# SSZ class airship > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/SSZ_class_airship > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/SSZ_class_airship.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SSZ_class_airship > Source revision: 1304427017 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) British military blimps during WWI SSZ class General information Type Patrol airship National origin United Kingdom Primary user Royal Navy Number built 77 History First flight 1916 The **SSZ** (Sea Scout Zero) [non-rigid airships](/source/Non-rigid_airship) or "blimps" were developed in United Kingdom during [World War I](/source/World_War_I) from the earlier [SS ("Sea Scout")](/source/SS_class_airship) class. The main role of these craft was to escort convoys and scout or search for German [U-boats](/source/U-boats). A secondary purpose was to detect and destroy mines.[1] ## Design and development SSZ 8 airship cockpit, Alberta, Canada *SSZ 17* landing at Pembroke, 1917. Note the boat-shaped car and scoop to supply air to the ballonets. The SSZ was built at the [Royal Naval Air Service](/source/Royal_Naval_Air_Service) (RNAS) airship station at [Capel-le-Ferne](/source/RNAS_Capel)[2] near [Folkestone](/source/Folkestone) to the design of three officers that were serving there[3] as a successor to the SS class.[4] Similar to other SS class types, the SSZs had an envelope of 70,000 ft3 (2,000 m3) capacity containing two [ballonets](/source/Ballonet) of 6,375 ft3 (180.5 m3) each;[5] and like the [SSPs](/source/SSP_class_airship), the fuel was contained in aluminium tanks slung on the axis of the envelope.[6] The design of the car was a departure from that of other SS types. It was streamlined, boat-shaped and watertight, was floored from end-to-end, and was enclosed with sides of fabric-covered 8-ply wood[3] or aluminium. The car was comfortable and accommodated a 3-man crew – the forward position being occupied by the wireless operator/gunner with the pilot seated amidships, and the engineer was stationed at the rear.[6] A single water-cooled 75 hp (56 kW) [Rolls-Royce Hawk](/source/Rolls-Royce_Hawk) engine was mounted on bearers above the level of the rear of the car, and drove a 9 ft (2.7 m) diameter four-bladed propeller in [pusher configuration](/source/Pusher_configuration).[6] The SSZ design was judged superior to the SSP, which had been developed at [RNAS Kingsnorth](/source/RNAS_Kingsnorth) at the same time, and so the SSP was cancelled.[4] ## Operational history The SSZ's patrolled extensively from late 1917 to late 1918. The average patrol lasted eight hours, but there were instances of flights of much greater duration – three of 25–26 hours; one of 30 h 20 min; and a record of 50 h 55 min held by *SSZ.39* in the summer of 1918.[6] After the Armistice, SSZ-73 became the only airship to fly under a bridge. Major [Thomas Elmhirst](/source/Thomas_Elmhirst) (CO [RNAS Anglesey](/source/RNAS_Anglesey)), piloted SSZ-73 under the [Menai Suspension Bridge](/source/Menai_Suspension_Bridge). The act did not harm Elmhirst's career.[7] On 16 August 1918, a makeshift SSZ ship was being assembled from the old SSZ-23 envelope and a spare SS Zero car at [RNAS Howden](/source/RNAS_Howden) airship station.[8] Petrol fumes from a spillage in the car were ignited some time later by a spark when the radio equipment was being tested, and the ensuing fireball, fed by fuel and gas, completely enveloped and destroyed the old SSZ-23 envelope/spare car hybrid and [R23X class airship](/source/R23X_class_airship) *R27* which were sharing a hangar.[8] Although the hangar itself survived, one airman lost his life, and two further blimps that were moored nearby, *SSZ.38* and *SSZ.54*, were also destroyed.[9] An SSZ airship escorts a Royal Navy [sloop](/source/Sloop-of-war). The SSZ's greater stability in flight and longer endurance enabled them to operate in worse weather conditions than had previously been attempted,[6] and early in 1917 all existing SS types were superseded by the SS Zero.[2] They were turned out as fast as they could be built, and a total of 77 SSZs were produced between 1916 and 1918, two of which were acquired by France and two by the United States.[5] The US Navy operated two SSZ's. SSZ-23 (A-1030), and SSZ-24 (A-1029), the SSZ-23 envelope was destroyed in a hangar fire Howden in 1918, SSZ-23 the car was sent from Howden to the US on 4 August 1918.[10] SSZ-24 apparently burned at Hampton Roads in the summer of 1918.[11] The SSZ-23 was at Cape May, NJ, for erection on 5 February 1919. The SSZ-23 was withdrawn by mid-1920.