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R101 was one of a pair of British
rigid airship A rigid airship is a type of airship (or dirigible) in which the envelope is supported by an internal framework rather than by being kept in shape by the pressure of the lifting gas within the envelope, as in blimps (also called pressure airsh ...
s completed in 1929 as part of a British government programme to develop civil airships capable of service on long-distance routes within the
British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...
. It was designed and built by an
Air Ministry The Air Ministry was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force, that existed from 1918 to 1964. It was under the political authority of the Secretary of State ...
–appointed team and was effectively in competition with the government-funded but privately designed and built
R100 His Majesty's Airship R100 was a privately designed and built British rigid airship made as part of a two-ship competition to develop a commercial airship service for use on British Empire routes as part of the Imperial Airship Scheme. The ot ...
. When built, it was the world's largest flying craft at in length, and it was not surpassed by another hydrogen-filled rigid airship until the LZ 129 ''Hindenburg'' was launched seven years later. After trial flights and subsequent modifications to increase lifting capacity, which included lengthening the ship by to add another gasbag,"R101".
Airship Heritage Trust via Airshipsonline.com. Retrieved: 23 July 2008.
the R101 crashed in France during its maiden overseas voyage on 5 October 1930, killing 48 of the 54 people on board. Among the passengers killed were
Lord Thomson Christopher Birdwood Thomson, 1st Baron Thomson, (13 April 1875 – 5 October 1930) was a British Army officer who went on to serve as a Labour minister and peer. He served as Secretary of State for Air under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and betw ...
, the Air Minister who had initiated the programme, senior government officials, and almost all the dirigible's designers from the
Royal Airship Works Cardington Airfield, previously RAF Cardington, is a former Royal Air Force station in Bedfordshire, England, with a long and varied history, particularly in relation to airships and balloons. Most of the former RAF station is in the parish o ...
. The crash of R101 effectively ended British airship development, and was one of the worst airship accidents of the 1930s. The loss of 48 lives was more than the 36 killed in the much better-known ''Hindenburg'' disaster of 1937, though fewer than the 52 killed in the French military '' Dixmude'' in 1923 and the 73 killed when the USS ''Akron'' crashed in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of
New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
in 1933.


Background

R101 was built as part of a British government initiative to develop
airship An airship or dirigible balloon is a type of aerostat or lighter-than-air aircraft that can navigate through the air under its own power. Aerostats gain their lift from a lifting gas that is less dense than the surrounding air. In early ...
s to provide passenger and mail transport from Britain to the most distant parts of the
British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...
, including
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
,
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
and
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, since the distances were then too great for heavier-than-air aircraft. The Burney Scheme of 1922 had proposed a civil airship development programme to be carried out by a specially-established subsidiary of
Vickers Vickers was a British engineering company that existed from 1828 until 1999. It was formed in Sheffield as a steel foundry by Edward Vickers and his father-in-law, and soon became famous for casting church bells. The company went public in 18 ...
with the support of the British government. The scheme drew support from the
Air Ministry The Air Ministry was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force, that existed from 1918 to 1964. It was under the political authority of the Secretary of State ...
, which sought more airships and a base in India. The
Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong *Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral *Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings * Admiralty, Traf ...
added that it would forego some
light cruiser A light cruiser is a type of small or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck. Prior to thi ...
s of which it was very short. However,
Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
Lloyd George David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor, (17 January 1863 – 26 March 1945) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1916 to 1922. He was a Liberal Party (United Kingdom), Liberal Party politician from Wales, known for lea ...
's government decided it could not afford to support the Burney Scheme. When the 1923 general election brought
Ramsay MacDonald James Ramsay MacDonald (; 12 October 18669 November 1937) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, the first who belonged to the Labour Party, leading minority Labour governments for nine months in 1924 ...
’s
Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...
administration to power, the new Air Minister,
Lord Thomson Christopher Birdwood Thomson, 1st Baron Thomson, (13 April 1875 – 5 October 1930) was a British Army officer who went on to serve as a Labour minister and peer. He served as Secretary of State for Air under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and betw ...
, formulated the Imperial Airship Scheme in place of the Burney Scheme. It called for the building of two experimental airships: one, R101, to be designed and constructed under the direction of the Air Ministry, and the other,
R100 His Majesty's Airship R100 was a privately designed and built British rigid airship made as part of a two-ship competition to develop a commercial airship service for use on British Empire routes as part of the Imperial Airship Scheme. The ot ...
, to be built by a Vickers subsidiary, the Airship Guarantee Company, under a
fixed-price contract A fixed-price contract is a type of contract such that the payment amount does not depend on resources used or time expended by the contractor. This is opposed to a cost-plus contract, which is intended to cover the costs incurred by the contractor ...
. They were nicknamed the "
Socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...
Airship" and the "
Capitalist Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, price system, priva ...
Airship", respectively. In addition to the building of the two airships, the Imperial Airship Scheme involved the establishment of the necessary infrastructure for airship operations; for example, the
mooring mast A mooring mast, or mooring tower, is a structure designed to allow for the docking of an airship outside of an airship hangar or similar structure. More specifically, a mooring mast is a mast or tower that contains a fitting on its top that allow ...
s used at Cardington,
Ismalia Ismailia ( ar, الإسماعيلية ', ) is a city in north-eastern Egypt. Situated on the west bank of the Suez Canal, it is the capital of the Ismailia Governorate. The city has a population of 1,406,699 (or approximately 750,000, includ ...
,
Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...
and
Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...
had to be designed and built, and the meteorological forecasting network extended and improved. Specifications for the airships were drawn up by an Air Ministry committee, whose members included Squadron Leader Reginald Colmore and Lieutenant-Colonel V.C. Richmond, both of whom had extensive experience with airships, most of them non-rigid. They called for airships of not less than five million cubic feet (140,000 m³) capacity and a fixed structural weight not to exceed 90 tons, giving a "disposable lift" of nearly 62 tons. With the necessary allowance of about 20 tons for the service load consisting of a crew of approximately 40, as well as stores and water ballast, this allowed a possible fuel and passenger load of 42 tons. Accommodation for 100 passengers and tankage for 57 hours' flight was to be provided, and a sustainable cruise speed of and maximum speed of were called for.''Report of the R101 Inquiry'' 1931, p. 14. In wartime, the airships would be expected to carry 200 troops or possibly five parasite fighter aircraft. Vickers' design team was led by
Barnes Wallis Sir Barnes Neville Wallis (26 September 1887 – 30 October 1979) was an English engineer and inventor. He is best known for inventing the bouncing bomb used by the Royal Air Force in Operation Chastise (the "Dambusters" raid) to attack ...
, who had extensive experience of rigid airship design and later became famous for the geodetic framework of the
Wellington bomber The Vickers Wellington was a British twin-engined, long-range medium bomber. It was designed during the mid-1930s at Brooklands in Weybridge, Surrey. Led by Vickers-Armstrongs' chief designer Rex Pierson; a key feature of the aircraft is its ...
and for the
bouncing bomb A bouncing bomb is a bomb designed to bounce to a target across water in a calculated manner to avoid obstacles such as torpedo nets, and to allow both the bomb's speed on arrival at the target and the timing of its detonation to be pre-deter ...
. His principal assistant (the "Chief Calculator"), Nevil Shute Norway, later well known as the novelist
Nevil Shute Nevil Shute Norway (17 January 189912 January 1960) was an English novelist and aeronautical engineer who spent his later years in Australia. He used his full name in his engineering career and Nevil Shute as his pen name, in order to protect h ...
, later gave his account of the design and construction of the two airships in his 1954 autobiography, '' Slide Rule: Autobiography of an Engineer''. Shute Norway's book characterises R100 as a pragmatic and conservative design, and R101 as extravagant and overambitious, but one purpose of having two design teams was to test different approaches, with R101 deliberately intended to extend the limits of existing technology. Shute Norway later admitted that many of his criticisms of the R101 team were unjustified. An extremely-optimistic timetable was drawn up, with construction of the government-built R101 to begin in July 1925 and be complete by the following July, with a trial flight to India planned for January 1927. In the event, the extensive experimentation that was necessary delayed the start of construction of R101 until early 1927. R100 was also delayed, and neither flew until late 1929.


