WW2 Photo WWII US Navy K Class Patrol Airship Launch Blimp World War Two /5242 for Sale

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WW2 Photo WWII US Navy K Class Patrol Airship Launch Blimp World War Two /5242 For Sale

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WW2 Photo WWII US Navy K Class Patrol Airship Launch Blimp World War Two /5242:
$6.49

US Navy K Class Patrol Airship Launch

Thisis a nice reproduction of an original WWII photographshowinga US Navy K Class non-rigid airship, or blimp.Thegondola housed the crew and radial aircraft engines, the blimp itself was filled with helium.These were used extensively for coastal patrol and anti-submarine work. Great photo!

Size of photo is about 5\" x5\".

The K-ships were used for anti-submarinewarfare (ASW) duties in the Atlanticand Pacific Oceans as well as the Mediterranean Sea. All equipment was carried in aforty foot long control car. The installed communications and instrumentationequipment allowed night flying. The blimps were equipped with the ASG-type radar, that had a detection range of 90mi(140km), sonobuoys, and magnetic anomaly detection (MAD) equipment. The K-shipscarried four Mk-47 depth bombs, two in a bomb bayand two externally, and were equipped with a .50in (12.7mm)Browning machine gun in the forward partof the control car. An aircrew of 10 normally operated the K-ships,consisting of a command pilot, two co-pilots, a navigator/pilot, airshiprigger, an ordnanceman, two mechanics, and two radiomen.

On 1 June 1944, two K-class blimps of United States Navy (USN) Airship Patrol Squadron 14 (ZP-14)[2] completed the first transatlanticcrossing by non-rigid airships.[3] K-123 and K-130 left South Weymouth, MA on 28 May 1944 and flewapproximately 16 hours to Naval Station Argentia,Newfoundland. From Argentia, the blimps flew approximately 22 hours to Lajes Field on Terceira Island in the Azores. Thefinal leg of the first transatlantic crossing was about a 20-hour flight fromthe Azores to Craw Field in Port Lyautey(Kenitra), French Morocco. The first pair of K-ships were followedby K-109 & K-134 and K-112 & K-101 whichleft South Weymouth on 11 and 27 June 1944, respectively. These six blimpsinitially conducted nighttime anti-submarine warfare operations to complementthe daytime missions flown by FAW-15 aircraft (PBYs and B-24s) using magneticanomaly detection to locate U-boats in the relatively shallow waters around theStraits of Gibraltar. Later, ZP-14 K-ships conducted minespotting andminesweeping operations in key Mediterranean ports and various escort missionsincluding that of the convoy carrying Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchillto the Yalta Conference in early 1945. In late April 1945, K-89 and K-114left Weeksville NAS in North Carolina and flew a southern transatlantic routeto NAS Bermuda, the Azores, and PortLyautey where they arrived on 1 May 1945 as replacements for Blimp SquadronZP-14.[4]

The ability of the K-ships to hover and operate atlow altitudes and slow speeds resulted in detection of numerous enemy submarines as well as assisting in search andrescue missions. The K-ships had an endurance capability of over 24hours which was an important factor in the employment of ASW tactics.

The mooring system for the K-ship was a 42ft(12.8m) high triangular mooring mastthat was capable of being towed by a tractor. For advance bases where movingthe mooring mast was not needed, a conventional stick mast was used. A largeground crew was needed to land the blimps and moor them to the mast.

During the war, one K-ship—K-74—waslost to enemy action when it was shot down by U-134in the Straits of Florida on 18 July1943. The crew was picked up eight hours later, except for one man who wasattacked by a shark and drowned just before being rescued.[5]

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