Aviation in Britain Before the First World War RAE-O190

The ''Eta'' airship was a British airship built in 1913 for the British Army and later the Royal Navy. ''Eta'' was completed in August 1913, the last airship to be built for the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

. It was smaller than its predecessor, ''Delta'', with a capacity of 118,000 cubic feet. An improvement was the method of securing the gondola, whose six suspension cables were repeatedly divided so that thirty-six cables were actually attached to the envelope by redesigned patches. It carried a crew of five and was driven by a pair of 80 horse-power Canton-Unné engines. She was commanded by The Hon. Claud Maitland Patrick Brabazon of the military wing of the Royal Flying Corps. When the army abandoned airships on 1 January 1914, ''Eta'' was transferred to the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

(RN) and given the designation His Majesty's Airship No.19.

Service

On 19 November 1914 the ''Eta'' airship was en route to

Dunkirk Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label=French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a commune in the department of Nord in northern France.Redhill. After making a forced landing, she broke away from her moorings and was damaged beyond repair.Warner, Guy, 2016. ''Lighter Than Air: The Life and Times of Wing Commander N.F. Usborne ...'' Pen & Sword Aviation.

References

Airships of the United Kingdom 1910s British experimental aircraft {{Aero-1910s-stub