Lighter Than Air Read online

  Henri Giffard.

  After rising to 6000 feet (1828 metres), and as night was approaching, he extinguished the firebox, vented off the steam and landed successfully at Elancourt, near Trappes.

  Just a few years later, the earliest known aerial photographs were taken over Paris in 1858 by Nadar, whose real name was Felix Tournachon (1820–1910). The Franco-Italian War of 1859 heralded the return of military ballooning by French forces after a gap of more than half a century3, with a short series of reconnaissance flights in hot-air balloons by the French aeronaut Eugène Godard (1827–1890) during the Battle of Solferino. The event was reported upon by many European newspapers, including the Irish Times:

  ‘Having first mounted on the campanile to take the bearings and make himself somewhat acquainted with the country, he entered his little skiff and went up in the air with a regularity which, according to those who saw the ascent, showed that he was master of his eccentric conveyance.’4

  The First American Army Balloon Corps was formed on 1 October 1861, with five balloons and sixty men. Between 1861 and 1863 at least ten balloons were used for observation in the American Civil War, including the Atlantic, Saratoga, Enterprise, Intrepid, Washington, Union, Excelsior, United States, Eagle and Constitution. Balloons were present at the battles of Manassas, Bull Run, Fair Oaks, Chancellorsville, Seven Pines and Fredericksburg, where they were particularly of use in directing artillery fire. The first telegraph message to be transmitted from a balloon was sent by the American aeronaut Thaddeus Lowe (1832–1913)5 from the balloon Enterprise on 18 June 1861. A prominent Union officer, Major General William Farrar “Baldy” Smith, later noted, ‘the signals from the balloon have enabled my gunners to hit, with a fine degree of accuracy, an unseen and dispersed target area.’6 Then, on 3 August, John La Mountain (1830–1878) ascended in a captive balloon from the deck of the gunboat Fanny, to observe Confederate positions on the shores of Hampton Roads.7

  A very obviously staged photograph of Nadar.

  The French aeronaut Eugene Godard.

  Lowe ascends at Fair Oaks on 31 May 1862.

  At the Battle of Richmond, in June 1862, it was reported in the Irish Times8 that the Federal forces sent up a balloon which supplied General McClellan with information by telegraph. It was discovered that even from a height of 200 feet (61 metres), an observer with a good telescope could spy on enemy activity as much as five miles (eight kilometres) away. Attempts were also made with regard to aerial photography. A converted coal barge, the George Washington Parke Custis, was used to convey and also tow balloons along the Potomac River, and may be termed the first operational aircraft carrier, or more accurately, ‘the first surface vessel to be specifically configured for the operation of an aerial device.’9 The greatest drawback was the requirement of heavy equipment needed to generate gas on-site, which was time consuming and cumbersome. The famous rigid airship constructor, Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin (1838–1917), there as a Prussian military observer, made his first ascent in August 1863 at St Paul, Minnesota. The Confederacy had also attempted to release a reconnaissance balloon from the steamship Teaser on the James River in 1862. Legend has it that it was manufactured from silk dresses patriotically donated by southern belles, but the true story is much more prosaic and it was actually made from raw silk at Savannah, Georgia.10

  In 1870–71, during the Siege of Paris, balloons made sixty-six flights, carrying 164 passengers, 381 carrier pigeons, five dogs, three million letters and other cargo over the encircling Prussian Army between September 1870 and January 1871.11 The letters were written on rice paper to save weight and included communications from the author’s great-grandfather’s Paris office. The Irish Times Military Correspondent sent ‘Balloon News’ from Paris by means of telegraph from Rouen, describing combat under the walls of the city which had happened only a few days before. Five of the balloons were captured by the Prussians and two were lost at sea. Three captive balloon stations were also established in the city, from which ascents for the purpose of reconnaissance were made. The French statesman and future Prime Minister, Léon Gambetta, escaped from Paris in a balloon on 7 October 1871.

