Strange Stuff

Post WW2 Nuclear Testing

   In July 1946 the USN detonated the fourth and fifth nuclear bombs on Bikini Atoll in the Marshall islands.  During the experiments, many US and foreign "prize ships" from WW2 were destroyed.  

    Click the photo to see the entire story.

CHURCHILL'S UNSINKABLE CARRIER

   By 1943 the Allies' production of everything was in full swing.  We were pumping out tanks, artillery pieces, ships, and planes at an incredible rate.  Almost everything was made from materials that were in critical shortage, especially steel.  One thing we really needed was aircraft carriers but, unfortunately, all our shipyards and steel workers were busy making ships.  Even if we could have spared the workers and construction facilities, the steel would have been in short supply... Enter Churchill's Unsinkable Aircraft Carrier.
  By using floating airfields Churchill explained that "If we could create a floating airfield, we could refuel our fighter aircraft within striking distance of the landing points, and thus multiply our air power on the spot at the decisive moment."  When he discussed the idea with Lord Louis Mountbatten, they had the idea of making their floating airfields by cutting the top off of icebergs, thus providing a deck and landing area.  The Germans could strafe, bomb and torpedo an iceberg all day with no chance of sinking it.  Best of all, ice was "free."
  Naming their Ice Carrier "Habakkuk", from the Old Testament prophet who said "Look over the Nations and see, and be utterly amazed! For a work is being done in your days that you would not have believed, were it told."  
  Geoffrey Pyke, one of Mountbatten's scientific staff, wasted no time developing a tough, slow-melting mixture of ice and wood pulp he called "Pykrete." The new mixture was self-insulating, lasting many times as long as normal ice, and extremely tough. If you have to have an ice ship, this was the right stuff.
  Design commenced while workers built a smaller prototype of the Ice Carrier at Patricia Lake in Jasper, Canada (see photos).  The 60-foot long, 3--feet wide, 1100-ton prototype Habakkuk took 15 men two months to construct. To maintain secrecy, the prototype was roofed over and disguised to look like a boathouse.
  The lessons learned during the construction of the prototype revealed the full size Habakkuk (designed to be 2000-feet long, 190-feet high, and weighing 1.8 million tons) would need over 280,000 Pykrete blocks and take over 8000 men eight months to complete.  Suddenly, "free" ice wasn't so free anymore...
  By this time (late 1943) Allied production of war materials was catching up and more conventional carriers were coming available ("jeep" carriers, another ingenious idea spawned by necessity).  

Architect's drawing of the Unsinkable Ice Carrier. 
National Archives #80G702435

The first layer of the ice blocks are in place. The corner pipes are being installed. Notice the insulation, which appears to be pine needles) up to 6-feet.
National Archives #80G702433

 The second layer of Pykrete blocks are laid and the vertical coolant pipes are in place.
National Archives #80G702434

NAZI V-2 ROCKET EXPERIMENTS

  The first V-1 "buzz-bomb" rocket attack on Britain was on the night of 13 June, 1944 and continued until 29 March 1945.  The Germans fired a total of 10,500 missiles, of which only 3,957 were destroyed by defenses.  The remaining 3,531 reached England and 2,420 fell on London, killing 6,184 and injuring 17,981 people.
  Ever-improving their designs, the Germans developed the V-2 rocket, a supersonic variant that carried a larger warhead than the V-1. Dr. Hans Kammler (later promoted to SS Major General) was in charge of the V-2 development program. On Sept.8, 1944, at 1848 hours the first of Dr. Kammler's V-2s landed on London. The trajectory of the V-2 took it into the upper atmosphere before running out of fuel and re-entering and plunging straight down.  The V-2's speed, trajectory, and silent approach made it virtually impossible to detect or intercept. The first indication of an attack was usually an explosion.  
    Over the next seven months the Nazis launched a total of 1,115 V-2s, with 517 falling on London, killing 2,754 and injuring 6,523.
    The last V-2 landed on London on 27 March 1945, killing 127 and wounding 423. 
      In the closing days of the war, a search for Dr. Kammler was launched but he was never found. To this day, he remains perhaps, the only German general to have disappeared without trace.