[12] ## Operators - [France](/source/France) - [United Kingdom](/source/United_Kingdom) - [Royal Navy](/source/Royal_Navy) - [United States](/source/United_States) - [United States Navy](/source/United_States_Navy) ## Specifications *Data from* [5] **General characteristics** - **Crew:** 3 - **Length:** 143 ft 5 in (43.70 m) - **Diameter:** 30 ft 0 in (9.10 m) - **Volume:** 70,000 cu ft (2,000 m3) - **Useful lift:** 1,334 lb (605 kg) - **Powerplant:** 1 × [Rolls-Royce Hawk](/source/Rolls-Royce_Hawk) , 75 hp (56 kW) **Performance** - **Maximum speed:** 53 mph (85 km/h, 46 kn) - **Rate of climb:** 1,200 ft/min (6.1 m/s) **Armament** - 1 x [Lewis Gun](/source/Lewis_Gun) - 2 x 110 lb (50 kg) bombs or 1 x 250 lb (110 kg) bomb ## See also - [Comparative specifications for all SS class variants](/source/SS_class_airship#Comparative_specifications) - [British blimps operated by the USN](/source/British_blimps_operated_by_the_USN) - [List of aircraft of the Royal Naval Air Service](/source/List_of_aircraft_of_the_Royal_Naval_Air_Service) ## References ### Notes 1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** [TAnti-Submarine Warfare in World War I: British Naval Aviation. Retrieved on 13 September 2018.](https://books.google.com/books?id=HXyTAgAAQBAJ&dq=mines+destroyed+submarine+scout+airships&pg=PA103) 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-flight_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-flight_2-1) [*Twenty-One Years of Airship Progress.*](http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1930/untitled0%20-%200087.html) flightglobal.com. Retrieved on 28 March 2009. 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-W60_3-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-W60_3-1) Whale (2008), p.60. 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-castle23_4-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-castle23_4-1) Castle (2009) p23 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-SSZ_5-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-SSZ_5-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-SSZ_5-2) [SSZ data.](http://aht.ndirect.co.uk/airships/Technical%20Spec/SSZ%20Airships.htm) Airship Heritage Trust. Retrieved on 18 March 2009. 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-W61_6-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-W61_6-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-W61_6-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-W61_6-3) [***e***](#cite_ref-W61_6-4) Whale (2008), p.61. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** Mowethorpe, Ces, Battlebags British Airships of the First World War, 1995, Alan Sutton Publishing Limited, Phoenix Mill, Far Trupp Stroud, Gloucestershire [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-7509-0989-7](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-7509-0989-7) page 109 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Mowethorpe,_Ces_1995,_page_84_8-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Mowethorpe,_Ces_1995,_page_84_8-1) Mowethorpe, Ces, Battlebags British Airships of the First World War, 1995, Alan Sutton Publishing Limited, Phoenix Mill, Far Trupp Stroud, Gloucestershire [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-7509-0989-7](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-7509-0989-7) page 84 1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** [HMA 23X](http://aht.ndirect.co.uk/airships/hma23x/index.html) Airship Heritage Trust. Retrieved on 28 March 2009. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** Mowethorpe, Ces, Battlebags British Airships of the First World War, 1995, Alan Sutton Publishing Limited, Phoenix Mill, Far Trupp Stroud, Gloucestershire [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-7509-0989-7](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-7509-0989-7) page 88 1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** Shock, James R., U.S. Navy Airships 1915-1962, 2001, Atlantis Productions, Edgewater Florida, [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-9639743-8-6](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-9639743-8-6), page 45 1. **[^](#cite_ref-12)** Shock, James R., U.S. Navy Airships 1915-1962, 2001, Atlantis Productions, Edgewater Florida, [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-9639743-8-6](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-9639743-8-6), pages 44-45 ### Bibliography - *Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1919*. London: Sampson Low Marston. pp. 8c. - Whale, George (2008). *British Airships: Past Present and Future*. Toronto, Canada: Bastian Books. p. 124. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-554-30772-5](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-554-30772-5). - Castle, Ian (2009), *British Airships 1905–30*, New Vanguard, Osprey Publishing - Mowethorpe, Ces (1995). *Battlebags British Airships of the First World War*. Alan Sutton Publishing Limited, Phoenix Mill, Far Trupp, Stroud, Gloucestershire. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-7509-0989-7](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-7509-0989-7). - Shock, James R. (2001). *U.S. Navy Airships 1915-1962*. Atlantis Productions, Edgewater Florida. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-9639743-8-6](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-9639743-8-6). ## External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to [SSZ class airship](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:SSZ_class_airship). - [SS-class airships on the Airship Heritage Trust website](http://www.aht.ndirect.co.uk/airships/ss/index.html) v t e RNAS non-rigid airships C class C.26 C* class SS class SSP class SSZ class SST class NS class --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [SSZ class airship](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SSZ_class_airship) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SSZ_class_airship?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.