Customer Reviews

Forgotten Weapon: U.S. Navy Airships and the U-Boat War

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

FORGOTTEN WEAPON: U.S. NAVY AIRSHIPS AND THE U-BOAT WAR
William F. Althoff
[...]


The U.S. Navy was actually behind the times in the use of airships; it didn't get around to ordering its first until 1915, at which time even the U.S. Army was using them. By the close of World War I, the U.S. Navy had recognized their value and was using several airships for patrolling coastlines for enemy submarines. They proved extremely effective; in fact, no convoy supported by airship surveillance ever lost a ship. Between the wars, it was agreed that the U.S. Army would use non-rigid airships to patrol the coasts of the United States, while the U.S. Navy would use rigid airships (which were aluminum-hulled and kept their shape whether or not they were filled with gas) for long-range scouting and fleet support. The U.S. Navy ended its construction and employment of the rigid airships in the 1950s after two, the Akron and the Macon, crashed at sea. In 1937, the U.S. Army transfered all its remaining non-rigid airships to the U.S. Navy. Shortly after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the U.S. Navy had ten airships in service: 4-K Class, 3-L Class, 1 G-Class, and 2 TC-Class airships. The U.S. Navy ordered the construction of 200 airships (only 154 were built by the end of the war) to patrol our coastlines for enemy submarines. In 1942 alone, German U-Boats sank 547 merchant ships off the East Coast of the United States. The Richmond Naval Air Station, 20 miles southwest of downtown Miami, Florida, eventually would become the world's largest airship base in the world-2,000 acres-and would be home to 900 personnel and 25 airships. In the years 1942-1944, approximately 1,400 airship pilots and 3,000 support crew members were trained in the military airship crew training program and the airship military personnel grew from 430 to 12,4000. The U.S. airships were produced by the Goodyear factory in Akron, Ohio. From 1942 till 1945, 154 airships were built for the U.S. Navy: 133 K-Class, 10 L-Class, 7 G-Class, 4 M-Class, and 5 L-Class for civilian customers. The primary airship missions were to patrol and provide convoy escort near the U.S. coastline. They also served as an organization for the convoys to direct ship movements, and were used in naval search and rescue operations. Rarer missions of the airships included aero-photographic reconnaissance, naval mine-laying and mine-sweeping, parachute unit transport and deployment, and cargo and personnel transportation. They were deemed quite successful in their missions with the highest combat readiness factor in the entire U.S. Armed Forces-87%. The only U.S. airship lost was the K-74, which, on July 18, 1943, spoted a German U-Boat. The airship opened fire on the submarine and damaged it, but only one of its depth charges released. The submarine fired back and sent the K-74 into the sea, but the crew was rescued. Author William F. Althoff's FORGOTTEN WEAPON: U.S. NAVY AIRSHIPS AND THE U-BOAT WAR, explains key National Defense Research Committee (NDRC) projects that exploited lighter-than-air platforms for airborne tests and special devices that were hurried into production in the race against the Germans to gain a technological advantage in the Battle of the Atlantic. This well-written and timely book assesses many of the weapons and sensors devised by U.S. laboratories, including the magnetic airborne detector, microwave radar, LORAN long-range navigation system, and radio sono-buoys that were fitted onto fleet airships as well as airplanes and surface ships. In illuminating the little-known contributions of the airships and the squadrons of airmen who helped defeat the Nazi's war on the merchant marine, this book meets a long standing need for an authoritative reference. These contributions, Althoff argues, helped turn the tide against the U-Boat menace and saved countless lives, ships, and cargoes. Althoff's account is a superb historical reference which accurately and dramatically acknowledges the long overdue role of the U.S. airship in the Allied victory of World War II.


Lt. Colonel Robert A. Lynn, Florida Guard
Orlando, Florida

While "Forgotten Weapon:..." has a lot of historical detail, the book is written using many quotes from official memos, reports and letters. The author's style tends to be dull and factual. Much of the human side of the blimp's participation in protecting convoys and searching for downed airmen is left out. While the difficulty the promoters of the lighter-than-air (LTA) in establishing its value to convoy protection and getting funding, equipment and personnel is well illustrated, the book is less engaging than it could be. I was somewhat disappointed and donated the book to the local library after reading it.