----------------------------------------------------------------- NAVY & MARINE CORPS WORLD WAR II COMMEMORATIVE COMMITTEE A service of Navy Chief of Information Office (703)695-3161/DSN 225-3161 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Lighter-Than-Air Craft in World War II By CE1 Robert A. Germinsky, USNR During World War I, the U.S. Navy became interested in lighter-than-air technology through watching its use by the Germans, and through direct experience flying French airships. Non-rigid airships, or blimps, were viewed by the Navy as promising for the missions of antisubmarine warfare, minesweeping and rescue. When the United States entered World War II, the Navy had only 10 operational airships (some of which were suitable only for training)þand one operational airship base. Antisubmarine warfare In the early days of World War II, geographic limitations and operational organization resulted in less-than-effective air coverage for convoys approaching and leaving the East and Gulf coasts of the United States. This was the result of several factors. The Army had priority to receive long-range land-based aircraft, giving the Navy no planes of this type for convoy patrol. Army pilots were not trained to fly over water or to protect shipping. On the other hand, Navy pilots, who were trained for just that type of work, did not have the proper aircraft for carrying out their mission. Recognition of these problems and interservice cooperation at the highest levels led to a major reorganization of convoy air patrol doctrine, and an influx of suitable aircraft for use by the Navy in the summer of 1942. The Eastern Sea Frontier was established in July 1942, and consisted of 84 Army and 83 Navy planes, and one more interesting component furnished by the Navy -- the lighter-than-air dirigible, or "blimp" as it was affectionately known. The Fleet Airship Wings (blimp wings), under the command of Rear Admiral C.E. Rosendahl, began an immediate and rapid expansion. From less than 10 blimps operating in 1940, the fleet reached 130 blimps by the end of the war. From their original home at Naval Air Station Lakehurst, New Jersey, blimps were deployed from South Weymouth, Massachusetts, to the Gulf of Mexico. Airship Wing 2, commissioned at Richmond, Florida, eventually increased its area of operations to Jamaica, Trinidad and south into Brazil. Blimps had capabilities that made them ideal for antisubmarine warfare. With speeds up to 65 or more knots, blimps could pursue a submarine faster than any surface ship. They had the ability to hover over the target and to operate at very low altitudes. Since helicopters were not active in the fleet during World War II, these latter two abilities were unique. Blimps also had endurance and excellent range. With these characteristics, blimps proved to be invaluable convoy escorts, especially at night and in bad weather, conditions for which conventional aircraft were hardly suited. They could spot submerged submarines and hold them down by simply "floating" over the sub, while calling in surface escorts to make the kill. As the blimps expanded their operations and took on more missions, some were equipped with depth charges or bombs. Occasionally, if their craft were so armed, the skippers of these sausage-shaped behemoths took matters into their own hands and moved in for the kill without waiting for assistance. Blimp K-74, under the command of Reserve Lt. N.G. Grills, attacked the German submarine U-134 while she was surfaced off the Florida Keys on July 18, 1943. Grills, concerned with protecting a tanker and a freighter, put K-74 into a steep dive and bore in for the attack. The blimp took tremendous antiaircraft fire (it was very hard for the German gunners to miss such a big, slow-moving target), and the balloon was fatally punctured. This is why standing orders decreed that blimps could not attack surfaced submarines. With the balloon gone, K-74 lost all control. For a moment, however, it seemed that the airship could still get in her licks. The blimpþs momentum carried it directly over the sub. However, Grills discovered to his dismay that K-74þs bomb release mechanism had failed, and U-134 escaped by diving. The airship crashed into the sea, where nine of the 10 crewmen were rescued. Despite his disobedience of standing policy, Grills received the Distinguished Flying Cross for his actions.The incident, however, provoked debate on the use of the airship. There could be no argument, however, about the fact that blimps were a great morale booster for the merchant seamen who sailed from safe harbors on their long and dangerous voyages. There was something reassuring about the sight of a stately blimp floating