Lighter Than Air
Page 17
Another great lesson was the necessity for concealment; ‘No body of troops could be moved under observation from the air without being detected and reported.’188 The airships were active again in October:
‘Several trials have been made with both Beta and Delta at Farnborough during the past few days. On Wednesday week the latter was out and made one or two lengthy voyages with five passengers on board. She was also out on the following day, and on Sunday and Monday. Beta was tested on Saturday, and on Monday she took a crew of naval men from Sheerness for an instructional voyage.’189
And also Usborne’s own command:
‘The baby dirigible built by Messrs E.T. Willows, of Cardiff, for the British Navy, has made a very favourable impression at Farnborough. The little torpedo-shaped car, for the pilot and his assistant, which is slung beneath the main beam running fore and aft, gives the aircraft a very smart and businesslike appearance, and the 35 hp Anzani engine, driving two four-bladed Rapid propellers, has shown itself capable of giving the airship a speed of over 50 miles an hour.’190
Beta II in September 1912, with Lieutenant J.N. Fletcher, RFC, and Lieutenant Neville Usborne, RN, in the car.
Delta on the ground.
Certainly the airship as designed offered less air resistance, but to reach such a speed it is likely that there was a fairly strong following wind. In November there were a couple of minor mishaps. Firstly, with Willows himself at the helm and, in all probability, Usborne as his passenger, the motor stopped dead as the airship was circling to land at Farnborough. They drifted a little while and, managing to cast the trail rope and grapnel, descended near the Basingstoke Canal, but somewhat too close to a sewage farm for absolute comfort. The watertight nacelle proved its use. It was discovered that they had run out of petrol. A fresh supply was brought by car and a successful ascent was made; no doubt both the crew were glad to be aloft and away from noxious odours. As darkness had fallen, the landing at base was made with the aid of a searchlight. All in all it was thought that this was a pretty good effort for a new ship.191 Then two weeks later; ‘The Willows airship was out on Friday. Unfortunately she came down at Cove, buckling the main boom of the nacelle, but she was safely towed back by bluejackets without further damage.’192
In December, the First Lord of the Admiralty, Winston Churchill, answered questions in the House of Commons on the subject of naval aeronautics. He announced that he was pleased with the progress of the Willows airship and quoted a much more realistic figure for its top speed of 30mph (48kph). He also mentioned the scales of pay applicable at that time:
‘The extra rates of pay for naval and marine officers of the Royal Flying Corps are as follows: Ordinary pay of squadron commander, 25 shillings a day; flight commander, 17 shillings; flying officer, 12 shillings. The flying pay is 8 shillings a day. The commanding officer of the Naval Wing receives £800 a year. Flying pay is paid continuously to aeroplane flyers, but only on days of ascent in the case of airships.’193
A contemporary observer thought that leaving the pay and conditions of airmen who had come to the RFC from the Royal Navy to their Lordships of the Admiralty was not a good idea, and later wrote:
‘This was a snag which was to upset the boat. It seems almost incredible that anyone, even a politician, could have been so obtuse as to fail to realise that a scheme which involved the joint command and administration of a force by the War Office and the Admiralty was doomed to failure. No intelligent person could anticipate for one moment that the arrogant bureaucrats at the Admiralty would be content to take the inferior position demanded of them by this project and to submit to accepting orders from their fellow civil servants at the War Office.’194
Churchill also made reference to the non-rigid Astra-Torres and Parseval airships which had been ordered by the Admiralty in 1912. In 1910–11, the Spaniard, Torres Quevedo, had designed a small non-rigid airship with an innovative, trefoil-shape gasbag (three lobes interconnected internally with porous fabric curtains). It increased the stiffness of the envelope so it retained its shape better and also reduced the external rigging, which decreased air resistance. In 1911 he flew in it to France and subsequently made a deal with the Astra Airship Company to develop the Astra-Torres type airship. As previously mentioned, Major August von Parseval was a German military officer who, as well as inventing kite balloons (which would be used extensively by both sides for observation purposes in the First World War), also developed a flexible non-rigid airship type that was sold to several countries. The pace of events had forced the Committee of Imperial Defence, and the Admiralty, to move away from the Haldane policy and buy off the shelf, hoping that the results would be better than the embarrassing Lebaudy and Clément-Bayard episodes. Churchill commented that the country’s leaders could no longer afford to wait until the relative value of airships and aeroplanes was settled, airships required serious study as soon as possible, and if there were no British types to study, then vessels had to be purchased from abroad with a view to establishing a fleet of dirigibles as soon as possible. Matters requiring urgent attention included the best means of anti-airship countermeasures – aeroplanes, gun defences, or armed airships?195 Churchill’s views were supported by the Second Sea Lord, Vice Admiral Sir John Jellicoe, KCB, KCVO, who favoured airships over aeroplanes because their greater range would make them of more use for scouting purposes.196
Cross section Astra Torres type.
