"J. van Baardwijk" wrote:
> At 13:24 28-1-01 -0500, John Giorgis wrote:
>
> >The first section describes the first battle of the balloons by the L'Toff.
> > I find this an interesting description because in our planet's history,
> >as far as I know, balloons have but single footnote in our military history
> >- a brief use as sentinels in the American Civil War.
>
> IIRC, they were also used in Europe during WW1 by both sides to keep an eye
> on enemy troop movements.
>
> Where's our resident expert on military history when you need him?
>
i don't consider myself the resident expert on military history, however...
during the American Civil War (aka War between the States) tethered balloons
were used by the Union Army for surveillance and artillery spotting. during the
First World War (aka the 1914-1918 European War) tethered balloons were used for
the same purpose. this dismayed military leaders on both sides so much that
fixed wing aircraft were tasked with shooting them down (which they did
spectacularly). rigid airships (Zeppelins) were used by the German Imperial Navy
as long range bombers. they could fly higher than the fixed wing aircraft and so
were invulnerable. unfortunately, the Royal Flying Corps figured out how to fly
their aircraft at the Zeppelin's altitude and had great success in shooting them
down. during the Second World War (actually the 1939-1945 European War) unmanned
tethered balloons (aka Barrage Balloons) were used to cover important targets in
Britain. the idea was to present obstacles to low flying dive bombers and the
like. the US Navy tried to use rigid airships in the 1930s as aircraft carriers,
but the airship's instablity in rough weather (both airships were destroyed in
storms) and the almost impossible task of retrieving launched aircraft while the
airship was flying nixed that idea. the US Navy was very successful using blimps
in anti-submarine patrols during the Battle of the Atlantic. no convoy escorted
by a blimp ever had a ship torpedoed by a U-boat.
back in the late 80s early 90s, someone at the Navy Department tried to revive
the old airship idea, at least until someone with knowledge of Naval Aviation
history remembered the Shennandoah and Akron (the two airships that were lost in
the 30s). that idea went down the tubes rather quickly.
john