    I found these photographs while I was researching the USS Solar (DE-221) at the National Archives.  

Figure 1.  Drawing of a "Secret Nazi Rocket", not released to the public until 29 March 1954.  Translations clockwise from top of nose:  Access panel for air pressure switch (trigger), suspension hook, Camera, light window, reflection mirror, trim tabs (control surfaces), instrument panel, steering flaps, parachute, auxiliary access panel, battery, and gyroscope.

Figure 2. A winged version of the V-2 ready for launch somewhere in Germany. The Nazis expected the wings to give it a greater range. This was studied by the USN Technical Mission in Europe. Dated 19 Nov 45.

Figure 3. A "Nazi Secret Weapon" - a newer version of the V-2 flying bomb (designated 165MID). released to the public on 29 Mar 54.  The graphics below indicate the performance envelope, glide ratio, attack angles and stand-off range for aerial launching.

Figure 4.  Launch of an experimental V-2.

Figure 5. Unlabeled and undated photo but released to the public in 1954. This concept drawing as a striking to today's space shuttle.  It appears to have four booster motors mounted on the airframe.  

Figure 6. The "X-4 German Aircraft-launched Anti-Armor Rocket."  Translated by US Forces in April 1945, this was not released until 1954.  Some of the design characteristics of this 1945 wire-guided rocket are virtually identical to today's modern weapons, such as the TOW anti-armor missile.

Figure 7. Titled "Trajectory of the long-range finned rocket."  (See figure 2.) Launched from Calais, this rocket could have reached Glasgow, a range of 425 miles.

Fig. 1. 
National Archives #80G701531

Fig. 2. 
National Archives #80G701532

Fig. 3. 
National Archives #80G701533

Fig. 4. 
National Archives #80G701534

Fig. 5. 
National Archives #80G701535

Fig. 6. 
National Archives #80G701536

Fig. 7. 
National Archives #80G701537

FIRST "CARRIER" TAKEOFF

  I know, I know.  This is waaayyy before WW2, but it is interesting...

  On 17 September 1914 Professor Langley convinced the US Navy that he could launch a 90 horsepower Curtis OX5-Newton from a ship. Exactly why he would do this is unclear as are the reasons the Navy accepted his offer.  Maybe the Navy thought it would be good for a few laughs...
    Professor Langley decided to demonstrate his launch on Keuka Lake, in upstate New York. Again, the reasons for this location are lost in the mist of time, but I have my own theory, although it is 100% speculation:

    Langley and his boys were sitting around their shop in upstate New York, bored out of their minds and convinced all of the "good" stuff had already been invented. (Having lived there myself in the late 1980s, I can attest to the remoteness and sense of isolation, so I can only imagine what it was like in 1914.) Anyway, these guys probably had too much to drink and thought it might be cool to launch one of the new airplanes across the lake. Somehow, they convinced the Navy to finance their idea. They built a ramp (Figure 1), obtained a new plane, and drew straws. Professor Langley lost and got to enjoy a short ride (Figure 2) before his long swim (Figure 3) back to the pier.
    The Navy thought it was a GREAT idea and today we have aircraft carriers, one of the most powerful weapons in our inventory...  Ain't life strange...

Fig. 2. 
National Archives #80G1032595

Fig. 3. 
National Archives #80G1032594

USN ADOPTS NAZI V-1 ROCKET

  By 1949 the USN wanted the ability to launch a rocket from a submarine.  Our scientists still had a bunch of captured Nazi V-1 "buzz bombs" laying around and decided to use the German proven technology rather than re-invent a new rocket.  We also had captured some Japanese submarines with a "warehouse" built onto the deck designed to carry a scout plane.  We adopted that idea onto a USN submarine, the USS Carbonero (SS-337). With the equipment on hand, they moved it all to Oahu, Hawaii, as good a test area as any...
    On 15 November 1949 the USS Carbonero launched the V-1 rocket (renamed "Loon") off Molokai Channel, Oahu, Hawaii.  In figure 1 you can see the "Loon" in front of the water-tight "bat cave".  Figure 2 shows the launch (no signature here...), and Figure 3 shows the launch carriage falling away as the pulse-jet accelerates the bomb.  A close look at the rocket shows it turning left, towards the camera.  I wonder how that turned out...