  A model of the George Washington Parke Custis. (Mariners Museum, Newport News)

  The Prussian Army also formed two Luftschiffer detachments with the advice and direction of the English balloonist, Henry Coxwell, but these were soon disbanded. Some years earlier, Coxwell had demonstrated to German officers in Berlin the practicability of dropping bombs from a balloon.12 Indeed, he maintained his interest in military ballooning right to the end of his long life, as not long before he died, on 5 January 1900, at the age of eighty, one of his last letters to the press was on the subject of the use of balloons in the Boer War.13

  Perhaps inspired by the Parisian airmail, in March 1874, the German Postmaster General, Heinrich von Stephan, and founder of the World Postal Union, wrote a prophetic article on ‘World Postal Service and Airship Travel’ in which he stated:

  ‘Providence has surrounded the entire world with navigable air. This vast ocean still lies empty and wasted today, and is not yet used for human transportation.’14

  The Balloon Neptune during the Siege of Paris.

  Count von Zeppelin read this and afterwards was inspired to make some notes in his diary:

  ‘Thoughts about an airship. The craft would have to compare in dimensions with a large ship. The gas volume so calculated that the weight of the craft would be supported except for a slight excess. The ascent will then take place through forward motion of the machine, which will force the craft, so to speak, against the upward inclined planes. The gas compartments will be divided into cells which can be filled and emptied individually.’15

  Thoughts were also turning to a more organised military use of the air in France, with the formation of L’Éstablissement Central de Aérostation Militaire, at Meudon, to the south-west of Paris. Its first director was Captain Charles Renard, who would, within a few years, make airship history. Another French officer with an interest in aeronautics, Captain F. Ferber, summed up the challenge well: ‘To design a flying machine is nothing; to build one is nothing much; to try it in the air is everything.’16

  First Steps in England

  During these years the British Army, or at least a few technically minded officers, had become more aware of the benefits of ‘airmindedness’. In the 1850s, Henry Coxwell tried to interest the authorities in using balloons in the Crimea and elsewhere. Apart from some discussion and swift rejection of the topic of military ballooning by a War Office committee in 1854, it was not considered seriously until 1862. Lieutenant George Grover, RE,17 wrote two well-argued papers on the military use of balloons, which were published in the professional journal of the Royal Engineers. He firstly posed the question:

  ‘Are balloons capable of rendering sufficient service to an army, engaged in active operations, to make it worthwhile to authorise their employment as one of the resources of modern warfare?’18

  He analysed the possible uses of balloons and rapidly dismissed the notions of either dropping explosive devices on enemy-held positions, or of transporting supplies into a besieged fortress or town, because no means of steering or motive power had been devised. He regarded the potential for, ‘assisting reconnoitring officers’ as having much greater potential, even from an elevation of a few hundred feet. He contended that they had not been employed by the British Army because of an overestimate of the problems involved and a lack of appreciation of the advantages. He listed the perceived problems as – vulnerability to ground fire, difficulty of transportation to a suitable operational site, adequate provision of gas in the field, the training of sufficient aeronauts and the general belief that ballooning was dangerous. He dealt with all of these in turn and answered all the points at issue very lucidly and clearly, coming to the following conclusion:

  ‘The subject is certainly worthy of the consideration of the Scientific Corps of the English [sic] Army, more particularly in the pre
sent day, when the resources of science are so especially directed towards the attainment of success in all military operations.’19

  George Edward Grover of the Royal Engineers was an early advocate of Air Power.

  Captain Frederick Beaumont, RE,20 who had observed the use of balloons by the Federal forces in the American Civil War, also wrote a paper for the same journal in which he described the equipment used by the Union Army in some detail. His conclusions were as follows:

