowethorpe, Ces, Battlebags British Airships of the First World War, 1995, Alan Sutton Publishing Limited, Phoenix Mill, Far Trupp Stroud, Gloucestershire Template:ISBN page 84
  9. ↑ HMA 23X Airship Heritage Trust. Retrieved on 28 March 2009.
  10. ↑ Mowethorpe, Ces, Battlebags British Airships of the First World War, 1995, Alan Sutton Publishing Limited, Phoenix Mill, Far Trupp Stroud, Gloucestershire Template:ISBN page 88
  11. ↑ Shock, James R., U.S. Navy Airships 1915-1962, 2001, Atlantis Productions, Edgewater Florida, Template:ISBN, page 45
  12. ↑ Shock, James R., U.S. Navy Airships 1915-1962, 2001, Atlantis Productions, Edgewater Florida, Template:ISBN, pages 44-45

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Bibliography

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External links

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