Design and development

The entire airship programme was under the direction of the Director of Airship Development (DAD), Group Captain Peregrine Fellowes, with Colmore acting as his deputy. Lieutenant-Colonel Richmond was appointed Director of Design: later he was credited as "Assistant Director of Airship Development (Technical)" with Squadron Leader Michael Rope as his assistant. The Director for Flying and Training, responsible for all operational matters for both airships, was Major G.H. Scott, who had developed the design of the mooring masts that were to be built. Work was based at the
Royal Airship Works Cardington Airfield, previously RAF Cardington, is a former Royal Air Force station in Bedfordshire, England, with a long and varied history, particularly in relation to airships and balloons. Most of the former RAF station is in the parish o ...
at Cardington,
Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council wa ...
, which had been built by
Short Brothers Short Brothers plc, usually referred to as Shorts or Short, is an aerospace company based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Shorts was founded in 1908 in London, and was the first company in the world to make production aeroplanes. It was particu ...
during the
First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
and had been employed by the Admiralty to copy and improve on the latest German designs from captured rigid airships. The Works had been
nationalised Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to pri ...
in 1919, but after the loss of the
R38 The ''R.38'' class (also known as the ''A'' class) of rigid airships was designed for Britain's Royal Navy during the final months of the First World War, intended for long-range patrol duties over the North Sea. Four similar airships were ...
(then in the process of being transferred to the US as ZR2), naval airship development was stopped and it had been placed on a care and maintenance basis. R101 was to be built only after completion of an extensive research and test programme by the National Physical Laboratory (NPL). As part of this programme, the Air Ministry funded the costs of refurbishing and flying R33 in order to gather data about structural loads and the airflow around a large airship. This data was also made available to Vickers; both airships had the same elongated tear-drop shape, unlike previous designs.
Hilda Lyon Hilda Margaret Lyon, MA, MSc, AFRAeS (31 May 1896 – 2 December 1946) was a British engineer who invented the "Lyon Shape", a streamlined design used for airships and submarines. Early life and education Lyon was born in 1896 in Market We ...
, who was responsible for the aerodynamic development, found that this shape produced the minimum amount of drag. Safety was a primary concern and this would have an important influence on the choice of engines. An early decision had been made to construct the primary structure largely from stainless steel rather than lightweight alloys such as
duralumin Duralumin (also called duraluminum, duraluminium, duralum, dural(l)ium, or dural) is a trade name for one of the earliest types of age-hardenable aluminium alloys. The term is a combination of '' Dürener'' and ''aluminium''. Its use as a tra ...
. The design of the primary structure was shared between Cardington and the aircraft manufacturer Boulton and Paul, who had extensive experience in the use of steel and had developed innovative techniques for forming steel strip into structural sections. Working to an outline design prepared with the help of data supplied by the NPL, the stress calculations were performed by Cardington. This information was then supplied to J.D. North and his team at Boulton and Paul, who designed the metalwork. The individual girders were fabricated by Boulton and Paul in
Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...
, and transported to Cardington where they were bolted together. This scheme for a prefabricated structure entailed demanding manufacturing tolerances and was entirely successful, as the ease with which R101 was eventually extended bears witness. Before any contracts for the metalwork were signed, an entire bay consisting of a pair of the 15-sided transverse ring frames and the connecting longitudinal girders was assembled at Cardington. After the assembly had passed loading tests, the individual girders were then tested to destruction. The structure of the airframe was innovative: the ring-shaped transverse frames of previous airships had been braced by radial wires meeting at a central hub, but no such bracing was used in R101, the frames being stiff enough in themselves. However, this resulted in the structure extending further into the envelope, thereby limiting the size of the gasbags. The specifications drawn up in 1924 by the Committee for the Safety of Airships had based weight estimates on the then-existing rules for airframe strengths. However, the Air Ministry Inspectorate introduced a new set of rules for airship safety standards in late 1924 and compliance with these as-yet unformulated rules had been explicitly mentioned in the individual specifications for each airship. These new rules called for all lifting loads to be transmitted directly to the transverse frames rather than being taken via the longitudinal girders. The intention behind this ruling was to enable the stressing of the framework to be fully calculated, rather than relying on
empirical Empirical evidence for a proposition is evidence, i.e. what supports or counters this proposition, that is constituted by or accessible to sense experience or experimental procedure. Empirical evidence is of central importance to the sciences and ...
ly accumulated data, as was contemporary practice at the
Zeppelin A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship named after the German inventor Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin () who pioneered rigid airship development at the beginning of the 20th century. Zeppelin's notions were first formulated in 1874Eckener 1938, pp ...
design office. Apart from the implications for the airframe weight, one effect of these regulations was to force both teams to contrive a new system of harnessing the gasbags. R101's patented "parachute" gasbag harnessing, designed by Michael Rope, proved less than satisfactory, permitting the bags to surge unduly, particularly in rough weather. This caused the gasbags to chafe against the structure, tearing holes in the fabric. Another effect was that both R100 and R101 had a relatively small number of longitudinal girders in order to simplify the stress calculations. R101 used pre-doped linen panels for much of its covering, rather than lacing undoped fabric into place and then applying dope to shrink it. In order to reduce the area of unsupported fabric in the covering, the design alternated the main longitudinals with non-structural "reefing booms" mounted on kingposts which were adjustable using screw-jacks in order to tension the covering. The pre-doped fabric proved unsatisfactory from the start, with panels splitting because of humidity changes before the airship had even left its shed.''Report of the R101 Inquiry'' 1931, p. 31. There were other innovative design features. Previously, ballast containers had been made in the form of leather "trousers", and one or other leg could be opened at the bottom by a cable-release from the control car. In R101, the extreme forward and aft ballast bags were of this type, and were locally operated, but the main ballast was held in tanks connected by pipes so that ballast could be transferred from one to another to alter the airship's trim using compressed air. The arrangement for ventilating the interior of the envelope, necessary both to prevent any build-up of escaped
hydrogen Hydrogen is the chemical element with the symbol H and atomic number 1. Hydrogen is the lightest element. At standard conditions hydrogen is a gas of diatomic molecules having the formula . It is colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic, an ...
and also to equalise pressure between the outside and inside, was also innovative. A series of flap-valves were situated at the nose and stern of the airship cover (those at the nose are clearly visible in photographs) to allow air to enter when the airship was descending, while a series of vents was arranged around the circumference amidships to allow air to exit during ascent.