Meanwhile, Usborne was also flying some of the other airships, including, in December:
‘Some little excitement was reported in Portsmouth on Tuesday last by the appearance overhead of an airship, until it was noticed that the vessel was flying the White Ensign and it was recognised as one of the British craft – in fact it was Beta with Lieutenant Usborne in charge. The dirigible carried a crew of four naval officers and sailed from Aldershot to Portsmouth at a height of 500 feet. Over the harbour the dirigible elevated to 2000 feet, then returned to her station at Aldershot.’197
Beta II at Aldershot in 1912.
Then in January 1913:
‘Manned by a naval crew with Commander E.A. Masterman in command and Lieutenant N.F. Usborne as pilot, the army airship Gamma cruised on Wednesday morning from Farnborough to London. The airship turned above the Chelsea football ground and arrived back at Farnborough just in time to avoid a heavy storm of sleet and snow.’198
Another incident which was reported must have been very frightening for the mechanic concerned:
‘One of the mechanics holding down Gamma after her trip to Portsmouth and back on Monday, failed to hear the officer’s order to release when another ascent was made and was carried up to a height of 100 feet. Fortunately, he held on to the rope while the airship descended as quickly as possible, so that he escaped with nothing worse than a shaking.’199
There was also some praise for the small airships generally:
‘Last week in misty weather Gamma was out on Wednesday manoeuvring round the district. She was handled in a skilful manner and gives one the impression of being more useful than the exponents of heavier-than-air-machines care to admit. Some of the disadvantages peculiar to this type of aircraft appear to be, on second thoughts, overweighed by their better qualities, and the construction and equipment of small, handy dirigibles would by no means be a step in the wrong direction.’200
Public and Parliamentary Concern
During the winter months of 1912–13 there was once more a certain degree of agitation in the Press and Parliament concerning aerial defence. The first incident was at Sheerness in October 1912, when it was claimed that, under cover of darkness, an airship had probed the defences of this strategically important location. Much of the concern was due to the alleged sightings of the navigation lights of mystery airships around the south coast of England. It was in fact a mixture of fact and fiction, as well as the release of fire-balloons by practical jokers. It apparently became known to the Admiralty that the German civil Zeppelin Hansa, flown by a naval crew, d
id make a number of incursions, though this was vigorously denied by German newspapers.201 The First Lord of the Admiralty informed his fellow members of the Committee of Imperial Defence that there was very little doubt that the airship reported to have passed over Sheerness was a German vessel.202 Whatever the truth of the matter the main point at issue was that if an airship or airships had flown over, either on a spying mission or one with more hostile intent, there were no effective means of preventing this. Questions were asked in the House of Commons to which the government was able to give no satisfactory answer.
