Airship R100 and R101
AIRSHIPS
During the First World War (1914 - 1918) the Royal Navy operated
a fleet of at least 211 airships. These were powered balloons that
could sail through the air in a similar manner to ships crossing
the sea - hence the name airships.
There were three types: Non-rigid, a simple
gasbag; Semi-rigid, envelopes with a keel along
the bottom; Rigid, a strong metal framework
covered in linen that contained gasbags. (The R in R101 stands for
Rigid.)
In the mid 1920s there was a large amount of experimental
research on airships carried out in Britain. The attractions were
considerable: India in five or six days; Egypt in two to three
days; Canada in three days; Australia in ten days; half the time of
steamships. It was a dream of linking the British Empire. At that
time, to many people, it was a brilliant way forward.
In 1919 the R34 made the first double crossing of the Atlantic
by an airship but the Germans with their Zeppelins were never far
behind. In the mid-1920s the whole question of prestige was
uppermost in everyone’s mind. In 1924 the Government started a
programme to build huge airships to decide once and for all whether
airship travel could be made a safe and commercial proposition. The
Airship Guarantee Company with a fixed price contract would build
the R100 in Howden, Yorkshire, privately by Vickers, and the R101
was to be Government subsidised and be built at the Royal Airship
Works in Cardington. The R101 was to be an experimental airship.
This fact became lost in the frantic rush that took over the whole
project. The actual construction of the R100 and R101 did not begin
until 1927.
The R100 was an orthodox airship built on known principles by an
experienced team. Its first flight was on 17th December 1929. It
was probably the fastest and finest rigid airship built in Britain.
It could reverse, which the R101 could not, and had a useful lift
of fifty-four tons. It left for Montreal, Canada on 29 July 1930.
The outward and return journeys were equally successful. There was
now immense pressure on Cardington to do better. The R100 moored at
Cardington on 16th August 1930 and never flew again. The skeleton
was eventually sold as scrap in December 1931 for £427!
Over the summer of 1930, the R101 lay in the Number 1 shed at
Cardington undergoing extensive modifications, which were needed
following on from her 1929 and early 1930 trial flights. It was
already known that both the R100 and R101 were lacking in the
disposable lift originally planned at the outset of the Imperial
Airship Scheme in 1925. Those involved in the scheme had already
learnt that the R100 and R101 would not be viable for full
commercial operations to Canada and India, and these intentions
were later to be passed on to the new ship, the R102 class. To
achieve the additional lift, R101 had a new central bay and gas bag
installed.
It was expected that the new gas bag would give her another nine
tons of disposable lift bringing her up to some 50 tons. The
alterations were completed by Friday the 26th September and the
R101 was gassed up and floated in the shed. The "new" ship, R101c,
had disposable lift calculated at 49.36 tons, an improvement of
14.5 tons over the original configuration. Pressure was on for the
ship to leave for Karachi on 26th September to carry the Air
Minister, Lord Thompson of Cardington. Although the target date was
on course to be met, wind was to keep the modified R101 in the shed
until the morning of 1st October.
It was at 06.30 on the 1st October that the R101 emerged from
the shed and was secured to the mast. The new ship had a more
elongated look as she had been extended by 35 feet to insert the
new bay. At the same time, R100 was removed from Shed No 2, and
walked in to shed No.1 where she too was to be altered in the same
way to obtain more lift. It was the last time the outside world
would see the R100.
The R101 was moored serenely to her mast at Cardington and the
crew were busy making preparations for a full 24 hour trial flight.
A permit to fly had been issued and a full report on the new ship
would be submitted later, a draft having been prepared. The permit
to fly had been granted after a "good deal of general thinking". It
was said by Professor Bairstow, who issued the permit, that
"comparison on limited information has been required in
reaching our conclusion".
Final Trial Flight
The R101 slipped her mast at 4.30pm on 1st October to fly a 24
hour endurance flight to complete the engine and other trials. It
was noted however, and agreed by officers, Reginald Colemore,
Director of Airship Development (DAD) and the AMSR that if the ship
behaved well and Major Herbert Scott, one of the most experienced
airship men in the UK, was satisfied during his flight, then they
could curtail the tests to less than 24 hours.