Engines

Heavy oil (
diesel Diesel may refer to: * Diesel engine, an internal combustion engine where ignition is caused by compression * Diesel fuel, a liquid fuel used in diesel engines * Diesel locomotive, a railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engin ...
) engines were specified by the Air Ministry because the airship was intended for use on the India route, where it was thought that high temperatures would make petrol an unacceptable fire hazard because of its low
flash point The flash point of a material is the "lowest liquid temperature at which, under certain standardized conditions, a liquid gives off vapours in a quantity such as to be capable of forming an ignitable vapour/air mixture". (EN 60079-10-1) The fl ...
. A petrol explosion had been a major cause of fatalities in the loss of R38 in 1921."Boulton and Paul – the R101."
''norfolkancestors.org.'' Retrieved: 27 August 2010.
Initial calculations were based on the use of seven Beardmore Typhoon six-cylinder heavy-oil engines which were expected to weigh and deliver each. When the development of this engine proved impractical, the use of the eight-cylinder Beardmore Tornado was proposed instead. This was an engine being developed by
Beardmore Beardmore can refer to: *Andrew Beardmore, better known as Andy Moor, English trance DJ, producer and remixer *Bob Beardmore, British rugby league footballer *Bud Beardmore (1939–2016), American lacrosse coach *Jim Beardmore, Former All-American ...
, combining two four-cylinder engines which had originally been developed for railway use. In March 1925 these were expected to weigh and deliver each. Because of the increased weight of each engine, it was decided to use five, resulting in overall power being reduced from to . Severe torsional resonance of the
crankshaft A crankshaft is a mechanical component used in a piston engine to convert the reciprocating motion into rotational motion. The crankshaft is a rotating shaft containing one or more crankpins, that are driven by the pistons via the connecting ...
was encountered above 950 rpm, limiting the engine to a maximum of 935 rpm, giving an output of only with a continuous power rating at 890 rpm of .Masefield 1982, p. 69. The engine was also considerably above estimated weight, at , over double the initial estimate. Some of this excess weight was the result of the failure to manufacture a satisfactory lightweight aluminium crankcase. The original intention had been to fit two of the engines with variable-pitch propellers in order to provide
reverse thrust Thrust reversal, also called reverse thrust, is the temporary diversion of an aircraft engine's thrust for it to act against the forward travel of the aircraft, providing deceleration. Thrust reverser systems are featured on many jet aircraft to ...
for maneuvering during docking. The torsional resonance caused the hollow metal blades of the reversing propellers to develop cracks near the hubs, and as a short term measure one of the engines was fitted with a fixed-pitch reverse propeller, consequently becoming dead weight under normal flight conditions. For the airship's final flight, two of the engines were adapted to be capable of running in reverse by a simple modification of the
camshaft A camshaft is a shaft that contains a row of pointed cams, in order to convert rotational motion to reciprocating motion. Camshafts are used in piston engines (to operate the intake and exhaust valves), mechanically controlled ignition systems ...
. Each engine car also contained a
Ricardo Ricardo is the Spanish and Portuguese cognate of the name Richard. It derived from Proto-Germanic ''*rīks'' 'king, ruler' + ''*harduz'' 'hard, brave'. It may be a given name, or a surname. People Given name *Ricardo de Araújo Pereira, Portugu ...
petrol engine for use as a starter motor. Three of these also drove generators to provide electricity when the airship was at rest or flying at low speeds: at normal flight speeds the generators were driven by constant-speed variable-pitch
windmill A windmill is a structure that converts wind power into rotational energy using vanes called windmill sail, sails or blades, specifically to mill (grinding), mill grain (gristmills), but the term is also extended to windpumps, wind turbines, and ...
s. The other two auxiliary engines drove compressors for the compressed air fuel and ballast transfer system. Before the final flight, one of the petrol engines was replaced by a Beverly heavy oil engine; to lessen the risk of fire, the petrol tanks could be jettisoned. Diesel fuel was contained in tanks in the transverse frames, the majority of the tanks having a capacity of . A mechanism was provided for dumping fuel directly from the tanks in an emergency. By the use of tankage provided for weight compensation, when travelling with a light passenger load a total fuel load of could be carried.


Crewing and control

In normal service, R101 carried a crew of 42. This consisted of two
watches A watch is a portable timepiece intended to be carried or worn by a person. It is designed to keep a consistent movement despite the motions caused by the person's activities. A wristwatch is designed to be worn around the wrist, attached by ...
of 13 men under the officer of the watch, this duty being divided among the three principal
ship's officer The deck department is an organisational team on board naval and merchant ships. The department and its manning requirements, including the responsibilities of each rank are regulated within the STCW Convention, applicable only to the merchant ...
s. In addition there were the chief
navigator A navigator is the person on board a ship or aircraft responsible for its navigation.Grierson, MikeAviation History—Demise of the Flight Navigator FrancoFlyers.org website, October 14, 2008. Retrieved August 31, 2014. The navigator's primar ...
, the meteorological officer, the chief
coxswain The coxswain ( , or ) is the person in charge of a boat, particularly its navigation and steering. The etymology of the word gives a literal meaning of "boat servant" since it comes from ''cock'', referring to the cockboat, a type of ship's boat ...
, the
chief engineer A chief engineer, commonly referred to as "ChEng" or "Chief", is the most senior engine officer of an engine department on a ship, typically a merchant ship, and holds overall leadership and the responsibility of that department..Chief engineer's ...
, the chief wireless officer and the chief steward, who were not assigned to watches but were on duty as necessary, and four supernumeraries (three engineers and a radio operator) who were available to provide relief watch keeping if necessary, and an assistant steward, a cook and a
galley A galley is a type of ship that is propelled mainly by oars. The galley is characterized by its long, slender hull, shallow draft, and low freeboard (clearance between sea and gunwale). Virtually all types of galleys had sails that could be used ...
boy who were on duty as required between 06:30 and 21:30. The minimum crew requirement, as specified in the airship's
Certificate of Airworthiness A standard certificate of airworthiness is a permit for commercial passenger or cargo operation, issued for an aircraft by the civil aviation authority in the state/nation in which the aircraft is registered. For other aircraft such as crop-spraye ...
, was 15 men. The control car was occupied by the duty officer of the watch and the steering and altitude coxswains, who respectively controlled the
rudder A rudder is a primary control surface used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, aircraft, or other vehicle that moves through a fluid medium (generally aircraft, air or watercraft, water). On an aircraft the rudder is used primarily to ...
and
elevators An elevator or lift is a cable-assisted, hydraulic cylinder-assisted, or roller-track assisted machine that vertically transports people or freight between floors, levels, or decks of a building, vessel, or other structure. They are ...
using wheels similar to a
ship's wheel A ship's wheel or boat's wheel is a device used aboard a water vessel to steer that vessel and control its course. Together with the rest of the steering mechanism, it forms part of the helm. It is connected to a mechanical, electric servo, or h ...
. The engines were individually controlled by an engineer in each of the engine cars, orders being given by an individual
telegraph Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas p ...
to each car. These moved an indicator in the engine car to signal the desired throttle setting and also rang a bell to draw attention to the fact that an order had been transmitted.


Accommodation

The passenger accommodation was spread over two decks within the envelope and as first designed included 50 passenger cabins for one, two, or four people, a dining room for 60 people, two
promenade deck The promenade deck is a deck found on several types of passenger ships and riverboats. It usually extends from bow to stern, on both sides, and includes areas open to the outside, resulting in a continuous outside walkway suitable for ''promen ...
s with windows down the sides of the airship, a spacious lounge of and an
asbestos Asbestos () is a naturally occurring fibrous silicate mineral. There are six types, all of which are composed of long and thin fibrous crystals, each fibre being composed of many microscopic "fibrils" that can be released into the atmosphere b ...
-lined
smoking room A smoking room (or smoking lounge) is a room which is specifically provided and furnished for smoking, generally in buildings where smoking is otherwise prohibited. Locations and facilities Smoking rooms can be found in public buildings suc ...
for 24 people. Most of the passenger space was on the upper deck, with the smoking room, kitchen and washrooms, crew accommodation, as well as the chart room and radio cabin on the lower deck."Airships: R101 Interior."
''Airship Heritage Trust'' via ''Airshipsonline.com.'' Retrieved: 27 August 2010.
The control car was immediately under the forward section of the lower deck and was reached by a ladder from the chart room. Walls were made of doped linen painted in white and gold. Weight-saving measures included
wicker Wicker is the oldest furniture making method known to history, dating as far back as 5,000 years ago. It was first documented in ancient Egypt using pliable plant material, but in modern times it is made from any pliable, easily woven material. ...
furniture and aluminium cutlery. The promenade windows were lightweight "
Cellon In biochemistry, cellulose acetate refers to any acetate ester of cellulose, usually cellulose diacetate. It was first prepared in 1865. A bioplastic, cellulose acetate is used as a film base in photography, as a component in some coatings, and ...
" instead of the intended glass, and one set was removed as part of later weight-saving measures.


