Cold War Type XXI Influence

The war ended before the Germans could deploy their own next wave of technology embodied by the Type XXI ''Electric'' boat, with much larger battery capacity that gave it a fast underwater speed. Until late 1944 Allied bombing had a disruptive rather than disastrous impact on the Type XXI program. The situation changed radically in 1945 when massive raids resulted in the destruction not only of U-boats still on the ways but also of completed U-boats fitting out, or, in some cases, after commissioning and while undergoing training. Thus, quite apart from the damage to construction facilities, 17 completed Type XXIs were sunk in harbour between December 31, 1944 and May 8, 1945: Hamburg - seven; Kiel - six; and Bremen - four.

In essence the Type XXI simply introduced too much that was new simultaneously and demanded too much of those involved in the program. The reasons for this were diverse. In part it was due to the impending defeat on the high seas and the desire to do something - anything - to prevent it. There was also a fascination in Germany for anything that was new and militarily impressive. With hindsight, there also appears to have been an air of unreality about many activities and decisions, some of which may have been due to the pressure of work and others plain 'woolly thinking'. Unfortunately for the Kriegsmarine, the outcome of all the pressure and cutting of corners was that the boats that were actually completed were constantly having to return to the yards for repair and modification, resulting in delays in attaining full service stratus.
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At the beginning of the Cold War, all operational submarines used diesel-electric drive. This required submarines either to surface frequently to recharge their batteries, or that they be equipped with a snorkel breathing device. The initial primary focus of submarine development, especially in the United States and the Soviet Union, was the integration of experience from analyzing and operating the German elektroboote into their fleets.

The U.S. Navy took a three-track approach to this task. The first, longer-term approach was to explore new propulsion technologies that would free submarines from the limitations of diesel-electric drive; this led to the introduction of nuclear-powered boats. The second was to develop new designs that embodied the principles of the Type XXI boats within the framework of U.S. requirements. New long-range submarines of the Tang class and short-range hunter-killer types emerged, but their numbers fell far short of the fleet’s requirements. To a great extent, however, budgetary constraints forced the U.S. Navy to pursue most vigorously the least attractive option: modifying, through the GUPPY program, as much as possible of the large existing fleet of new but obsolete submarines built during World War II for greater speed and underwater endurance. Large numbers of almost new Gato, Balao, and Tench class fleet submarines received more streamlined casings and sails, enlarged batteries, snorkels, and improved sensors to suit them for submerged operation for more extended periods.

The Soviet Union followed a somewhat different course in developing its new submarine fleet. In many ways it was far more conservative, from a design standpoint. Essentially, it chose to integrate the principles of the elektroboote into the design of updated iterations of the existing three basic types: coastal, medium-range, and long-range boats. Unlike the United States, the Soviet Union put these new designs into mass production, building 32 coastal Project 615 ( NATO-designated Quebec) boats, more than 200 Project 613 ( NATO-designated Whiskey) medium submarines, and 22 of the long-range Project 611 (NATO-designated Zulu) type.

The Royal Navy took a somewhat different approach to new submarine production immediately after World War II. Alone among Allied navies, it had direct experience in creating submarines with high underwater speed during the war, having converted several S class boats into high-speed targets for antisubmarine forces. It used that experience, plus additional information derived from study of the German elektroboote, to generate its own conversion program to build up a force of fast boats from recently completed T and A class submarines, while working to make more radical propulsion technologies reach production maturity.

The Admiralty looked into nuclear propulsion but decided to exploit the German Walther close-cycle turbine system for its non–air breathing submarines, because it seemed less expensive and closer to being ready for service. Unfortunately, British experts were under the impression that German technicians who had tested this system in a small number of experimental platforms were much closer to solving all of its problems than was really the case. The Royal Navy built two special experimental boats, the Explorer and the Excalibur, as platforms to bring the Walther system to production status; in the meantime, they built new conventional submarines that, while very reliable and generally quite effective, did not represent much of an advance on the conversions of wartime boats or the German elektroboote. The failure of the work in developing a mature Walther system left the Royal Navy no alternative but to turn to the United States for nuclear power technology when the time came for it to build its own submarines that would be free from the limitations of diesel-electric propulsion.