  ‘I shall finish with a few remarks on the apparatus I would recommend for experimental purposes. Though for actual use, I think the larger sized balloon the best; a capacity of 13,000 cubic feet would give sufficient buoyancy for experiment. I would alter, however, the shape of the envelope, as the one commonly used is the worst that could be devised for the purpose [round or pear-shaped]; in the case of a free ascent, shape matters little, as the machine must go with the wind, but when the balloon is anchored it is of paramount importance to present the least possible surface to the action of the aft. I would, therefore, give to the balloon a cylindrical form, and to the car a boat shape, and I believe that with the decreased resistance offered, such stability might be obtained as to allow of ascents being made in weather that, with the old shape, would preclude their being thought of. I would also have the whole of the network and the guys of silk, for the sake of lightness. Comparatively speaking, the first cost would be unimportant, and with care they would last a long time, while, if it was thought desirable, common cord might be used for ordinary ascents, and the silk ones brought out only in case of great altitude being required. A very thin wire would enable telegraphic communications to be kept up, if necessary, with the ground, and an alphabetical instrument would place the means of doing so within anybody’s reach. The cost of an apparatus, perfect in every respect, would be about £500, and one for experimental purposes might be got up for much less. The officer in charge of it would require to have practical experience, but his assistants might be men taken from the ranks, and a few hours would make them sufficiently acquainted with their duties. The management of a balloon would seem to be a simple operation, and in perfectly calm weather when everything goes well, so it is; but to feel confident under adverse circumstances, and to know exactly what to do, and how to do it when difficulties arise, can be the result only of experience. It has been supposed that the swaying motion of a balloon when tied to the earth would occasion a nausea in some people akin to seasickness. I do not think this would be the case (with me it certainly was not so), as, if the notion were so great, fear would in all probability overcome any other feeling, and, at the same time under such circumstances, it would be useless to think of observing. I hope that the capabilities of balloons for military reconnaissances may receive a fair test, with properly prepared apparatus, as, should it be suddenly required to use them, it is quite possible that want of practice would turn what should have been a success into a failure, and the faults of the executive would be borne by the system. I am confident myself, that under certain circumstances, balloons would be found useful, and no one could say after all, more against them than that, like the fifth wheel to the coach, they were useless.’21

  The following year, 1863, Grover and Beaumont, along with Henry Coxwell, ascended from the Queen’s Parade at Aldershot in the balloon Evening Star, which was inflated with coal-gas; later alighting in Milford, near Godalming in Surrey, where they were hospitably entertained by the local vicar. Ascents were also made from the grounds of the Royal Arsenal at Woolwich, which, after due consideration, the Ordnance Select Committee deemed to have sufficient promise to be allowed to continue as a series of trials. Investigations were made by the War Office Chemist, Professor Frederick Abel,22 concerning the generation of hydrogen and the most suitable material for balloon fabric. By 1865 it had been concluded that the expense did not justify further research at that stage, the committee being of the opinion that:

  ‘In special cases, particularly in siege operations connected with either attack or defence, balloon reconnaissance performed by experienced officers with powerful telescopic glasses would afford most useful information, but they are not prepared to recommend the special preparation of balloon equipment in times of profound peace.’23

  Coxwell’s ascent in the balloon Mammoth from the grounds of Crystal Palace in September 1862.

  However, following the successful use of balloons in the Franco-Prussian War in 1870–71, as described earlier, a sub-committee of the Royal Engineers Committee was formed (consisting of Abel, Beaumont and Grover) to have a further look at the possibilities. A gas furnace for the production of hydrogen was constructed at Woolwich Dockyard in 1873 and it was discovered that this method would be too cumbersome for use in the field. Lieutenant Charles Watson, RE, who replaced Beaumont, worked out a scheme for aerial support to be given to an expedition against the Ashanti, along with devising a portable gas apparatus which used sulphuric acid and zinc. This fell down on cost grounds. In 1875, the use of steel cylinders to transport gas was first proposed, but not developed further at that stage. Experiments with free and captive balloons were once more carried out at Woolwich Arsenal in 1878 under the command of Captain R.P. Lee, RE and Captain J.L.B. Templer, 2nd Middlesex Militia (later the 7th Battalion King’s Royal Rifle Corps), who had his own balloon, Crusader, filled by coal-gas. In fact, from 23 August 1878, Templer was even granted 10 shillings (50p) a day flying pay for services as an instructor – though only on actual flying days. The Times reported ascents made by Templer in Crusader and also the smaller balloon, Pioneer. It noted that Templer had lately been carrying out private experiments in Crusader, studying the prevailing winds to enable him to predict ‘very nearly’ the course his balloon would pursue, ‘which will probably be turned to advantage in future campaigns.’24 He was described as:

  ‘Tall, powerful, dark, of aspect stern and forbidding, not always popular with superiors by virtue of his disregard of regulations and impatience with official delays and obstructions, but a man who usually got his way.’25

  James Lethbride Brooke Templer.