Operational history


Testing


1929

The lengthy process of inflating the R101's hydrogen gasbags began on 11 July 1929 and was complete by 21 September. With the airship now airborne and loosely tethered within the shed, it was now possible to carry out lift and trim trials. These were disappointing. A design conference held on 17 June 1929 had estimated a gross lift of 151.8 tons and a total airframe weight, including the power installation, of 105 tons. The actual figures proved to be a gross lift of 148.46 tons and a weight of 113.6 tons. Moreover, the airship was tail-heavy, a result of the tail surfaces being considerably above estimated weight. In this form, a flight to India was out of the question. Airship operations under tropical conditions were made more difficult by the loss of lift in high air temperatures: the loss of lift in
Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...
(then part of British India) was estimated to be as much as 11 tons for an airship the size of R101. On 2 October the press were invited to Cardington to view the finished airship. However, weather conditions made it impossible to take it out of the shed until 12 October, when it was walked out by a ground-handling party of 400. The event attracted a huge number of spectators, with surrounding roads a solid line of cars. The moored airship continued to attract spectators, and it was estimated that more than a million people had made the trip to Cardington to see R101 at the mast by the end of November.Masefield 1982, pp. 131–32 The flying programme was influenced by the Air Ministry's need to generate favourable publicity, illustrating the political pressures which weighed upon the programme. Noël Atherstone, the first officer, commented in his diary on 6 November: "All these window-dressing stunts and joy-rides before she has got an
Airworthiness Certificate A standard certificate of airworthiness is a permit for commercial passenger or cargo operation, issued for an aircraft by the civil aviation authority in the state/nation in which the aircraft is registered. For other aircraft such as crop-spraye ...
are quite wrong, but there is no-one in the RAW oyal Airship Worksexecutive who has got the guts to put their foot down and insist on trials being free of joy-rides". Atherstone's remarks were occasioned by a lunch held on the airship for delegates to a conference on empire legislation, but there were several similar occasions. R101 made its first flight on 14 October. After a short circuit over
Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst ...
, course was set for
London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
, where it passed over the
Palace of Westminster The Palace of Westminster serves as the meeting place for both the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Informally known as the Houses of Parli ...
,
St Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in London and is the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London. It is on Ludgate Hill at the highest point of the City of London and is a Grad ...
and the
City A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...
, returning to Cardington after a flight lasting five hours 40 minutes. During this flight the
servos In control engineering a servomechanism, usually shortened to servo, is an automatic device that uses error-sensing negative feedback to correct the action of a mechanism. On displacement-controlled applications, it usually includes a built-in ...
were not used, without any difficulty being experienced in controlling the airship. A second flight lasting nine hours 38 minutes followed on 18 October, with Lord Thomson among the passengers, after which R101 was briefly returned to the shed to enable some modifications to be made to the starting engines. A third flight lasting seven hours 15 minutes was made on 1 November, during which it was flown at full power for the first time, recording a speed of : even at full speed it was not found necessary to use the control servos. During this flight, it circled over
Sandringham House Sandringham House is a country house in the parish of Sandringham, Norfolk, England. It is one of the royal residences of Charles III, whose grandfather, George VI, and great-grandfather, George V, both died there. The house stands in a estate ...
, observed by
King George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. Born during the reign of his grandmother Que ...
and Queen Mary, flew on to the previous Secretary of State for Air's country house near
Cromer Cromer ( ) is a coastal town and civil parish on the north coast of the English county of Norfolk. It is north of Norwich, north-northeast of London and east of Sheringham on the North Sea coastline. The local government authorities are Nor ...
, then to Norwich over Boulton & Paul's works and aerodrome before returning by Newmarket and
Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...
. On 2 November the first night flight was made, slipping the mast at 20:12 before heading south to fly over London and
Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...
before attempting a speed trial over a circuit over the
Solent The Solent ( ) is a strait between the Isle of Wight and Great Britain. It is about long and varies in width between , although the Hurst Spit which projects into the Solent narrows the sea crossing between Hurst Castle and Colwell Bay t ...
and the
Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the largest and second-most populous island of England. Referred to as 'The Island' by residents, the Isle of ...
. These trials were frustrated by pipe breakages in the cooling systems of two of the engines, a problem later solved by replacing the aluminium piping with
copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...
. It returned to Cardington around 09:00, the mooring operation ending in a minor accident, damaging one of the reefing booms at the bow. On 8 November, a short flight – purely for
public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. P ...
purposes – was made, carrying 40 passengers, including the Mayor of Bedford and various officials. To accommodate this load, the airship was flown with only a partial fuel and ballast load and was inflated to a pressure height of . In Atherstone's words, it "staggered round the vicinity of Bedford for a couple of hours" before returning to the mast. Two days later, the wind began to rise and
gale A gale is a strong wind; the word is typically used as a descriptor in nautical contexts. The U.S. National Weather Service defines a gale as sustained surface winds moving at a speed of between 34 and 47 knots (, or ).MPs with a special interest in aviation and a party of Air Ministry officials headed by Sir Sefton Brancker, the Director of Civil Aviation. On 16 November, it had been planned to carry out a demonstration flight for a party of 100 MPs, a scheme that had been suggested by Lord Thomson in the expectation that few would wish to take advantage of the offer; in the event, it was oversubscribed. The weather on the day was unfavourable, and the flight was rescheduled. The weather then cleared, and on the following day, R101 slipped the mast at 10:33 to carry out an endurance trial, planned to last at least thirty hours. R101 passed over
York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...
and
Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham *County Durham, an English county * Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States *Durham, North Carolina, a city in N ...
before crossing the coast and flying over the North Sea as far north as
Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
, where it turned west towards
Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
. During the night, a series of turning trials were made over the Irish Sea, after which the airship was flown south to fly over
Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...
(the home town of R101's Captain, Carmichael Irwin) before returning to Cardington via
Anglesey Anglesey (; cy, (Ynys) Môn ) is an island off the north-west coast of Wales. It forms a principal area known as the Isle of Anglesey, that includes Holy Island across the narrow Cymyran Strait and some islets and skerries. Anglesey island ...
and
Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...
. After some delay in finding Cardington owing to fog, R101 was secured to the mast at 17:14, after a flight lasting 30 hours 41 minutes. The only technical problem encountered during the flight was with the pump for transferring fuel, which broke down several times, although subsequent examination of the engines showed that one was on the point of suffering a failure of a big end bearing. The flight for the MPs had been rescheduled for 23 November. With the barometric pressure low, R101 lacked sufficient lift to carry 100 passengers, even though all but a bare minimum of fuel was drained off and the ship lightened by removing all unnecessary stores. The flight was cancelled because of the weather, but not before the politicians had arrived at Cardington: they accordingly embarked and had lunch while the ship rode at the mast, only kept in the air by dynamic lift produced by the wind. Following this, R101 remained at the mast until 30 November, when the wind had dropped enough for it to be walked back into the shed. While the initial flight trials were being carried out, the design team examined the lift problem. Studies identified possible weight savings of 3.16 tons. The weight-saving measures included deleting twelve of the double-berth cabins, removing the reefing booms from the nose to frame 1 and between frames 13 to 15 at the tail, replacing the glass windows of the observation decks with
Cellon In biochemistry, cellulose acetate refers to any acetate ester of cellulose, usually cellulose diacetate. It was first prepared in 1865. A bioplastic, cellulose acetate is used as a film base in photography, as a component in some coatings, and ...
, removing two water ballast tanks, and removing the servo mechanism for the rudder and elevators. Letting the gasbags out would gain 3.18 tons extra lift, although Michael Rope considered this unwise, since there were thousands of exposed fixings protruding from the girders; chafing of the gasbags would have to be prevented by wrapping these in strips of cloth. To further increase lift, an extra bay of capacity could be installed. This would deliver an extra nine tons disposable lift. After much consultation, all these proposed measures were approved in December. Letting out the gasbags and the weight-saving measures were begun. Delivery by Boulton & Paul of the metalwork for the extra bay was expected to take place in June.