The ship left Cardington and headed south to London then turned
east following the Thames and out across Essex. She spent the night
out over the North Sea. Those on board noted that the atmosphere
was quiet and serene. Due to the early failure of an engine cooler
in the forward starboard engine, it was impossible for the ship to
make a full speed trial. During the flight, it was noted that
conditions were "perfect" and all other items in the ship behaved
perfectly. Even though there was not time to make formal reports,
it was noted that the ship handled and she appeared to be much
better in the air than before. It was agreed to curtail the flight
and head for home at Cardington. The ship returned to the mast at
09.20 on Thursday 2nd October; she had been in the air for just
over 17 hours in smooth flying conditions.
Important things were noted by the crew following this flight.
Captain Irwin had made special notice of all the concerns before
the alterations. He noted that there was practically no movement in
the outer cover; all sealing strips appeared to be secure; no leaks
were observed in the gas valves; the movement of the gas bags was
so slight that it was barely perceptible; and the padding was
secure. All other items were found to be in good order and he was
satisfied with the independent inspection which had been carried
out on the ship.
The senior members of the crew and technical office, along with
the DAD held conference on the Thursday evening and discussed
whether to make the flight to India. It was noted that a longer
trial whereby full speed testing could be carried out in adverse
conditions was normally essential before such a long voyage. It was
also noted that a full speed trial was not recommended during the
India flight due to the possibility of failure. At this stage it
had not been calculated what the state of the engines would be with
the new design of the ship. Also, the risk of engine failure would
mean putting the whole voyage in jeopardy and hence it was deemed
that cruising speed would be the maximum recommended speed for the
journey.
Even though pressure had been put on all involved with the R101
by the Air Minister suggesting that he must go to India and back in
time for the Imperial Conference due on the 20th October 1930,
there was one note on the 2nd October by Lord Thompson advising
that "You mustn't allow my natural impatience or anxiety to start
to influence you in any way. You must use your considered
judgment."
Final Flight - Saturday 4th October 1930.
With the decision made that the India flight should take place,
there were two further days of final preparation. The ship remained
on the mast and the crews busied themselves in preparation for this
momentous voyage. Of course all staff were keeping an eye on the
weather conditions to ensure that the ship would be able to make
the voyage in the suggested time, not wanting to be inhibited by
the problems all airships suffer with the natural elements.
Giblett, the meteorological officer, had been providing the
officers with updates on the weather forecast over the last few
days and the route was selected on his information.
Another weather conference was held on the morning of the 4th
October and it was noted that the weather conditions over northern
France were becoming cloudy with moderate winds. It was agreed that
the ship would depart between 4pm and 8pm that evening. Two further
forecasts were issued to the ship during the day; these indicated
that the weather conditions over Cardington and Northern France
would begin to deteriorate during the evening, however it was noted
that the wind conditions would not increase significantly. These
forecasts, even thought not particularly good, were not bad enough
to cancel the voyage. The decision was made to hurry the passengers
on board, complete the loading of the ship, and begin the trip in
order to be passed the worst weather.
At 6.24pm R101 left the Cardington mast in misty fine rain and
darkness. The ship was illuminated by lights from the promenade
deck and searchlights from the mooring mast. As the ship was fully
loaded with fuel to make it to the first stop, Egypt, it was noted
that 4 tons of ballast had to be dropped before the ship gained
height. The R101 cruised passed the sheds and then headed west
towards Bedford to salute her home town. She passed around the town
and then headed south-east towards London. She was flying at her
cruising height of 1,500 feet just below the cloud base and by 8pm
R101 was flying over London.
A wireless message from the ship was sent at 8.21pm:
"Over London. All well. Moderate rain. Base of low clouds
1,500ft. Wind 240 degrees [west south west] 25mph. Course now set
for Paris. Intend to proceed via Paris, Tours, Toulouse and
Narbonne."
An hour later R101 was requesting the Meteorological Office at
Cardington to wireless a forecast of the weather expected from
Paris to Marseilles "with special reference to wind and cloud".
At 9.47pm the following message was sent :
"At 21.35 GMT crossing coast in the vicinity of Hastings. It
is raining hard and there is a strong South Westerly wind. Cloud
base is at 1,500 feet . After a good getaway from the Mooring Tower
at 18.30 hours ship circled Bedford before setting course. Course
was set for London at 18.54. Engines running well at cruising speed
giving 54.2 knots. Reached London at 2000 hours and then set course
for Paris. Gradually increasing height so as to avoid high land.