serenely over a convoy as it steamed out on its voyage. Before the war ended, blimps took part in escorting over 89,000 ships in Atlantic, Gulf Coast, Caribbean, and Central and South American waters. During the time these gentle giants were on station, not one of their charges was lost to an enemy submarine. In early 1944, with the Battle of the Atlantic won, the decision was made to station blimps in North Africa. There, they assisted in antisubmarine activities in the Straits of Gibraltar. These blimps made the first trans-Atlantic airship crossing, in the process establishing a distance record for blimps of 1,881 miles over water. But blimpsþ participation in the fight against German submarines was not the only contribution they made to the war effort. Minesweeping The most famous of the airship squadrons, ZP-14, known as "the Africa squadron," became operational on D-Day, June 6, 1944, to clear mines from the Mediterranean. Other blimps soon joined in the mission to free the Mediterranean of these shipping hazards. For surface ships, minesweeping was a dangerous task. Blimps, on the other hand, had the ability to fly at low levels over the water and out of harmþs way. The blimps would spot the mines from the air and call in a surface ship to dispose of them. Soon, airships were stationed in France for this purpose, bringing the total of continents on which blimps were deployed to four (North America, South America, Africa and Europe). Rescue Rescue operations may have been the most successful of the missions taken on by blimps in World War II, although not their primary mission. Blimps participated in hundreds of these missions, which included finding survivors from sunken ships and crashed aircraft; directing surface ships to other, disabled ships; locating straggler ships from convoys and guiding them back to the convoy; and evacuating the injured and bringing them to medical facilities. Because of their unique flying abilities, blimps were able to effect rescues that other aircraft could not perform. World War II airship operations peaked in 1944. At that time, there were 1,500 officer pilots and 3,000 enlisted air crewmen. On the ground, 706 officer and 7,200 enlisted personnel supported lighter-than-air aviation. Unsolved Mystery: Blimp Crew Disappears By L.C. Kukral WWII Committee On Aug. 16, 1942, the Navy blimp L-8 left its base at Naval Air Station Treasure Island, near San Francisco, to hunt submarines off the California coast. About two hours after takeoff, the Navyþs Moffett Field received a radio report from the blimp that the crew planned to investigate an oil slick sighted about 5 miles east of the Farallon Islands. Moffett tried to contact the blimp 15 minutes after that report, but got no answer. After repeated efforts to radio L-8, Moffett declared an emergency. Two aircraft searched the area around the Farallon Islands, but did not find the blimp. Dale City, California, residents did, however. Just before noon, the airship landed on the narrow main street of the San Francisco suburb. Citizens held the blimp down until police and firefighters arrived. The rescuers were amazed to find no one inside the blimp. The Navy sent investigators to determine what had happened in the two-plus hours the blimp had been out of radio contact with its base. That question, and the question of the crew's whereabouts, remains a mystery. Navy technicians could find nothing that would have caused the crew to abandon the airship. Its radio was in good working order. The crew's parachutes and life raft were aboard, untouched. Fuel was plentiful. But, other than a cup of warm coffee and a sandwich with a bite missing, there was no sign of the crew. Rescue teams at sea combed the area the blimp had flown over. Even if the crew had drowned at sea, the life jackets they wore would have kept their bodies afloat. No logical explanation was ever found for their disappearance. Sources Dwiggins, Don. The Complete Book of Airships -- Dirigibles, Blimps & Hot Air Balloons. Blue Ridge Summit, Pennsylvania: Tab Books, 1980. Glines, Lt. Col. C.V., ed. Lighter-than-Air Flight. New York: Franklin Watts, Inc., 1965. Levitt, Martin L. "The United States Navy and Lighter-than-Air Aviation." Ph.D. diss., Temple University, 1991. Morison, Samuel Eliot. History of United States Naval Operations in World War II. 15 vols. Boston: Little, Brown and Company. Public Affairs Office, Naval Warfare Center, Lakehurst, New Jersey. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Navy & Marine Corps World War II Commemorative Committee Navy Office of Information (CHINFO) The Pentagon, Room 2E352 Washington, DC 20350-1200 -----------------------------------------------------------------