1930

R101's outer cover was also giving cause for concern. An inspection on 20 January 1930 by Michael Rope and J. W. W. Dyer, head of the Fabric Section at Cardington, revealed serious deterioration of the fabric on the top of the airship in areas where rainwater had accumulated, and a decision was made to add reinforcement bands along the whole length of the envelope. Further tests undertaken by Rope had shown that its strength had deteriorated alarmingly. The original specified strength for the cover was a breaking strain of 700 lb per foot run (10 kN/m): the actual strength of samples was at best 85 lb (1.24 kN/m). The calculated load at a speed of was 143 lb per foot run (2.09 kN/m). A further inspection of the cover on 2 June found many small tears had developed. An immediate decision was taken to replace the pre-doped cover with a new cover which would be doped after fitting. This would take place following the flights which had been planned for June with the purpose of displaying R101 to the public at the
Hendon Air Show Hendon Aerodrome was an aerodrome in London, England, that was an important centre for aviation from 1908 to 1968. It was situated in Colindale, north west of Charing Cross. It nearly became a central hub of civil aviation ("the Charing Cro ...
; for these flights, the cover would be further reinforced. Confirmation of the poor state of the cover came on the morning of 23 June, when R101 was walked out of the shed. It had been at the mast for less than an hour in a moderate wind when an alarming rippling movement was observed and shortly afterwards, a split in the cover appeared on the
starboard Port and starboard are nautical terms for watercraft and aircraft, referring respectively to the left and right sides of the vessel, when aboard and facing the bow (front). Vessels with bilateral symmetry have left and right halves which are ...
side of the airship. It was decided to repair this at the mast and to add more strengthening bands. This was done by the end of the day, but the next day a second, shorter, split occurred. This was dealt with in the same way, and it was decided that if the reinforcing bands were added to the repaired area the scheduled appearance at the Hendon Air Show could be made. R101 made three flights in June, totalling 29 hours 34 minutes duration. On 26 June, a short proving flight was made, the controls – no longer servo-operated – being described as "powerful and fully adequate". At the end of this flight, the R101 was found to be "flying heavy" and two tons of fuel oil had to be jettisoned in order to lighten the airship for mooring. This was initially attributed to changes in air temperature during the flight. On the following two days, R101 made two flights, the first to take part in the rehearsal for the RAF display at Hendon and the second to take place in the display itself. These flights revealed a problem with lift, considerable jettisoning of ballast being necessary. During this time, Atherstone was replaced by Captain G.F. Meager, who was normally the first officer on R100. Meager was "alarmed" by the heaviness of R101, as after 10 hours of flight, R100 would have been considerably light due to fuel consumption. Meager observed that it was the first time he had "the wind up" in an airship. Meager had dropped a ton of ballast, and in order to weigh off the R101 for mooring, Flight Lieutenant Irwin was required to dump 10 tons of water and fuel oil. An inspection of the gasbags revealed a large number of holes, a result of the letting out-of the gasbags which allowed them to foul projections on the girders of the framework. When the gas bag restraints were loosened to allow more gas capacity (R101B) it came to the attention of Dr. Eckener. His concern was conveyed to Willy von Meister, the
Deutsche Zeppelin-Reederei Deutsche Zeppelin-Reederei (), abbreviated DZR, is a German limited-liability company that operates commercial passenger zeppelin flights. The current incarnation of the DZR was founded in 2001 and is based in Friedrichshafen. It is a subsidiar ...
representative in the US, who was visiting
Luftschiffbau Zeppelin Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmbH is a German aircraft manufacturing company. It is perhaps best known for its leading role in the design and manufacture of rigid airships, commonly referred to as ''Zeppelins'' due to the company's prominence. The name ...
at
Lake Constance Lake Constance (german: Bodensee, ) refers to three Body of water, bodies of water on the Rhine at the northern foot of the Alps: Upper Lake Constance (''Obersee''), Lower Lake Constance (''Untersee''), and a connecting stretch of the Rhine, ca ...
. Dr. Eckener was concerned that the gas bags would be holed by wearing upon the structure and loss of gas would occur. Von Meister stopped on his way back to the US to visit his mother and met Lord Thompson to convey Dr. Eckener's offer of technical help. Lord Thompson listened cordially, thanked von Meister, and informed him that padding was being installed and British designers felt that would suffice. Concern was also raised over the possibility of loss of gas through the valves, which were of an innovative design by Michael Rope. Airship valves are intended primarily to vent gas automatically if pressure in the cells rises to the point that the bag might rupture; they are also used to adjust lift for handling. It was suspected that valves could open when the airship rolled heavily or when flapping of the outer cover caused localised low pressure, but after an examination of their operation, F. W. McWade, the Air Inspectorate Department inspector at Cardington, concluded that their operation was satisfactory and they were not likely to have been the cause of any significant loss of gas. As an experimental aircraft, R101 had been operating under a temporary "Permit to Fly", the responsibility of McWade. On 3 July, bypassing his immediate superior, McWade wrote a letter to the Director of Aeronautical Inspection, Lieutenant-Colonel H. W. S. Outram, expressing his unwillingness to recommend either an extension to the permit or the granting of the full Certificate of Airworthiness which would be necessary before the airship could fly in the
airspace Airspace is the portion of the atmosphere controlled by a country above its territory, including its territorial waters or, more generally, any specific three-dimensional portion of the atmosphere. It is not the same as aerospace, which is the ...
of other countries. His concern was that the padding on the framework was inadequate to protect the gasbags from chafing, the harnessing having been let out so that they were "hard up against the longitudinal girders", and that any surging of the gasbags would tend to loosen the padding, rendering it ineffective. He also expressed doubts about the use of padding, considering that it made inspection of the airframe more difficult and would also tend to trap moisture, making problems with corrosion more likely. Outram, who knew little about airships, reacted to this by consulting Colmore, now Director of Airship Development, from whom he received a reassuring reply. The matter was taken no further. R101 entered its shed for the extension on 29 June. At the same time, the gasbags were given a complete overhaul, two of the engines were replaced by the adapted engines capable of running in reverse, and most of the cover was replaced. The original cover was left in place between frames 3 and 5 and in two of the bays at the tail. These parts of the cover had been doped after fitting and were therefore thought to be satisfactory, even though an inspection by McWade had found that some areas where reinforcements had been stuck on with a rubber solution were seriously weakened; these areas were further reinforced, using dope as an adhesive. A schedule was drawn up by the Air Ministry for R101 to undertake the flight to India in early October, in order that the flight would be made during the
Imperial Conference Imperial Conferences (Colonial Conferences before 1907) were periodic gatherings of government leaders from the self-governing colonies and dominions of the British Empire between 1887 and 1937, before the establishment of regular Meetings of ...
which was to be held in London. The entire programme was intended to improve communication with the Empire, and it was hoped that the flight would generate favourable publicity for the airship programme. The final trial flight of R101 was originally scheduled for 26 September 1930, but high winds delayed the move from the shed until 1 October. That evening, R101 slipped the mast for its only trial flight before setting off for India. This lasted 16 hours 51 minutes and was undertaken under near-ideal weather conditions; because of the failure of the oil cooler in one engine, it was not possible to carry out full-speed trials. The flight was curtailed in order to prepare the airship for the flight to India."Airships: R101 Crash."
''Airship Heritage Trust'' via ''Airshipsonline.'' Retrieved: 27 August 2010.
Despite the lack of full endurance and speed trials, and the fact that a proper investigation of the aerodynamic consequences of the extension had not been fully completed by the NPL, a Certificate of Airworthiness was issued on 2 October, the Inspectorate expressing their complete satisfaction with the condition of R101 and the standards to which the remedial work had been carried out. The certificate was handed over to H. C. Irwin, the ship's captain, on the day of its flight to India.