  It is also worthy of note that, as an officer in the militia, rather than being a regular, and in his early 30s, James Templer could devote more of his time to the rather esoteric subject of military ballooning instead of being forced to consider a career pattern in the Royal Engineers, which would have perforce demanded that he undertake a broader range of postings. The sum of £71 (from an initial allocation of £150) was spent on the balloon Pioneer – the envelope of which was made from specially treated and varnished cambric – which took to the air for the first time on the same day that Templer was awarded his flying pay. This compared very favourably with the £1200 suggested by Coxwell in 1873 as the price of a balloon for service in the Ashanti War. Pioneer was taken to the Easter Review of Volunteers at Dover by Templer and Captain Henry Elsdale, RE,26 in 1879, (in which year the unit was established as the Balloon Equipment Store) and to the Volunteers Field Day at Brighton in 1880. The balloon was filled from the nearest gas works. Elsdale sat in the basket while Templer travelled in the towing wagon. On 24 June 1880 came the earliest recorded use of a balloon detachment on manoeuvres at Aldershot, which was repeated in 1882. Experimental work was directed at the type of gas used, suitable fabric for the envelopes, improving the technique and practice of filling balloons and the whole question of transport. ‘A thoroughly sound and reliable fleet’27 of five balloons was established, including Sapper, Heron, Fly and Spy, with a few officers and men trained to use them. Heron’s envelope was made from goldbeaters skin, (an explanation of the manufacture of goldbeater’s skin will be found in Appendix 2) while Sapper’s was of silk treated with linseed oil; in the construction of the latter, Templer was assisted by Lieutenant J.E. Capper, RE, who had just completed the Army Engineering Course at Chatham and was awaiting a posting to India with the Bengal Sappers. He was recruited by Templer because of his mathematical ability, but his tough and forceful character impressed the o
lder man.28 Capper himself later commented, ‘I was permitted to help, as even then I believed in the military future of balloons. We designed and made the first military balloon in England.’29 He will feature in this account again. In 1882 the store was moved to Chatham, and a small factory, depot and school of instruction were established there.

  Meanwhile, Templer had experienced just how dangerous aerial activity could be; on 10 December 1881 he invited Walter Powell, the MP for Malmesbury, and James Agg-Gardner, the MP for Cheltenham, for a flight in the government-owned balloon Saladin. They departed Bath and headed towards Dorset:

  ‘Crewkerne was presently sighted, then Beaminster. The roar of the sea gave the next indication of the locality to which the balloon had drifted and the first hint of the possible perils of the voyage. A descent was now effected to within a few hundred feet of earth, and an endeavour was made to ascertain the exact position they had reached. The course taken by the balloon between Beaminster and the sea is not stated in Captain Templer’s letter. The wind, as far as we can gather, must have shifted, or different currents of air must have been found at the different altitudes. What Captain Templer says is that they coasted along to Symonsbury, passing, it would seem, in an easterly direction and keeping still very near to the earth. Soon after they had left Symonsbury, Captain Templer shouted to a man below to tell them how far they were from Bridport, and he received for answer that Bridport was about a mile off. The pace at which the balloon was moving had now increased to thirty-five miles an hour. The sea was dangerously close, and a few minutes in a southerly current of air would have been enough to carry them over it. They seem, however, to have been confident in their own powers of management. They threw out ballast, and rose to a height of 1500 feet, and thence came down again only just in time, touching the ground at a distance of about 150 yards from the cliff. The balloon here dragged for a few feet, and Captain Templer, who had been letting off the gas, rolled out of the car, still holding the valve line in his hand. This was the last chance of a safe escape for anybody. The balloon, with its weight lightened, went up about eight feet. Mr Agg-Gardner dropped out and broke his leg. Mr Powell now remained as the sole occupant of the car. Captain Templer, who still had hold of the rope, shouted to Mr Powell to come down the line. This he attempted to do, but in a few seconds, and before he could commence his perilous descent, the line was torn out of Captain Templer’s hands. All communication with the earth was cut off, and the balloon rose rapidly, taking Mr Powell with it in a south-easterly direction out to sea.’30