Ship is behaving well generally and we have already begun to
recover water ballast."
It was noted that with the loss of ballast at the beginning of
the flight, the crew were more than confident that the water
recovery system would replenish the supplies. The R101 was fitted
along the top of the envelope with catchments arrangements by
which, when rain fell, water could be recovered to increase ballast
and so compensate for the loss of weight arising from the
consumption of fuel. It is noted that at this point the R101 crew
did not consider the ship to be heavy as original sources
suggested.
The Channel crossing took two hours for at 11.36 pm the ship
reported :
"Crossing French coast at Pointe de St Quentin. Wind 245
true. 35mph"
From 11.00pm to 02.00am the crew changed watches, R101 continued
on it's usual watchkeeping status.
The 60 miles crossing was well known by Squadron Leader Jonhson,
who had flown the route many times between London and Paris. We can
see that the wind speed was increasing at this time. It was
estimated that at the time of crossing the channel the R101 was at
a height of between 700 to 800 feet. It was later recorded that
First Officer Atherstone took over the elevator wheel and ordered
the coxswain not to go below 1,000ft.
At 00.18 the R101 sent out the following wireless message :
"To Cardington from R101.
2400GMT 15 miles SW of Abbeville speed 33 knots. Wind 243
degrees [West South West] 35 miles per hour. Altimeter height
1,500feet. Air temperature 51degrees Fahrenheit . Weather -
intermittent rain. Cloud nimbus at 500 feet. After an excellent
supper our distinguished passengers smoked a final cigar and having
sighted this French coast have now gone to bed to rest after the
excitement of their leave-taking. All essential services are
functioning satisfactorily. Crew have settled down to watch-keeping
routine."
This was the last message from the R101 giving speed and
position. The ship continued to send out directional wireless
signals to checking her position or to test the strength of the
signals. The last directional signal addressed to Cardington was at
1.28am. A final signal was sent from Cardington to the Croydon
Station and relayed via ship at Le Bourget at 01.51am. An
acknowledgement at 01.52am was the last signal ever sent by the
R101.
At 02.00pm the watch changed as with normal routine on the ship and
still nothing was reported wrong with the ship. It can be assumed
that had anything been noticed the Captain would have had this
signalled back to base. Also, if anything had been noticed, the
Captain would not have allowed the men on duty to stand down and
pass over to the new watch. Evidence of engineer Leech at the
inquiry confirmed that Leech was off duty and enjoying a smoke in
the smoking room between 01.00am and 02.00am, when Captain Irwin
came in to the room and spoke to him and the Chief Engineer.
Captain Irwin made no remarks about the ship except that the after
engine continued to run well. Chief Engineer Gent later turned in
and Leech went and inspected all the engine cars. He found them all
to be running well and returned to the smoking room.
At 02.00am the ship reached Beauvais and passed to the east of the
town. At this time witnesses suggested that the ship was beginning
to have difficulty with the gusting winds. Some suggested that the
promenade lights became obscured and early suggestions were made
that the ship was rolling in the winds, however no amount of
rolling would explain obscuring of the lights and it seems more
probable that intervening cloud was the cause.
From survivor accounts, at 02.00am the ship made a long and rather
steep dive, sufficient to make the engineers lose balance and cause
furniture in the smoking room to slide. It is estimated that a rent
occurred in the rain soaked upper part of the nose, causing the
forward gas bags to become exposed to the elements and damaged by
the gusting wind. The loss of gas at this point could have led to
the loss of control of the ship. Also, the ship was travelling
towards the notorious Beauvais ridge which was well know by
aviators for its dangerous gusting wind. The loss of gas at the
forward part of the ship, combined with a sudden downward gust of
wind would have forced the nose down. Calculations by the
University of Bristol in 1995 provided evidence that the maximum
downward angle was 18 degrees in this first dive through a time
span of 90 seconds.