Final flight

R101 departed from Cardington on the evening of 4 October 1930 for its intended destination of Karachi, via a refuelling stop at
Ismaïlia Ismailia ( ar, الإسماعيلية ', ) is a city in north-eastern Egypt. Situated on the west bank of the Suez Canal, it is the capital of the Ismailia Governorate. The city has a population of 1,406,699 (or approximately 750,000, includi ...
in
Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
, under the command of Flight Lieutenant Carmichael Irwin. Lord Thomson, Secretary of State for Air; Sir Sefton Brancker, Director of Civil Aviation; Squadron Leader William Palstra,
RAAF "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...
Air Liaison Officer (ALO) to the British Air Ministry; Director of Airship Development Reginald Colmore; and both Lt. Col. V. C. Richmond and Michael Rope were passengers. The weather forecast on the morning of 4 October was generally favourable, predicting south to south-westerly winds of between 20 and 30 m.p.h. (32 and 48 km/h) at over northern France, with conditions improving over southern France and the Mediterranean Sea. Although the mid-day forecast indicated some deterioration in the situation, this was not considered to be alarming enough to cancel the planned voyage. A course was planned which would take R101 over London,
Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
and
Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Par ...
, crossing the French coast near
Narbonne Narbonne (, also , ; oc, Narbona ; la, Narbo ; Late Latin:) is a commune in France, commune in Southern France in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie Regions of France, region. It lies from Paris in the Aude Departments of Franc ...
. Fine rain was beginning to fall when, at dusk, with all the crew and passengers aboard, R101 readied for departure. Under the illuminating spotlights, the jettisoning of water ballast to bring the airship into trim was clearly visible. Squadron Leader Booth, the commander of R100, was watching the departure from the tower's observation gallery and estimated that two tons had been discharged from the nose and a further ton from the midships tanks. R101 cast off from the mast at 18:36 GMT to a cheer from the crowd which had gathered to witness the event, gently backed from the tower, and, as another ton of ballast was jettisoned, the engines were opened up to about half power and the airship slowly began to climb away, initially heading northeast to fly over Bedford before making a 180° turn to port to pass north of Cardington. At about 19:06 the duty engineer in the aft engine car reported an apparent oil pressure problem. At 19:16, he shut the engine down, and after a short discussion with the chief engineer, work began to replace the oil gauge, since there was nothing apparently wrong with the engine. With one engine stopped, airspeed was reduced by around to Masefield 1982, p. 373. At 19:19, having flown but still only from Cardington, a course was set for London. At 20:01, R101, by now over
Potters Bar Potters Bar is a town in Hertfordshire, England,in the historic County of Middlesex Hertsmere Borough Council – Community Strategy First Review (PDF) north of central London. In 2011, it had a population of 21,882. In 2022 the population was ...
, made its second report to Cardington, confirming the intention to proceed via London, Paris and Narbonne, but making no mention of the engine problem. By that point, the weather had deteriorated, and it was raining heavily. Flying around above the ground, the airship passed over
Alexandra Palace Alexandra Palace is a Grade II listed entertainment and sports venue in London, situated between Wood Green and Muswell Hill in the London Borough of Haringey. It is built on the site of Tottenham Wood and the later Tottenham Wood Farm. Origi ...
before changing course slightly at the landmark clock tower of the
Metropolitan Cattle Market The Metropolitan Cattle Market (later Caledonian Market), just off the Caledonian Road in the parish of Islington (now the London Borough of Islington) was built by the City of London Corporation and was opened in June 1855 by Prince Albert. ...
north of
Islington Islington () is a district in the north of Greater London, England, and part of the London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the ar ...
, and thence over
Shoreditch Shoreditch is a district in the East End of London in England, and forms the southern part of the London Borough of Hackney. Neighbouring parts of Tower Hamlets are also perceived as part of the area. In the 16th century, Shoreditch was an impor ...
to cross the Thames in the vicinity of the
Isle of Dogs The Isle of Dogs is a large peninsula bounded on three sides by a large meander in the River Thames in East London, England, which includes the Cubitt Town, Millwall and Canary Wharf districts. The area was historically part of the Manor, Ham ...
, passing over the Royal Naval College at
Greenwich Greenwich ( , ,) is a town in south-east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London. It is situated east-southeast of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich ...
at 20:28. The airship's progress, flying with its nose pointing some 30 degrees to the right of its track, was observed by many who braved the rain to watch it pass overhead. An update of the meteorological situation was received at 20:40. The forecast had deteriorated severely, south-westerly winds of up to with low cloud and rain being predicted for northern France, and similar conditions over central France. That this caused concern on board is demonstrated by the request for more detailed information, which was transmitted at 21:19, by which time R101 was near
Hawkhurst Hawkhurst is village and civil parish in the borough of Tunbridge Wells in Kent, England. The village is located close to the border with East Sussex, around south-east of Royal Tunbridge Wells and within the High Weald Area of Outstanding Nat ...
,
Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...
. It is possible that an alternative course was being considered. At 21:35 R101 crossed the English coast near
Hastings Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...
and at 21:40 transmitted a progress report back to Cardington, mentioning that recovery of rainwater into the ballast tanks was taking place but again not reporting the engine problem. At 22:56 the aft engine was restarted. By now the wind had risen to about with strong gusts, but a further meteorological report received shortly after the airship had crossed the coast had been encouraging about weather conditions south of Paris. The French coast was crossed at the Point de St Quentin at 23:36 GMT, around east of the intended landfall. A new course was set to bring R101 over
Orly Orly () is a commune in the southern suburbs of Paris, Île-de-France. It is located from the center of Paris. The name of Orly came from Latin ''Aureliacum'', "the villa of Aurelius". Orly Airport partially lies on the territory of the comm ...
, based on an estimated wind direction of 245 degrees and speed of . The intended course would have taken R101 four miles west of
Beauvais Beauvais ( , ; pcd, Bieuvais) is a city and commune in northern France, and prefecture of the Oise département, in the Hauts-de-France region, north of Paris. The commune of Beauvais had a population of 56,020 , making it the most populous ...
, but the estimated wind speed and direction were inaccurate, as a result of which the R101's track was to the east of its intended course. This error would have become apparent when, at about 01:00, R101 passed over
Poix-de-Picardie Poix-de-Picardie (, literally ''Poix of Picardy''; pcd, Poé-d’Picardie) is a commune in the Somme department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. Geography The commune is situated at the junction of the N1 and N29 roads, some southwest of ...
, a distinctive hilltop town that would have been readily recognisable to the navigation officer, Squadron Leader E.L. Johnston. Accordingly, R101 changed course: the new course would take it directly over the Beauvais Ridge, an area notorious for turbulent wind conditions. At 02:00 the watch was changed, Second Officer Maurice Steff taking over the command from Irwin. R101 was at this point "flying heavy", relying on dynamic lift generated by forward airspeed to maintain altitude, estimated by the
Board of Inquiry A tribunal of inquiry is an official review of events or actions ordered by a government body. In many common law countries, such as the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and Canada, such a public inquiry differs from a royal commission in that ...
as at least above the ground. At about 02:07 R101 went into a
dive Diving most often refers to: * Diving (sport), the sport of jumping into deep water * Underwater diving, human activity underwater for recreational or occupational purposes Diving or Dive may also refer to: Sports * Dive (American football), a ...
from which it slowly recovered, probably losing around . As it did so Rigger S. Church, who was returning to the crew quarters to come off duty, was sent forward to release the forward emergency ballast bags, which were locally controlled. This first dive was steep enough to cause A. H. Leech, the foreman engineer from Cardington, to be thrown from his seat in the smoking room and to wake Chief Electrician Arthur Disley, who was dozing in the switch room next to the chart cabin. As the airship recovered, Disley was roused by Chief Coxswain G. W. Hunt, who then went to the crew quarters, calling out, "We're down, lads" in warning. As this happened the airship went into a second dive and orders to reduce speed to slow (450 rpm) were received in the engine cars. Before Engineer A. J. Cook, on duty in the left-hand midships engine car, could respond, the airship hit the ground at the edge of a wood outside Allonne, southeast of Beauvais, and immediately caught fire. The reason for the order to reduce speed is a matter for conjecture because this would have caused the airship to lose dynamic lift and adopt a nose-down attitude. The subsequent inquiry estimated the impact speed at around , with the airship between 15° and 25° nose down. Forty-six of the fifty-four passengers and crew were killed immediately. Church and Rigger W. G. Radcliffe survived the crash but later died in hospital in Beauvais, bringing the total of dead to 48. Of the six eventual survivors, four (including Cook) were engineers in the engine cars outside the hull; Leech and Disley were the only survivors from within the main cabin.