Fig. 2. 
National Archives #80G409021

Fig. 3. 
National Archives #80G409022

TURBINE ENGINE ON A B-17

    This photo was undated and unlabeled.  It is a B-17 with a turbine engine installed in the nose.  My guess it they were testing the turbine engine and needed a large airframe like the B-17s.  They probably took off and landed using the traditional four engines as the primary power.  Once at altitude, they engaged the turbine engine and experimented to determine performance characteristics.

Fig. 1. 
National Archives #80G419784

FIRST PARACHUTIST

    Having served in the Airborne, this series of photos caught my interest.  Nothing pumps up the troops like a new piece of equipment...

  Our hero in the first three figures proudly shows off the new "John-model Parachute" on 14 March 1921 in Hampton Roads, Virginia.  Interestingly, they were not called "parachutists".  To the testers they were simply "droppers." Note the thick manila rope used to pull the parachute from the backpack.  There is no ripcord on this model.

    Apparently, things didn't go very well for the "droppers" for the first few years.  There are plenty of photographs of pre-drop "droppers", but no photos of post-drop "droppers" until the fellow in figure 4.  

    By 27 October 1924 they apparently had most of the bugs worked out.   The thick manila rope is gone and the "new" parachute is much more compact than the earlier "John-model."  Clearly reserve parachutes are not yet in vogue.

  In Figure 4 the "dropper" hangs from the wing of an airship and pulls his ripcord.

  Figure 5 shows the "dropper" still hanging form the airship wing while his parachute fully inflates.  Once fully inflated and insuring it was not fouled, he simply let go of the airship.

   In Figure 5, our "dropper" poses next to the airship after his successful jump.  His gonads are being transported by trailer because they were too large to fit into this photo...

  In figures 7 and 8, there is evidence that not all jumpers were entirely successful.  Apparently, one of the "droppers" on 12 June 1924 proceeded with his jump without the benefit of his parachute, which was fouled in the airship's rudder.

Figure 1
National Archives #80G454095

Figure 2
National Archives #80G454112

Figure 3
National Archives #80G454119

Figure 4
National Archives #80G454113

Figure 5
National Archives #80G454114

Figure 6
National Archives #80G454120

Figure 7
National Archives #80G454131

Figure 8
National Archives #80G454177

LANDING AT SEA...MAYBE.

    By 1919 the USN had improved on Professor Langley's idea (see above) and come up with another way to take planes to sea...the sea sled.

    In Figure 1 you can see it was simply a plane on floating platform that you towed behind a ship.  With the ship at flank speed and heading into a stiff wind, the pilot applied full power until the wings generated enough lift for takeoff, probably around 40 mph.  Simple and effective idea.  Recovering the aircraft must have been the failing of the idea, however, because a missed landing usually proved fatal for the pilot.  The sea sled did prove itself to be useful in recovering seaplanes. They would land on the water and taxi onto the sled.  Figure 2 shows the side view.

Figure 1
National Archives #80G454099

Figure 2
National Archives #80G454105

JAPANESE DECOYS

    The Allies weren't the only ones to use decoys.  

  Figure 1 shows a Japanese straw airplane on Kadera Airfield, Okinawa, Ryukyu Islands, found by US forces on 16 April 1945. 

  Figure 2, Lt. A.F. Kochmanski of the 24th Army Corps scratches his head in amazement at the Japanese subterfuge in making dummy airplanes to fill airfields on Okinawa, Ryukyu Islands on 16 Apr 1945.

Figure 1
National Archives #80G313344

Figure 2
National Archives #80G313345