B-class blimp

The B class blimps were patrol airships operated by the United States Navy during and shortly after World War I. The Navy learned a great deal from the DN-1 fiasco. The result was the very successful B-type airships. Dr. Jerome Hunsaker was asked to develop a theory of airship design, Lt. John H. Towers returned from Europe having inspected British designs, the Navy sought bids for 16 blimps from American manufacturers. On 4 February 1917 the Secretary of the Navy directed that 16 nonrigid airships of Class B be procured. Ultimately Goodyear built 9 envelopes, Goodrich built 5 and Curtiss built the gondolas for all of those 14 ships. Connecticut Aircraft contracted with U.S. Rubber for its two envelopes and with Pigeon Fraser for its gondolas. The Curtiss-built gondolas were modified JN-4 fuselages and were powered by OX-5 engines. The Connecticut Aircraft blimps were powered by Hall-Scott engines.

First Flight
The first flight a B class blimp was made by the engineers who built it, Ralph Upson and Lt Preston. They successfully delivered the B.1 from the Chicago area to hangars still under construction at Wingfoot Lake near Akron Ohio.

Operational history
The Navy set up airship stations along the East Coast, at Chatham, Massachusetts, Montauk, Long Island, Rockaway Beach in NY City, Cape May, New Jersey, Norfolk, Virginia, and Key West and Pensacola, Florida. Bases were also established at San Diego, California, and Coco Solo in the Panama Canal Zone.

The 16 original B-types operated extensively from the East coast bases starting in mid-1917 mostly on training missions, but also patrol operations several were lost, and at least one was involved in a search and rescue operation for a downed Navy float plane. Three gondolas were rebuilt as B-17, -18, and -19 by Goodyear, and that firm also built one new car which appears to have been the B-20. B-types also operated from San Diego and Coco Solo.

One Chatham-based B-type was involved in spotting a U-boat and called in seaplanes to attempt an attack. The B-type airships operated some 13,500 hours and trained over 160 Naval Aviators in airship operations.

It is believed that the B-type airships were painted olive drab. Most of the "B"s were stricken soon after the Armistice though two survived until 1924.

Operators

 * United States Navy
 * United States Navy