Evening star., 1942-01-19
Navy Tells How B|imps
Used in Coast Patrol
Differ From Their Kin
'konrieid Airships' Now
Hunting Subs Are BoIIoons
With Cabins Hung On
BY CLAUDE A. MAHONEY.

BY CLAUDE a. MAHONEY.
The Navy announced formation
Of patrol force of nonrigid air
ships last week, and today Naval
officials come to the aid of people
who don't know what a nonrigid
airship is.
It's all right to call 1t blimp;
most people do. But the Navy can
tell you in five pages why official
Naval circles must use the term
"nonrigid airship' to differentiate
1t from rigid or semirigid air.
ships.
A rigid airShip has metal struc-
ture, or framework. and has its
lifting gas in compartments. Its
shape is the shape Of the metal
structure.
A semirigid airship has part of
q framework.
A nonrigid airship has no frame
work, but is just huge bag filled
with lifting gas and with cabin
or compartment attached below for
the pilots and crew. The bag is
made for initiation and is the same
shape as long as it is full Of gas
(The familiar Goodyear craft are
nonrigid airships.) The United
States is the only Nation fortunate
enough to have supply of nom
inf1amable helium.
Had Tragic History.
During the early days of the first
g World War the British referred to
their nonrigid airships as limp
type, because they were not rigid.
They had one model called the
"B-Limp," and that soon became
'blimp" It wasn't long before most
people knew the type only as blimps.
But the Navy was dealing with
several types, and so it stuck strict
ly to the correct names. The Navy
bought a Semirigid airship from
Italy in 1920, and didn't like it.
The Army bought a similar one
from Italy, and it crashed. Then
the Navy had the British build a
rigid airship for the United States,
and it crashed. The Navy itself
built a sister ship, the Shenandoah,
and it crashed. The Navy built two
more large rigid airships, the Macon
and the Akron, and they crashed.
OF all the large rigid ships, only
the Los Angeles, German built,
lived natural life, and it finally
was decommissioned and stricken
from Navy listing.
Failure of the large rigid airships
gave all lighter -than-air craft bad
name, and because the term "blimp'
had become so common that many
layman called even the large rigid
Jobs by that name, the Navy took
pains to classify the nonrigid ships
as such.
Blimps Deadly to Subs.
p A small band of naval officers
fought through the years to clear
the name of lighter-than-ai craft,
and one of the most consistently
outspoken proponents was Capt. C.
E. Rosendahl. He and his group
saw the beginning OF their dream
come true last spring when Congress
authorized construction Of 48 non
rigid airships for coastal patrol
work. approximately % have been
delivered and, of them, an un-
named number now are at work
along the coast. The Navy calls
them by their real names, but it
doesn't mind if you call them blimps
Lighter -than-air men claim OBJ
servers can spot submarines under
the surface better from blimps than
from airplanes. and that blimps can
machine-gun the gunners of a sur
face submarine and hold the craft
at bay until the blimp is directly
overhead and can drop a bomb or
depth charge. Because the blimp
can slow down and in reality stop,
If necessary, its aim is deadly. They
are supposed to be poison to sub
marines.
The Navy has set up the first
patrol squadron Of a patrol group
to work out Of Lakehurst, N. j.
Others are to float in and out Of
new stations at Elizabeth City, N.
O., and South Weymouth, Mass.
Several more will be on the West
Coast.