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The '''Spy gondola''', '''Spy basket''', '''Observation car''' or '''sub-cloud car''' ({{lang-de|Spähgondel}} or {{lang|de|''Spähkorb''}}) was a byproduct of ''Peilgondel'' development (a gondola to weight an airship's radio-locating antenna). They were used almost entirely by the Germans in the [[World War I|First World War]] on their military [[airship]]s. The spy basket could be lowered from above through the cloud deck several hundred metres,<ref name=Varese2002>[[#Varese2002|Varese2002]] citing Captain [[Ernst A. Lehmann]]'s book</ref> in order to inconspicuously observe the ground and to help navigate the airship.<ref name=wikide>[[#wikide|Editors of German wikipedia]]</ref> |
The '''Spy gondola''', '''Spy basket''', '''Observation car''' or '''sub-cloud car''' ({{lang-de|Spähgondel}} or {{lang|de|''Spähkorb''}}) was a byproduct of ''Peilgondel'' development (a gondola to weight an airship's radio-locating antenna). They were used almost entirely by the Germans in the [[World War I|First World War]] on their military [[airship]]s. The spy basket could be lowered from above through the cloud deck several hundred metres,<ref name=Varese2002>[[#Varese2002|Varese2002]] citing Captain [[Ernst A. Lehmann]]'s book</ref> in order to inconspicuously observe the ground and to help navigate the airship.<ref name=wikide>[[#wikide|Editors of German wikipedia]]</ref> |
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The ''Peilgondel'' developed by [[Juray]] served as a heavy [[plumbbob]] for an airship's radio antenna. The wind would move and bend a freely hanging antenna, hindering its function. Added weight reduced this movement. Juray then further developed the ''Peilgondel'' into manned spy gondola.<ref name=wikide/> |
The ''Peilgondel'' developed by [[Paul Juray]] served as a heavy [[plumbbob]] for an airship's radio antenna. The wind would move and bend a freely hanging antenna, hindering its function. Added weight reduced this movement. Juray then further developed the ''Peilgondel'' into manned spy gondola.<ref name=wikide/> |
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== Use == |
== Use == |
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Revision as of 08:43, 29 November 2010
The Spy gondola, Spy basket, Observation car or sub-cloud car (German: Spähgondel or [Spähkorb] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)) was a byproduct of Peilgondel development (a gondola to weight an airship's radio-locating antenna). They were used almost entirely by the Germans in the First World War on their military airships. The spy basket could be lowered from above through the cloud deck several hundred metres,[1] in order to inconspicuously observe the ground and to help navigate the airship.[2]
The Peilgondel developed by Paul Juray served as a heavy plumbbob for an airship's radio antenna. The wind would move and bend a freely hanging antenna, hindering its function. Added weight reduced this movement. Juray then further developed the Peilgondel into manned spy gondola.[2]
Use
Spy baskets were used on, among others, Schütte-Lanz and Zeppelin airships.[3] As of 1997[update], it was not always certain which airships used them: the blueprints for LZ 62 (L 30) and LZ 72 (L 31) included the spy basket operating plant but the German Navy was no longer installing them at that time; however a fish-shaped spy basket can be seen on photographs of the German Army LZ 83 (tactical number LZ 113).[4] The Imperial War Museum exhibits a Zeppelin observation car that was found near Colchester after the Zeppelin air-raid of 1916-09-02 which is believed to have fallen from the LZ 90. After the war the Americans experimented with spy baskets on the USS Akron and USS Macon.[5]
Zeppelin spy basket development and use
Captain Ernst A. Lehmann, the German airship captain, described in his book The Zeppelins how he and Baron Gemmingen, Count Zeppelin's nephew, had developed the device. To test the prototype he blindfolded the helmsman of the airship and allowed himself to be lowered by a winch from the bombroom in a modified cask, equipped with a telephone. Hanging some 500 feet (150 m) below the airship using a compass he could tell the helmsman which bearing to take and effectively drive the airship.[6] He later recounted how, while returning from the aborted raid on London in March 1916[7] in the Z 12, Baron Gemmingen insisted on being the first to use it on their secondary target, Calais. The basket was equipped with a wicker chair, chart table, electric lamp, compass, telephone,[7] and lightning conductor. With the Zeppelin sometimes within, sometimes above the clouds and unable to see the ground, Gemmingen in the hanging basket would relay orders on navigation and when and which bombs to drop. The Calais defenders could hear the engines but their searchlights and artillery fire did not reach the airship.[6]
LZ26's basket was lowered from the airship on a specially constructed tether 1000 metres long;[6] other airships may have used one approximately 750 metres long.[7] The tether was high grade steel with a brass core insulated with rubber to act as the telephone cable.[6]
Despite Gemmingen reporting a feeling of loneliness while being lowered and losing sight of the airship, crewmen would nevertheless volunteer for this duty because it was the one place they could smoke.[7]
Notes
- ^ Varese2002 citing Captain Ernst A. Lehmann's book
- ^ a b Editors of German wikipedia
- ^ The Aerodrome Forum
- ^ Horn, Andreas
- ^ DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY -- NAVAL HISTORICAL CENTER USS Macon (ZRS-5)
- ^ a b c d Lehmann, The Zeppelins
- ^ a b c d Syon 2007 page 104
References
- "Data wanted for Zeppelin "SpahKorb", spybasket/sub-cloud car". The Aerodrome Forum. 2000. 2000-12-27. Retrieved 2009-05-11.
- Guillaume de Syon (2007). Zeppelin!: Germany and the Airship, 1900–1939. Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 0801867347.
- Horn, Andreas (1997). "L-30" (in German). Zeppelin-Gruppe Tondern. Retrieved 2009-05-11.
- "Forum Eerste Wereldoorlog" (in Dutch). 2006-07-24. Retrieved 2009-05-11.
{{cite web}}:|first=missing|last=(help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) photographs of spy baskets in action, museum exhibits and correspondences (Dutch and English) - Editors of German wikipedia. Spähkorb – Wikipedia
- Lehmann, Ernst A.; Mingos, Howard. Zeppelin3. The Zeppelins. Chapter III REASONS FOR THE LONDON RAIDS
External links
- German Wikipedia. photograph of the manned Juray fish-shaped spy gondola
