SSZ class airship

{{Short description|British military blimps during WWI}}  {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2017}} {{Use British English|date=March 2017}} {{Infobox aircraft |name=SSZ class |image=Airship SSZ 37.JPG |caption= |type=Patrol airship |national_origin=United Kingdom |manufacturer= |designer= |first_flight=1916 |introduction= |retired= |status= |primary_user=[[Royal Navy]] |more_users= |produced= |number_built=77 |variants= }}

The '''SSZ''' (Sea Scout Zero) [[non-rigid airship]]s or "blimps" were developed in United Kingdom during [[World War I]] from the earlier [[SS class airship|SS ("Sea Scout")]] class. The main role of these craft was to escort convoys and scout or search for German [[U-boats]]. A secondary purpose was to detect and destroy mines.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=HXyTAgAAQBAJ&dq=mines+destroyed+submarine+scout+airships&pg=PA103 TAnti-Submarine Warfare in World War I: British Naval Aviation. Retrieved on 13 September 2018.]</ref>

==Design and development== [[File:Cockpit of an airship.jpg|thumb|left|SSZ 8 airship cockpit, Alberta, Canada]]

[[File:Airship SSZ17 LandingPembroke1917.jpg|thumb|left|''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]] (RNAS) airship station at [[RNAS Capel|Capel-le-Ferne]]<ref name=flight>[http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1930/untitled0%20-%200087.html ''Twenty-One Years of Airship Progress.''] flightglobal.com. Retrieved on 28 March 2009.</ref> near [[Folkestone]] to the design of three officers that were serving there<ref name=W60>Whale (2008), p.60.</ref> as a successor to the SS class.<ref name="castle23">Castle (2009) p23</ref>

Similar to other SS class types, the SSZs had an envelope of {{convert|70000|ft3|m3|abbr=on}} capacity containing two [[ballonet]]s of {{convert|6375|ft3|m3|abbr=on}} each;<ref name=SSZ>[http://aht.ndirect.co.uk/airships/Technical%20Spec/SSZ%20Airships.htm SSZ data.] Airship Heritage Trust. Retrieved on 18 March 2009.</ref> and like the [[SSP class airship|SSP]]s, the fuel was contained in aluminium tanks slung on the axis of the envelope.<ref name=W61>Whale (2008), p.61.</ref>

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<ref name=W60/> 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.<ref name=W61/>

A single water-cooled {{convert|75|hp|kW|abbr=on}} [[Rolls-Royce Hawk]] engine was mounted on bearers above the level of the rear of the car, and drove a {{convert|9|ft|m|abbr=on}} diameter four-bladed propeller in [[pusher configuration]].<ref name=W61/>

The SSZ design was judged superior to the SSP, which had been developed at [[RNAS Kingsnorth]] at the same time, and so the SSP was cancelled.<ref name="castle23" />

==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.<ref name=W61/> After the Armistice, SSZ-73 became the only airship to fly under a bridge. Major [[Thomas Elmhirst]] (CO [[RNAS Anglesey]]), piloted SSZ-73 under the [[Menai Suspension Bridge]]. The act did not harm Elmhirst's career.<ref>Mowethorpe, Ces, Battlebags British Airships of the First World War, 1995, Alan Sutton Publishing Limited, Phoenix Mill, Far Trupp Stroud, Gloucestershire {{ISBN|0-7509-0989-7}} page 109</ref>