Commander Masterman nailed his colours to the mast in a trenchant letter to his superiors of January 1913:
‘I consider that, on account of the position that I now hold, I might be held to have been guilty of a grave neglect of duty if I do not officially place, on paper, my firm conviction that the construction of a rigid naval airship should once more be undertaken and that as soon as possible. This is not only my view, but is the firmly expressed view of my officers, experts in the Royal Aircraft Factory, Army Airship Officers, and, in fact, all who have studied the matter.’203
In the House of Lords, Lord Montagu of Beaulieu drew unfavourable comparison on the amounts being spent by other powers and Great Britain on aviation:
‘If we are likely to be in danger of invasion by dirigibles, or aeroplanes, we must have an adequate number of both to meet that danger. Comparison of the aircraft strength of different countries showed that Germany had twenty-four airships, 420 aeroplanes and twenty-five hydro-aeroplanes. France had twenty dirigibles and 585 aeroplanes – the largest of any foreign power; Russia was a difficult country from which to obtain information, but it was believed she had twelve airships and upwards of 200 aeroplanes. Italy had six dirigibles and 135 aeroplanes. Germany proposed to spend, in the coming year, seven millions on dirigibles and aeroplanes; France £1,500,000; Great Britain £501,000; Italy £450,000 and Japan £250,000. In view of these figures it was to be hoped the government would realise what was being done and remember that we were only at the beginning of huge development in this direction.’204
In early 1913 it is doubtful if the RFC could have fielded as many as fifty aircraft, and no more than four airships.205 The Committee of Imperial Defence, chaired by the Prime Minister, Mr Asquith, discussed the question of airships at considerable length on 6 February 1913. It was concluded that steps should be taken to hasten their development in response to the increasing use of airships, with success, by France, Germany and Italy.206
Neville Usborne Gains More Aerial Experience
On 27 February 1913, Usborne was reported in The Times as having flown the army airship Gamma over Aldershot in the course of a two hour instructional flight. He was not content with flying lighter-than-air craft only, as Flight Magazine noted concerning the events at Hendon aerodrome on 1 March 1913:
‘Sunday morning was again fine and the pupils were out at 7.10., Lieutenant Usborne, RN, a new pupil doing straights on the 35 hp Caudron at his first attempt.’
Two weeks later it was noted that he was making good progress in the hands of his instructor, M Baumann, making nice straight flights in the 35 hp Caudron on both the Saturday and the Sunday. By the beginning of April he was flying circuits in ‘an excellent manner’ and progressing to figures of eight on the following day. In order to qualify for the issue of the Royal Aero Club ‘ticket’, a pilot had to satisfy two experienced observers that he could fly two groups of five figures-of-eight, land within 50 yards of a given spot and attain a set height. By the end of that week it could be reported:
‘The event of the day – passing all his tests after only six days practice by Lieutenant Usborne in the 35 hp Caudron. Flying at an altitude of fully 250 feet, he handled the machine in brilliant style and both his landings were almost dead on the mark.’207
Lieutenant C.J. L’Estrange Malone, RN, who in a year’s time would be the best man at Usborne’s wedding, was also aloft that day; ‘Putting up some fine flying in the 80 hp Gnome-Caudron, being in the air some forty-five minutes.’208
A Caudron G.3. (JM Bruce JS Leslie Collection)
Following distinguished service in the First World War, rising to Commander/Lieutenant Colonel, Malone became a left-wing Member of Parliament; at different times supporting the Liberal, Labour and Communist interests. He died in 1965 at the age of seventy-five.