The crew in the control car would have tried to correct the
downward angle by pulling the elevator up. In the next 30 seconds,
the ship pulled out of the forced dive and the crew were steadying
the ship. Flying at a nose-up angle of three degrees enabled the
ship to regain some aerodynamic stability. However it was realised
that the elevator was "hard up" and yet the crew knew that the nose
was only three degrees above the horizon. This meant that the nose
was now extremely heavy and hence a serious loss of gas from the
forward bags must have occurred.
The Captain then rang the order for all engines to reduce speed
from the original cruising speed, if not to stop them. The bells
were heard and acted upon by the crew as evidence from the
survivors confirmed. Chief Coxswain Hunt moved aft from the control
car to the crew's quarters. At this point he passed crew member
Disley, and warned "We're down lads". This famous comment by one of
the most experienced airship crew members showed that the R101 was
not going to be able to continue and that an executive decision had
been made make an emergency landing.
Just after this point the ship moved into a second dive. It is
calculated that R101 was now at a height of about 530 feet, which
for a vessel of 777 feet long was precarious. Rapid oscillation of
the ship had already occurred and any further oscillation would
cause it to fail. Rigger Church was ordered to release the
emergency ballast from the nose of the ship and was on his way to
the mooring platform when he felt the angle of the ship begin to
dip once more from an even keel. The ship began to drop again
through a downward angle and at this point the nose hit the ground.
Evidence from the official inquiry noted that the R101's ground
speed had reduced to almost that of a perfect landing. The impact
of R101 with the ground was very gentle, and it was noted that the
forward speed of the ship was only 13.8 mph. The ship bounced
slightly moving forward some 60 feet and then settled down to the
ground. The survivors recall that a "crunch" was heard and the ship
levelled. There was no violent jarring from the impact. Evidence
from the crash site confirmed this as the only impact mark in the
ground was a two foot deep by nine foot long groove which was cut
by the nose cone, in which soil was later found. Also, the
starboard forward engine had struck the ground whilst the propeller
was still revolving and grooves were made by this. The engine car
had been twisted completely around on its struts.
After the impact, fire broke out. The most probably cause of
this was that the starboard engine car was twisted around and the
hot engine had come into contact with the free gas from the rents
in the forward gas bags. The fire immediately consumed the ship,
causing each gasbag from the forward to after part of the ship to
explode. The force of the explosions was noted by the position of
the gas valves and the damage to the framework of the ship. The
outer cover was immediately consumed in the ensuing inferno.
Of the crew and passengers only 8 men were able to escape from
the wreck.
Foreman Engineer J H Leech -was sitting in the
smoking room at the time of the impact and was saved by the
accommodation bulkhead collapsing from above and being held by the
top of the settee in the smoking room. He was able to escape
through the side of the damaged wooden walls of the smoking room,
out through the framework and through the cloth outer cover of the
ship to safety.
Engineers: A.V. Bell, J.H. Binks, A.J. Cook, V.
Savory were in their respective engine cars which were
positioned outside the main hull. When the ship landed, they were
able to escape through the windows of the engine cars and run away
from the ship.
Rigger W G Radcliffe was in their respective
engine cars which were positioned outside the main hull. When the
ship landed, they were able to escape through the windows of the
engine cars and run away from the ship.
Wireless Operator A Disley who was asleep in
the crew's quarters, was awakened when his bunk, which was aligned
in the same forward direction as the ship, assumed the curious
angle of the first dive. He felt the ship come out of that dive to
an even keel and then to a nose up angle. At the same moment Hunt
passed through the crew's quarters and advised them of the
situation. At this point Disley heard the telegraphs ring out in
the ship. The electrical switchboard was close at hand and he
started to get out of his bunk to cut off the electric current to
the ship as he knew that in any aircraft crash there may be the
chance of fire. There were two field switches and he recalls
tripping on one of them. During this action the ship went into its
second dive and he was just about to cut the second switch when the
impact was heard and the lights went out all over the ship. Disley
recalls that the impact was so gentle that it was not enough to
unbalance him from his feet. Seconds later, like Leech, he was
fighting his way through the wreckage to the outside of the
ship.
The last survivor was Rigger
Church, who later died of his injuries three days
after the crash. He was interviewed and gave the following
statement.
Who died of his injuries three days after the crash. He was
interviewed and gave the following statement:
"I would consider the flight rather bumpy, but not
exceptionally so. The second watch had just come on and I was
walking back when the ship took up a steep diving attitude. At this
moment I received an order to release the emergency forward water
ballast [1/2 ton in the nose] but before I could get there the
crash came."