Essex-class aircraft carriers

As 1943 drew to a close, deployment of Essex-class aircraft carriers irreversibly tipped the scales of air power in favor of the United States and enabled Admiral Nimitz’s central Pacific offensive, code-named Granite, to progress in earnest. Carrier-based air superiority conveyed two fringe benefits: strategic mobility and relative naval supremacy. With carrier-based aircraft, Nimitz therefore had much greater strategic mobility. Conversely, without adequate air cover, the Imperial Japanese Navy’s effectiveness was greatly decreased because its transportation and communications were severely limited.

The end of treaty restrictions on the individual size and overall numbers of carriers presented the United States Navy with the opportunity to construct a carrier force incorporating all the lessons and experience from the fleet’s experiments and operations since the 1920s. The new Essex class design, derived from the earlier successful Yorktown class, featured a 25 percent larger air group, a 50 percent increase in defensive armament, machinery rearranged for better survivability, and substantially improved armor protection, most notably the addition of a 3-inch armored hangar deck. All these improvements came at a price. Overall dimensions increased by some 10 percent to meet requirements for more accommodation space, stowage for bunker and aviation fuel and munitions, and 25 percent more powerful machinery to maintain speed, while displacement rose by 37 percent.

The Essex class was a highly successful design. Improved passive protection demonstrated its value, especially in the face of kamikaze strikes that caused very serious damage to four of the class, all of which survived. The larger flight deck and deck-edge elevator greatly facilitated large-scale rapid aircraft operations. The design was large enough to accommodate bigger air groups of larger machines than envisaged originally (late war examples operated as many as 103 aircraft rather than the 91 as designed). As the war progressed, the light antiaircraft battery of Essex class carriers more than doubled in size and there was a major expansion of the radar suite. Nevertheless, by war’s end the class was very crowded, since complements had grown by 50 percent to serve the larger air groups and enhanced batteries and equipment suites.

Design: The design for this class, the largest single group of fleet carriers ever constructed, was envisaged as an improved Yorktown, incorporating a 10 percent enlargement of the air group, improved protection, subdivision, and machinery arrangements, better flight deck layout, and an increase in the antiaircraft battery. All this was achieved, but the final design was almost 30 percent larger. The midship elevator was located at the port deck edge, while installing the starboard 5-inch guns in twin mounts fore and aft of the island not only enlarged the flight deck but also increased the heavy antiaircraft battery by 50 percent. The design called for three catapults: two on the flight deck forward and the third (a transverse unit) on the hangar deck. Production shortages meant most early units of the class completed with only one catapult, either on the flight deck or in the hangar, but eventually all carried the two flight deck catapults alone. Protection was enhanced by better subdivision, arranging the machinery on the unit system, and adding armor, principally in the form of 3-inch protection on the hangar deck. Two units, the Reprisal and the Iwo Jima, were laid down but never completed, while an additional six units were authorized but never commenced construction.

Modifications: All ships received greatly enhanced light antiaircraft batteries as World War II progressed. The final arrangement included seventeen or eighteen quadruple 40mm mounts (the longer bow of the Group II vessels was a design change to allow fitting two mounts with enhanced sky arcs beneath the forward end on the flight deck instead of the single mount on the earlier vessels), and up to sixty 20mm weapons in single or twin mounts. These carriers also received updated and expanded radar suites and replaced some or all of their rigid antenna masts with whip antennae. The stowage for aviation gasoline was revised for greater protection and internal subdivision improved by extending unpierced bulkheads one deck higher. Air groups expanded to as many as 103 heavier aircraft by the end of World War II, requiring additional fuel, munitions, and crew accommodations, plus stronger arresting gear. By the end of World War II the complements of the class reached 3,385 officers and men.

Most of the class received major reconstructions, described separately. Those not reconstructed were stripped of most of their light antiaircraft battery to reduce weight and crew size. The Boxer, the Leyte, the Princeton, the Tarawa, the Valley Forge, and the Philippine Sea were converted to antisubmarine carriers between 1953 and 1956. The Boxer, the Princeton, and the Valley Forge converted to amphibious assault ships between 1959 and 1961.