Memorials

The bodies were returned to England, and on Friday 10 October a memorial service took place at St Paul's Cathedral while the bodies lay in state in
Westminster Hall The Palace of Westminster serves as the meeting place for both the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Informally known as the Houses of Parli ...
at the
Palace of Westminster The Palace of Westminster serves as the meeting place for both the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Informally known as the Houses of Parli ...
. Nearly 90,000 people queued to pay their respects: at one time the queue was half a mile long, and the hall was kept open until 00:35 to admit them all. The following day, a funeral procession transferred the bodies to
Euston station Euston railway station ( ; also known as London Euston) is a central London railway terminus in the London Borough of Camden, managed by Network Rail. It is the southern terminus of the West Coast Main Line, the UK's busiest inter-city railw ...
through streets crowded with mourners. The bodies were then taken to Cardington village for burial in a common grave in the cemetery of St Mary's Church. A monument was later erected, and the scorched Royal Air Force roundel which R101 had flown on its tail is on display, along with a memorial tablet, in the church's nave. On 1 October 1933, the Sunday before the third anniversary of the crash, a memorial to the dead near the crash site was unveiled by the side of
Route nationale 1 The Route nationale 1 is a trunk road ( nationale) in France between Paris and Calais. It is approximately long. Reclassification The majority of the original road has been superseded by the A16 autoroute. As a result, much of the road has no ...
near Allonne. There is also a memorial marker on the actual crash site. The Church of the Holy Family and St Michael, a Roman Catholic church in
Kesgrave Kesgrave is a town in the English county of Suffolk on the eastern edge of Ipswich. Kesgrave forms part of the wider Ipswich Built-up area. History The area was recorded as ''Gressgrava'' in the Domesday Book, by the late 15th century its name ...
, Suffolk, was built in 1931 in memory of Squadron Leader Michael Rope, who was a Catholic. Suspended from the nave roof is a model of R101.


Official inquiry

The Court of Inquiry was led by the
Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...
politician
Sir John Simon John Allsebrook Simon, 1st Viscount Simon, (28 February 1873 – 11 January 1954), was a British politician who held senior Cabinet posts from the beginning of the First World War to the end of the Second World War. He is one of only three peop ...
, assisted by Lieutenant-Colonel
John Moore-Brabazon Lieutenant-Colonel John Theodore Cuthbert Moore-Brabazon, 1st Baron Brabazon of Tara, , HonFRPS (8 February 1884 – 17 May 1964), was an English aviation pioneer and Conservative politician. He was the first Englishman to pilot a heavier-than- ...
and Professor C.E. Inglis. The inquiry, held in public, opened on 28 October and spent 10 days taking evidence from witnesses, including Professor
Leonard Bairstow Sir Leonard Bairstow, CBE, FRS, FRAeS (25 June 1880 – 8 September 1963) was an English aeronautical engineer. Bairstow is best remembered for his work in aviation and for Bairstow's method for arbitrarily finding the roots of polynomials. ...
and Dr. Hugo Eckener of the Zeppelin company, before adjourning in order to allow Bairstow and the NPL to perform more detailed calculations based on wind-tunnel tests on a specially made model of R101 in its final form. This evidence was presented over three days ending on 5 December 1930. The final report was presented on 27 March 1931. The inquiry examined most aspects of the design and construction of R101 in detail, with particular emphasis on the gasbags and the associated harnessing and valves, although very little examination of the problems that had been encountered with the cover was made. All the technical witnesses provided unhesitating endorsement of the airworthiness of the airship prior to its flight to India. An examination was also made of the various operational decisions that had been made before the airship undertook its final voyage. The possibility of the crash having been the result of a prolonged loss of gas caused by leakage or loss through the valves was discounted since this explanation did not explain the airship's behaviour during its last moments: moreover the fact that the officers on duty had changed watch routinely implied that there had been no particular cause for alarm a few minutes before the crash. The recent change of watch was considered to be a possible contributory factor to the accident, since the new crew would not have had time to get the feel of the airship. It was also considered most unlikely that the accident had been solely caused by a sudden downdraught. A sudden and catastrophic failure was seen as the only explanation. The inquiry discounted the possibility of structural failure of the airframe. The only major fracture found in the wreckage was at the rear of the new framework extension but it was considered that this had either occurred on impact or more probably been caused by the intense heat of the subsequent fire. The inquiry came to the conclusion that a tear had probably developed in the forward cover, this in turn causing one or more of the forward gasbags to fail. Evidence presented by Professor Bairstow showed that this would cause the R101 to become too nose-heavy for the elevators to correct. The want of sufficient altitude was considered by the R101 Enquiry and must be considered given that the aircraft was flying in an area of reducing atmospheric pressure. The same evening, the ''Graf Zeppelin'' at Frankfurt was reading 400 feet high. A similar error over France would have put the R101 400 feet lower than her intended height. The altimeter could have been corrected while flying across the channel by timing the flare drop before ignition, but over France there was no way to determine altimeter correction. Sightings by observers reporting very low altitudes across France and the belief by the crew that they were at a safe altitude according to the altimeter could both be true. The question of sufficient altitude was considered by the R101 Enquiry but not the attendant issue of altimeter correction. The cause of the fire was not established. Several hydrogen airships had crashed in similar circumstances without catching fire. The inquiry thought that it was most probable that a spark from the airship's electrics had ignited escaping hydrogen, causing an explosion. Other suggestions put forward included the ignition of the
calcium Calcium is a chemical element with the symbol Ca and atomic number 20. As an alkaline earth metal, calcium is a reactive metal that forms a dark oxide-nitride layer when exposed to air. Its physical and chemical properties are most similar to ...
flares carried in the control car on contact with water, electrostatic discharge or a fire in one of the engine cars, which carried petrol for the starter engines. All that is certain is that it caught fire almost at once and burned fiercely. In the extreme heat, the fuel oil from the wreck soaked into the ground and caught fire; it was still burning when the first party of officials arrived by air the next day. The inquiry considered that it was "impossible to avoid the conclusion that the R101 would not have started for India on the evening of October 4th if it had not been that matters of public policy were considered as making it highly desirable that she should do so", but considered this to be the result of all concerned being eager to prove the worth of R101, rather than direct interference from above.