On another page it was reported that Aviator’s Certificate No 449 had been awarded to Lieutenant Neville Usborne, RFC, flying a Caudron Biplane at the Ewen School, Hendon. His fellow airship pilots, Masterman, Maitland, Boothby, Hicks and Woodcock, also gained Aviator’s Certificates during the course of 1913. Usborne was not alone in impressing the press with his skills:
‘The Naval members of the Royal Flying Corps are to be congratulated on their skilful handling of the airship Gamma. A party who are at present undergoing courses of instruction in the handling of aircraft at the Balloon Sheds, South Farnborough, made a splendid cruise during the middle of the day as far as London and back. After some manoeuvring over the district during the morning, Gamma was headed for London, the voyage occupying about four hours there and back. Commander Masterman, RN, Chief of the Naval Wing, was in command; Lieutenant Husband acted in the capacity of pilot, while Lieutenant Woodcock had charge of the engines. Ascending in a very hazy atmosphere from Farnborough Common she disappeared from sight in a north-easterly direction. Somewhere about 3.15 pm she was again sighted returning from the north and, after being cleverly handled above Farnborough Common, was safely housed in the big dirigible shed, being taken in under cover of the huge sailcloth wind screen which protects the entrance of the shed from the wind. Although the journey to London was made at no great altitude, it was most interesting and successful, and, owing to the hazy atmosphere and low-lying clouds, the courses were set and steered by compass. Crossing the Thames at Hampton Court, on arriving over Fulham and Chelsea, the Gamma was headed back home, as the weather was by this time beginning to look somewhat threatening, and about four o’clock it commenced to snow, by which time, however, Gamma had been successfully grounded and docked. Some fine manoeuvring also took place round the district on Monday and Tuesday this week, particularly on Tuesday, as it was foggy up above, and Gamma could be more often heard than seen, which gave a somewhat weird effect. At times during the morning one could see her slipping along at a low altitude like a grey shadow, only to vanish away quickly in the mist. The conditions up above were such that steering could only be done by map and compass.’209
Delta.
The airship Delta also created a favourable impression early in 1913 when she was taken to the Aero Exhibition at Olympia in London and exhibited over the central aisle for all to see. Those visitors of a technical bent would have been impressed by the colour coding used for the pipework in the car: water – blue, petrol – red, oil – yellow, compressed air – white.210
More Parliamentary Activity
In March, the Secretary of State for War, Colonel Seely, answered questions in the House of Commons regarding the current policy in respect of dirigibles. He stated that the army did not have any large rigid dirigible:
‘Not because it is feared to face the expense in the least degree, but because it was deliberately laid down from the start that the British Army at the present time does not require Zeppelins. Our army is an expeditionary army. To use a Zeppelin for the purpose of, let us say, the reinforcement of Egypt, or the sending of a large body of men to the frontier to India, operations that are not very likely, but against which we are obliged to guard – to use a Zeppelin in these instances is obviously impossible. This gigantic engine could not be taken there, or if it could be it would be with the utmost difficulty, and the provision of hydrogen for it would be an almost impossible problem.’211
He contended that the small, portable, non-rigid airships used by the army were much more practical for its specific needs:
‘We therefore decided that the army should have smal
l dirigibles, which could be packed up in a box, put on motor lorries, or on ships, and sent wherever they are required.’212
[Author’s note: This, of course, never happened in that way, though some of the RN’s small airships were delivered to their war stations by rail.]
He went on to boast in the normal political and unsubstantiated fashion:
‘These dirigibles, I say without hesitation – and all who understand the matter will agree – are superior to any other kind of portable airship. They have various mechanical advantages which I do not wish to dwell upon, because those concerned believe the secret is our own, enabling them to rise more rapidly in the air, and enabling them, above all, to avoid having to part with hydrogen when they rise, and therefore, there is no necessity for re-enforcing that hydrogen when they fall. They have these advantages, which we believe are superior to those of any other nation; but whether that be so or not, the fact remains that the particular balloon which some members of the House saw the other day is an advance upon anything which is known to be in the possession of any foreign power. It goes at a great speed. The speed is 45 miles an hour, and for a small airship that is a remarkable thing.’213
The aviation press did not totally agree with the Secretary of State:
‘The small airships that have been built there are truly quite inadequate from the standpoint of national requirements, but the measure of their size is also the measure of the financial support the government has, at any rate hitherto, been willing to devote to this aspect of aeronautics, and, in consequence, there has been nothing for it but to try and make the best of the funds available. Many of the lessons learned from the construction of these small airships are at any rate likely to be extremely useful in many ways.’214