The SSZ (Sea Scout Zero)

non-rigid airship A blimp, or non-rigid airship, is an airship (dirigible) without an internal structural framework or a keel. Unlike semi-rigid and rigid airships (e.g. Zeppelins), blimps rely on the pressure of the lifting gas (usually helium, rather than hydr ...

s or "blimps" were developed in United Kingdom during

World War I 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 ...

from the earlier SS ("Sea Scout") class. The main role of these craft was to escort convoys and scout or search for German

U-boats U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare rol ...

. A secondary purpose was to detect and destroy mines.

Design and development

The SSZ was built at the

Royal Naval Air Service The Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) was the air arm of the Royal Navy, under the direction of the Admiralty's Air Department, and existed formally from 1 July 1914 to 1 April 1918, when it was merged with the British Army's Royal Flying Corps t ...

(RNAS) airship station at

Capel-le-Ferne __NOTOC__ Capel-le-Ferne is a village situated near Folkestone, Kent. Its name derives from the phrase "Chapel in the Ferns". It had a population in 2011 of 1,884. It is perched on top of the White Cliffs of Dover. Its foremost attraction is ...

''Twenty-One Years of Airship Progress.''
flightglobal.com. Retrieved on 28 March 2009. near

Folkestone Folkestone ( ) is a port town on the English Channel, in Kent, south-east England. The town lies on the southern edge of the North Downs at a valley between two cliffs. It was an important harbour and shipping port for most of the 19th and 20t ...

to the design of three officers that were serving thereWhale (2008), p.60. as a successor to the SS class.Castle (2009) p23 Similar to other SS class types, the SSZs had an envelope of capacity containing two

ballonet A ballonet is an air bag inside the outer envelope of an airship which, when inflated, reduces the volume available for the lifting gas, making it more dense. Because air is also denser than the lifting gas, inflating the ballonet reduces the over ...

s of each;SSZ data.
Airship Heritage Trust. Retrieved on 18 March 2009. and like the SSPs, the fuel was contained in aluminium tanks slung on the axis of the envelope.Whale (2008), p.61. The design of the car was a departure from that of other SS types. It was streamlined, boat-shaped and watertight, was floored from end-to-end, and was enclosed with sides of fabric-covered 8-ply wood or aluminium. The car was comfortable and accommodated a 3-man crew – the forward position being occupied by the wireless operator/gunner with the pilot seated amidships, and the engineer was stationed at the rear. A single water-cooled

Rolls-Royce Hawk The Rolls-Royce Hawk was a British aero engine designed by Rolls-Royce in 1915. Derived from one bank of six cylinders of the Rolls-Royce Eagle, it produced 75 horsepower at 1,370 rpm. Power was progressively increased to 91 hp by Februar ...

engine was mounted on bearers above the level of the rear of the car, and drove a diameter four-bladed propeller in

pusher configuration In an aircraft with a pusher configuration (as opposed to a tractor configuration), the propeller(s) are mounted behind their respective engine(s). Since a pusher propeller is mounted behind the engine, the drive shaft is in compression in nor ...

. The SSZ design was judged superior to the SSP, which had been developed at

RNAS Kingsnorth RNAS Kingsnorth was a First World War Royal Navy air station for airships, initially operating as an experimental and training station, it later moved on to large scale production of airships. It also provided anti-submarine patrols. A number o ...

at the same time, and so the SSP was cancelled.

Operational history

The SSZ's patrolled extensively from late 1917 to late 1918. The average patrol lasted eight hours, but there were instances of flights of much greater duration – three of 25–26 hours; one of 30 h 20 min; and a record of 50 h 55 min held by ''SSZ.39'' in the summer of 1918. After the Armistice SSZ-73 became the only airship to fly under a bridge. Maj.

Thomas Elmhirst Air Marshal Sir Thomas Walker Elmhirst, (15 December 1895 – 6 November 1982), was a senior commander in the Royal Air Force in the first half of the 20th century and the first commander-in-chief of the Royal Indian Air Force upon Indian indepe ...

(CO

RNAS Anglesey RAF Mona is a Royal Air Force station near Bodffordd on the island of Anglesey, Wales. It is primarily used as a relief landing ground for RAF Valley. RAF Mona is also the home of Mona Flying Club who operate some evenings and most weekends. H ...

), piloted SSZ-73 under the

Menai Suspension Bridge The Menai Suspension Bridge ( cy, Pont y Borth, Pont Grog y Borth) is a suspension bridge spanning the Menai Strait between the island of Anglesey and the mainland of Wales. Designed by Thomas Telford and completed in 1826, it was the world's f ...

. The act did not harm Elmhurst's career. On 16 August 1918, a makeshift SSZ ship was being assembled from the old SSZ-23 envelope and a spare SS Zero car at

RNAS Howden RNAS Howden (later RAF Howden) was an airship station near the town of Howden south-east of York, England. History It was opened in March 1916 to cover the East Coast ports shipping from attacks by German U-boats during the First World War, ...

airship station.Mowethorpe, Ces, Battlebags British Airships of the First World War, 1995, Alan Sutton Publishing Limited, Phoenix Mill, Far Trupp Stroud, Gloucestershire page 84 Petrol fumes from a spillage in the car were ignited some time later by a spark when the radio equipment was being tested, and the ensuing fireball, fed by fuel and gas, completely enveloped and destroyed the old SSZ-23 envelope/spare car hybrid and

R23X class airship The British R.23X class of rigid airships were developed during World War I using the experiences gained from the 23 class, but only two of the planned four R.23X class were built: ''R.27'' and ''R.29''. Both were completed mid-1918, but just ...

''R27'' which were sharing a hangar. Although the hangar itself survived, one airman lost his life, and two further blimps that were moored nearby, ''SSZ.38'' and ''SSZ.54'', were also destroyed. SSZ 37 over ship WWI IWM Q 48005

The SSZ's greater stability in flight and longer endurance enabled them to operate in worse weather conditions than had previously been attempted, and early in 1917 all existing SS types were superseded by the SS Zero. They were turned out as fast as they could be built, and a total of 77 SSZs were produced between 1916 and 1918, two of which were acquired by France and two by the United States. The US Navy operated two SSZ's. SSZ-23 (A-1030),and SSZ-24 (A-1029), the SSZ-23 envelope was destroyed in a hangar fire Howden in 1918, SSZ-23 the car was sent from Howden to the US on 4 August 1918. SSZ-24 apparently burned at Hampton Roads in the summer of 1918. The SSZ-23 was at Cape May, NJ, for erection on 5 February 1919. The SSZ-23 was withdrawn by mid-1920.Shock, James R., U.S. Navy Airships 1915-1962, 2001, Atlantis Productions, Edgewater Florida, , pages 44-45

Operators

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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 ...

* **

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

Specifications

References

Notes

Bibliography

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External links

SS-class airships on the Airship Heritage Trust website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ssz Class Airship Airships of the United Kingdom 1910s British patrol aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1916