PLYMOUTH |
The Encyclopaedia of Plymouth History |
|
The R100 airship was manufactured by the Airship Guarantee Company, at Royal Naval Air Station, Howden, in Yorkshire, was 800 feet long and capable of a maximum speed of 80mph. It was the biggest airship in the world, with a total gas capacity of 5,500,000 cubic feet and a total horse-power of 4,200. Her engines were petrol driven. At 8.38am on the morning of Monday January 28th 1930 she left her mooring post at Cardington, Bedfordshire, under the command of Major G H Scott, for a trial flight lasting 48 hours. This was the same length of time that the airship was expected to take to cross the Atlantic from London to New York when in service. Also on board was the chairman and chief constructor of the company that built the airship, Commander Sir Dennistoun Burney, son of Admiral Sir Cecil Burney. After flying over Oxford and down the Bristol Channel, the R100 passed over Padstow, Wadebridge, Bodmin, Liskeard, Lostwithiel and Fowey, in Cornwall, before heading eastwards and heading up the English Channel to Rame Head. R100 reached Plymouth at 3.45pm and with just one engine running to maintain sufficient control, she drifted at about 30 to 40 mph over the City at less than 2,000 feet. Indeed, it was reported that one of the crew could be seen walking calmly along the ridge at the top of the airship. It looked so large that an airman at Mount Batten RAF Station is alleged to have commented: 'What a target!'. The author's Mother, now 82 years of age, can still remember seeing it pass over Ash Grove at North Prospect even though she was only four years old at the time. It must have been a significant sight for her to remember it. As the airship passed over Mount Batten Major Scott signalled to Wing-Commander S W Smith, commanding officer of the Air Station: 'Everything O.K.', which was the only communication between the two despite efforts by Mount Batten to contact the airship throughout its flight. The airship then headed off to the Channel Islands. R100 made her maiden voyage on December 16th 1929. She had three decks and could accommodate 100 passengers. The lowest deck was for the crew while the middle one was where the dining room was located, which could take 56 people at a sitting. There was an observation gallery around the outside of the dining room. The following day her engines were once again heard over Plymouth but this time it was 7pm, dark and raining. The only indication that she was present, apart from the noise of the engines, were the two white lights at her bow, the lights from the passenger gondola, and the single red light at the stern. R100 was scrapped in November 1931. The information above was as given by the Western Morning News at the time. For more accurate details of the airship itself, please visit the Airship Heritage Trust website.
|