The emergency ballast was in the very nose of the ship. It could
not be released from the control car and had to be jettisoned
locally.
The R101 came to rest with the forward part of
her nose in a wood of small trees and the rest of her hull in a
meadow. When getting away from the ship, both Disley and Cook made
some valuable observations. Disley noted that even though the outer
cover was burning, there was almost no cover left on the top of the
ship aft of frames 10 and 11; the ship appeared to be a skeleton.
Cook noticed that the underside of the elevator still had its outer
cover and was positioned in a full up position, suggesting that the
coxswain was still trying to keep the nose up on landing. The
inquiry noted that the number of turns on the auxiliary winch drum
confirmed this. The survivors were treated in the local hospital
and the inquiry began the following morning with the French
authorities surveying the site and condition of the wreck whilst
the British investigators were flown in. Messages were wired to
England in the early hours of the morning, reporting the crash to a
stunned British public.
Rigger Church died in hospital of his injuries and joined the
other victims of the crash. Full state honours were given to the
victims and special trains were laid on to transport them from the
crash site to the channel. They were carried by H.M.S. Tempest from
Boulogne to Dover, where a special train took the bodies to
Victoria Station. From there they were carried in state to
Westminster Hall at the Palace of Westminster and were laid in
state. The mourning public waited many hours to pay their respects
by filing past the coffins. A memorial service was held at St
Paul’s Cathedral on Saturday 11th October, after which the coffins
were taken by train to Bedford. They were walked the two miles to
Cardington Village, where a space had been prepared in the
churchyard. All 48 dead were finally laid to rest in a special
grave. A final small service was undertaken, with distinguished
guests including Hugo Eckener and Hans Von Schiller, followed by a
flypast by the RAF flight. In 1931 a memorial tomb was completed
and inscribed with the names of the victims. This memorial still
dominates the tiny churchyard to this day.
The Wreckage.
The wreck of the R101 lay where it had fallen until well into
1931, becoming a haunt for air accident investigators and day
trippers who wanted to see the near perfect skeleton of the largest
airship in the world. Scrap contractors from Sheffield who were
specialists in stainless steel were employed to salvage what they
could. It was noted in the records of the Zeppelin company that
they purchased 5,000kgs of duralumin from the wreckage for their
own use. Whether this was for testing and analysis or to re-cast
and use in the "Hindenburg", is open to further research and
speculation.
The Mayor of Bedford gave a set of three silver salvers to the
R101. They all had the following engraving:
Presented on the 26th Day of
February 1930
by
THE MAYOR OF BEDFORD
(ALDERMAN SAMUEL BLACKWELL MORLING,
JP)
on behalf of the Inhabitants of the
Borough of Bedford
to
His Majesty’s Airship R101
constructed at the royal airship
works, Cardington, Bedford
and Launched on the 12th Day of
October 1929
as a memento of the association
between the Borough
and the Designers, Constructors,
Officers and Crew of
this the first Airship constructed
for Passenger Service
WITHIN THE BRITISH EMPIRE
The largest salver, weighing 6 lb, had handles and was taken on
the R101 journey and was slightly damaged by the fire. It was found
by one of the survivors who took it home but in 1965 decided to
present it to the Mayor’s Parlour. The Mayor was Alderman R J
Whittingham J P and after the presentation, champagne was taken
round on the salver. The other two octagonal salvers were not on
the R101 and remained at Cardington. On the closure of RAF
Cardington, they were transferred to the Officer’s Mess at RAF
Henlow.
There is also a table-standing photograph of the R101 in the
Parlour with the following wording:
THE R101 BUILT AT CARDINGTON,
BEDFORD
FIRST FLIGHT - 14TH OCTOBER 1929
On her twelfth flight she crashed at
Beauvais in France, 5th October 1930,
on her way to India and burst into
flames with the loss of 48 lives
Presented by Councillor Victor
Storrow, Mayor of North Bedfordshire 1984-85
Of the three salvers given to the R101
from the Bedford Borough Council, one remains in the Mayor of
Bedford Parlour, albeit damaged from the intense heat.
The Route