23 class airship
| 23 class | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| 23r with underslung Sopwith Camel | |
| Role | Training airship |
| National origin | United Kingdom |
| Manufacturer | Vickers (23r and R26), Beardmore (24r), Armstrong-Whitworth (25r) |
| First flight | 19 September 1917 |
| Number built | 4 |
The 23 class were rigid airships produced in the United Kingdom during the First World War. They were designed by Vickers, who also built the first and last of the four ships, with the other two being built by William Beardmore and Company and Armstrong-Whitworth. While the 23 class airships were never used in combat, the four ships provided many hours of valuable training and experimental data for British airship crews and designers. Although a total of 17 of these ships were contemplated at one time, only four were ever built. The 23 class was found to be significantly overweight, leading to its cancellation in favour of the more-refined R23X class.
Following proposals in July 1915 to order more airships to the same design as the 9r then being built by Vickers, on 28 August Vickers were asked to design a new class of airship based on the 9r. To facilitate rapid mass-production, the same transverse frame design as the 9r were used, but lift was increased by adding an extra bay and by making the nose and tail fuller to accommodate larger gasbags. Power was provided by four 250 hp (190 kW) Rolls-Royce Eagles. The triangular section exterior keel had a widened section amidships incorporating a bomb bay, sleeping quarters, radio room and toilet. Three gondolas were suspended from the keel. The forward gondola contained the control room and one engine driving a pair of swivelling propellors, a second amidships contained two engines each driving a fixed four-bladed pusher propeller on outriggers, and the aft gondola contained the fourth engine driving a single two-bladed pusher propeller and an emergency control car. Ballast and fuel were carried in tanks along the keel. Rudders and elevators were of the cruciform type. The design drawings were approved on 10 October 1915
Initially three examples were ordered, with one to be built by Vickers at Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria. A second, 24r, was ordered from William Beardmore and Company at Inchinnan, in Renfrewshire, Scotland and a third, 25r from Armstrong-Whitworth at Barlow, North Yorkshire. Many of the components for the ships being built by Beardmore and Amstrong. In December the Treasury approved construction of sixteen more airships, also agreeing on Government loans for the construction of additional construction sheds. One more ship was ordered form Vickers and two from Beardmore and Armstrong. However at this point the Treasury intervened, refusing to allow construction of any more airships until there were sufficient sheds to house them in.
...
Wikipedia