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]] airship station.<ref name="Mowethorpe, Ces 1995, page 84">Mowethorpe, Ces, Battlebags British Airships of the First World War, 1995, Alan Sutton Publishing Limited, Phoenix Mill, Far Trupp Stroud, Gloucestershire {{ISBN|0-7509-0989-7}} page 84</ref> 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]] ''R27'' which were sharing a hangar.<ref name="Mowethorpe, Ces 1995, page 84"/> 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.<ref>[http://aht.ndirect.co.uk/airships/hma23x/index.html HMA 23X] Airship Heritage Trust. Retrieved on 28 March 2009.</ref> [[File:SSZ 37 over ship WWI IWM Q 48005.jpg|thumb|right|An SSZ airship escorts a Royal Navy [[Sloop-of-war|sloop]].]] The SSZ's greater stability in flight and longer endurance enabled them to operate in worse weather conditions than had previously been attempted,<ref name=W61/> and early in 1917 all existing SS types were superseded by the SS Zero.<ref name=flight/> 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.<ref name=SSZ/> 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.<ref>Mowethorpe, Ces, Battlebags British Airships of the First World War, 1995, Alan Sutton Publishing Limited, Phoenix Mill, Far Trupp Stroud, Gloucestershire {{ISBN|0-7509-0989-7}} page 88</ref> SSZ-24 apparently burned at Hampton Roads in the summer of 1918.<ref>Shock, James R., U.S. Navy Airships 1915-1962, 2001, Atlantis Productions, Edgewater Florida, {{ISBN|0-9639743-8-6}}, page 45</ref> The SSZ-23 was at Cape May, NJ, for erection on 5 February 1919. The SSZ-23 was withdrawn by mid-1920.<ref>Shock, James R., U.S. Navy Airships 1915-1962, 2001, Atlantis Productions, Edgewater Florida, {{ISBN|0-9639743-8-6}}, pages 44-45</ref>

==Operators== *{{flag|France|naval}} *{{flag|United Kingdom|naval}} **[[Royal Navy]] *{{flag|United States|1911}} **[[United States Navy]]

==Specifications== {{Aircraft specs |ref=<ref name=SSZ/> |prime units? = imp |crew=3 |length m=43.70 |length ft=143 |length in=5 |dia m=9.10 |dia ft=30 |dia in=0 |volume m3=2,000 |volume ft3=70,000 |lift kg=605 |lift lb=1,334 |eng1 number=1 |eng1 name=[[Rolls-Royce Hawk]] |eng1 kw=56 |eng1 hp=75 |max speed kmh=85 |max speed mph=53 |climb rate ms=6.1 |climb rate ftmin=1,200 |armament = *1 x [[Lewis Gun]] *2 x {{convert|110|lb|kg|abbr=on}} bombs or 1 x {{convert|250|lb|kg|abbr=on}} bomb }}

==See also== {{aircontent  |see also= *[[SS class airship#Comparative specifications|Comparative specifications for all SS class variants]] *[[British blimps operated by the USN]] *[[List of aircraft of the Royal Naval Air Service]] |related= |similar aircraft= |lists= }}

==References== ===Notes=== {{reflist}}

===Bibliography=== {{refbegin}} * {{cite book |title=Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1919 |publisher=Sampson Low Marston |location=London |pages=8c}} * {{cite book | last = Whale | first = George | authorlink = | title = British Airships: Past Present and Future | publisher = Bastian Books | date = 2008 | location = Toronto, Canada | pages = 124 | url = | doi = | isbn = 978-0-554-30772-5}} *{{citation |title=British Airships 1905–30 |last=Castle, Ian |publisher=Osprey Publishing |series=New Vanguard |year=2009 }} *{{cite book |last=Mowethorpe |first=Ces| title=Battlebags British Airships of the First World War |year=1995 |publisher=Alan Sutton Publishing Limited, Phoenix Mill, Far Trupp, Stroud, Gloucestershire |isbn=0-7509-0989-7}} *{{cite book |last= Shock |first= James R.| title=U.S. Navy Airships 1915-1962 |year=2001 |publisher=Atlantis Productions, Edgewater Florida |isbn=0-9639743-8-6}} {{refend}}

==External links== {{Commons category|SSZ class airship}} * [http://www.aht.ndirect.co.uk/airships/ss/index.html SS-class airships on the Airship Heritage Trust website]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ssz Class Airship}} [[Category:Airships of the United Kingdom]] [[Category:1910s British patrol aircraft]] [[Category:Aircraft first flown in 1916]]