Conway Maritime Press - Warship 44

gear of contemporaxy surface escorts, but
ASW blimps of World War II carried
radar and sono-buoys that really worked.
During the same period, technological
development has canried the airplane
through a series of quantum leaps and
produced a new vehicle, the helicopter. In
all performance characteristics but two
fixed and rotating wing aircraft easily
out perform the airship. The airship's
tremendous internal volume permits
bulkier loads than those possible aboard
conventional aircraft, and ithas greater,
unrefueled endurance. This last characteristic
derives, of course, from the
fact that the airship's lift does not derive
from engine power, and thus the expenditure
of fuel, no matter how gteat the
load it carries.
The ultimate example of the airship's
endurance capabilities was shown by the
US Navy's ZPG2 non-rigids of the 1950s.
On 15 March 1957, one of these ships,
commanded by Cdr J R Hunt landed at
Key West after a flight that began on 4
March. Cdr Hunt left South Welrmouth,
crossed the Atlantic to Portugal, flew
south to Africa. and re-crossed the Atlan-
Asovr: USN rigid, Maconrecovering
planes on 7 July 1933. Note trapeze,
internally mounted engines, and aft
control position in lower fin. The
kindows' above the props are tubing for
condensing water ballast from engine
exhaust. She represented the most
advanced development ofthe airship as a
naval instrument and with her 7000-mile
range, she had the ability to deploy
reconnaissance aircraft hundreds of
miles in advance of US carrier striking
forces. to achieve that elusive first
intelligence of enemy carrier positions ,
which was so decisive in the early Pacific
carrier battles. The main system .
developed before the war for'this
purpose, the catapult-equipped cruiser
and her scout planes, could not perform ,
this role without being exposed to.easy
destruction by the enemy earrier forces
they were seeking; they required the
protection of their own force's CAP. The
Macon'e 7i-knot speed, however, gave
her the potential mobility to rernain at ,
the limit of enemy fighter range, while
her own planes maintained contact. USII
Lnrr: The XtrgC-l being lifted into the
Abon's internal hanger,3 May 1932. She
had the capacity to stow five planes
internally, as well as external hook-on
points. The Macon later controlled planes
by radio at more than 100 miles distance.
Night operations were simple, and night
dive-bombing attacks on enemy caniers
were studied. The F9C. however. was a
high performance fighter strengihened
for carrier landings, and less than ideal
for the airship scouting role which
should have stressed range and lightness.
A 1937 USN design would have
carried nine scout bombers similar to
NorthropBT-1. USN
tic, setting a world record for distance
and endurance, covedng 9448 miles in
264 hours, 12 rninutes, continually airborne
and unrefueled.
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