Aftermath

The crash of R101 ended British interest in dirigibles during the pre-war period. Thos W Ward Ltd of
Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...
salvaged what they could of the wreckage, the work continuing through 1931. Although it was stipulated that none of the wreckage should be kept for souvenirs, Wards made small dishes impressed with the words "Metal from R101", as they frequently did with the metal from ships or industrial structures on which they had worked. The Zeppelin Company purchased five tons of duralumin from the wreck. The airship's competitor, R100, despite a more successful development programme and a satisfactory, although not entirely trouble-free, transatlantic trial flight, was grounded immediately after R101 crashed. The R100 remained in its hangar at Cardington for a year whilst the fate of the Imperial Airship programme was decided. In December 1931, the R100 was broken up and sold for scrap. At the time, the Imperial Airship Scheme was a controversial project because of the large sums of public money involved and because some doubted the utility of airships. Subsequently, there has been controversy about the R101's merits. The extremely poor relationship between the R100 team and both Cardington and the Air Ministry created a climate of resentment and jealousy that may have rankled. Nevil Shute Norway's autobiography was serialised by the '' Sunday Graphic'' on its publication in 1954 and was misleadingly promoted as containing sensational revelations, and the accuracy of his account is a cause of contention among airship historians. Barnes Wallis later expressed scathing criticism of the design although they may in part reflect personal animosities. Nevertheless, his listing of Richmond's "overweening vanity" as a major cause of the debacle and the fact that he had not designed it as another say little for his objectivity. On 27 November 2014, 84 years after the disaster,
Baroness Smith of Basildon Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knig ...
, together with members of the Airship Heritage Trust, unveiled a memorial plaque to the R101 in St Stephens Hall in the Palace of Westminster.


In popular culture

* The ''
Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...
'' audio play ''
Storm Warning At sea, a storm warning is a warning issued by the National Weather Service of the United States when winds between 48 knots (89 km/h, 55 mph) and 63 knots (117 km/h, 73 mph) are occurring or predicted to occur soon. The wi ...
'' is set aboard R101 during its voyage, with the
Eighth Doctor The Eighth Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the BBC science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. He is portrayed by Paul McGann. The character was introduced in the 1996 TV film ''Doctor Who'', a back-door pilo ...
's new companion
Charley Pollard Charlotte Elspeth Pollard, or simply Charley, is a fictional character played by India Fisher in a series of audio plays produced by Big Finish Productions, many of which were broadcast on BBC Radio 4 Extra, BBC Radio 7, based on the long-runni ...
being a passenger on the airship; her time with the Doctor leaves him conflicted when he realises that historical records suggest that Charley was meant to die on R101 if he had not saved her. * R101 figured prominently in the book ''The Airmen Who Would Not Die'' by
John G. Fuller John Grant Fuller, Jr. (November 30, 1913 – November 7, 1990) was a New England-based American author of several nonfiction books and newspaper articles, mainly focusing on the theme of extraterrestrials and the supernatural. For many years ...
(), which tells of a purported psychic vision of the disaster years before by medium Eileen J. Garrett, and a seance with the deceased officers after the disaster. * R101 is the subject of the rock opera ("songstory") ''
Curly's Airships ''Curly's Airships'' is a double CD by Judge Smith, released in October 2000. Smith regards the album as a new form of narrative rock music, which he calls "songstory". ''Curly's Airships'' tells about the R101 airship, crashing in France durin ...
'' (2000) by
Judge Smith Christopher John Judge Smith (born 1 July 1948), is an English songwriter, author, composer and performer, and a founder member of progressive rock band Van der Graaf Generator. Initially working under the name Chris Judge Smith, he has been kn ...
. * R101 has been featured in the TV series, '' Britain's Greatest Machines with Chris Barrie'' on the National Geographic Channel. * The
Iron Maiden Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. While fluid in the early years of the band, the lineup for most of the band's history has consisted of Harri ...
song " Empire of the Clouds" composed by
Bruce Dickinson Paul Bruce Dickinson (born 7 August 1958) is an English singer who has been the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Iron Maiden from 1981 to 1993 and 1999–present. He is known for his wide-ranging operatic vocal style and energetic stage ...
and featured on the 2015 album ''
The Book of Souls ''The Book of Souls'' is the sixteenth studio album by English heavy metal band Iron Maiden, released in 4 September 2015. It is the band's first studio double album, and also their longest to date, with a total length of 92 minutes and 11 s ...
'', is about the R101 and its final flight. * The
Monty Python Monty Python (also collectively known as the Pythons) were a British comedy troupe who created the sketch comedy television show '' Monty Python's Flying Circus'', which first aired on the BBC in 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over four ...
sketch "Historical Impersonations" features Napoleon (
Terry Jones Terence Graham Parry Jones (1 February 1942 – 21 January 2020) was a Welsh comedian, director, historian, actor, writer and member of the Monty Python comedy team. After graduating from Oxford University with a degree in English, Jones and ...
) as the R101 disaster. * In John Crowley's 1991 novella " Great Work of Time," the destruction (or non-destruction) of R101 is one of the linchpin events whose occurrence (or non-occurrence) marks a particular branching point of the possible timestream which ends the novel. * The progressive rock band
Lifesigns Lifesigns are an English progressive rock band, first conceived by lead singer and keys player John Young in 2008. By 2014, the band's lineup included Steve Rispin as their sound engineer, Jon Poole on bass and vocals, Martin "Frosty" Beedle on ...
' 2017 album ''Cardington'' features both the R101 and its hangar, both on the artwork and on the title track.


Specifications (R101 after extension)


See also

*
List of airship accidents The following is a partial list of airship accidents. It should be stated that rigid airships operate differently than blimps which have no rigid structure. See also * List of ballooning accidents References {{DEFAULTSORT:List of Ai ...
*
RAF Cardington The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...


References


Notes


Citations


Bibliography

* Chamberlain, Geoffrey. ''Airships: Cardington.'' Lavenham, Suffolk, UK: Terence Dalton Ltd., 1984. . * Fuller, John G. ''The Airman Who Would Not Die.'' New York: Putnam & Sons, 1979. . * Gilbert, James. ''The World's Worst Aircraft.'' Walton-on-Thames, UK: Michael Joseph, Third Edition 1975. . * Grimwood, Terry
"R101: The Kesgrave Connection" (Essay).
''kesgrave.org.uk.'' Retrieved: 27 August 2010. * * Higham, Robin. ''The British Rigid Airship, 1908-1931.'' G.T. Foulis & Co Ltd, London, UK 1961. * Masefield, Peter. ''To Ride The Storm: The Story of the Airship R101.'' London: William Kimber, 1982. . * Meager, Captain George F. ''My Airship Flights 1915–1930.'' London: William Kimber, 1970. . * Morpurgo, J.E. ''Barnes Wallis: A Biography.'' London: Longman, 1982 (2nd edition). . * Meyer, Henry Cord. ''Airshipmen Businessmen and Politics 1890–1940, Smithsonian Institution Press.'' Washington D.C. and London, 1991. . *
"Report of the R101 Inquiry."
London: HMSO, 1931. via www.bedfordraob.org.uk * Shute, Nevil. '' Slide Rule: Autobiography of an Engineer.'' London: William Heinemann, 1954. . * Sprigg, C. ''The Airship: Its Design, History, Operation and Future''. London: Samson Low, Marston & Co, 1931. * Swinfield, John. ''Airship: Design Development and Disaster''. London: Conway, 2012. * Venty, Arthur Frederick and Eugene M. Kolesnik. ''Airship Saga''. Poole, Dorset, UK: Blandford Press, 1982. . * Wintringham, T. H.br>"The Crime of R101."
''Labour Monthly,'' December 1930.


Further reading

* * *


External links

*


Britain's Million-Pound Monster Comes to London
Newsreel A newsreel is a form of short documentary film, containing news stories and items of topical interest, that was prevalent between the 1910s and the mid 1970s. Typically presented in a cinema, newsreels were a source of current affairs, informa ...
footage of the R101, probably of the test flight on 12 October 1929.
List of documents held at the National Archives
{{Authority control Airships of the United Kingdom Rigid airships 1930 in France 1930 in the United Kingdom Aviation accidents and incidents in 1930 Accidents and incidents involving balloons and airships