Displacement: 27,200 tons (standard), 34,880 tons (full load) Dimensions: Group I 872’0” (oa), Group II 888’0” (oa) x 93’0” x 23’0” (mean), 27’6” (full load) Flight deck: 860’0” x 96’0” Machinery: Westinghouse geared turbines, 8 Babcock & Wilcox boilers, 4 shafts, 150,000 shp = 32.7 knots Bunkerage & range: 6,330 tons = 15,000 nm @ 15 knots. Aircraft: 91 Armament: 4 x twin 5” DP, 4 x single 5” DP, 8 x quadruple 40mm AA, 46 x 20mm AA Complement: 2,682

Aviation History: Schneider Trophy Race

All profiles by

Erik Chipchase

The son of a well-known French steel and arms manufacturer, Jacques Schneider was an aviation enthusiast who believed that floatplanes and flying boats were the most practical military and civilian design, since they could fly to any country with a coast, a river or a lake without requiring the construction of expensive airfields. On December 5, 1912, he declared a competition in which he appealed to manufacturers of marine aircraft to develop the world's fastest airplane. The trophy, which he called the 'Coupe d'Aviation Maritime Jacques Schneider, consisted of a silver sea wave 22 1/2 inches across, with the figures of Neptune and his three sons, over which was poised the winged, female personification of the spirit of flight, all set on a marble pedestal. In addition, the winner received 1,000 pounds sterling. The race — which soon came to be known simply as the Schneider Trophy — became one of the most prestigious annual competitions in history.

The distance flown had to be at least 150 miles over a triangular route, but prior to that Schneider expected all entries to cover a distance of 547 yards in contact with the sea. In later contests the aircraft were supposed to sit in the water for six hours to test the integrity of their floats or hulls — and to race weighed down with whatever liquid they had accumulated if they developed leaks during that time. The ultimate stake in the contest was permanent possession of the trophy, which would go to the country or pilot that could win three consecutive races within five years.

Aviation was viewed at that time as one of the most exciting developments in the Western world, and seven countries — Belgium, France, Britain, Italy, Spain, Switzerland and the United States — applied for entry in the first Schneider Trophy race, which was held at Monaco on April 16, 1913.

Although it was a gala affair, only four aircraft turned out for the actual race — all of them French, land-based airplanes with floats temporarily installed. The first to set out on the 6.4-mile course at 8 that morning was a Deperdussin, a midwing monoplane with a monocoque fuselage of three-ply tulipwood veneer, powered by a 160-hp, 14-cylinder Gnôme rotary engine, and flown by Maurice Prévost. After flying 28 laps at an average speed of 61 mph, Prévost taxied the last 500 yards before crossing the finish line, only to learn that he had been disqualified for not flying over it. An hour after Prévost took off, American pilot Charles Weymann had begun his run in one of two Nieuports entered in the race. He closed rapidly on Prévost's overall time thanks to the Nieuport's superior maneuverability, which allowed it to make tighter turns at each lap than the Deperdussin. Prévost was offered second place if he flew one more lap, but he petulantly refused.

Meanwhile, the other contenders were having their own problems. Roland Garros' Morane-Saulnier bounced on the waves, throwing water over its fuselage until it finally slowed to a halt with a waterlogged engine. Louis Gaudart's Nieuport repeatedly went 10 feet into the air only to come down again, until the plane finally plunged nose-first into the water and sank. That left only Weymann — until his oil line burst and he was forced to land just four laps short of victory. At that point Prévost changed his mind and flew the remaining lap. The 58 minutes that had elapsed between his false finish and the official one were added to his time, lowering his average speed to 45.71 mph, but he had won by default, and the trophy was proudly displayed in the headquarters of the Aero Club of France…for the first and last time.

The 1914 competition was held at Monaco again, with considerably more exhilarating results. The winning plane this time was British, Thomas O.M. Sopwith's Tabloid floatplane, powered by a 100-hp Gnôme 9V rotary engine, flown by Sopwith test pilot C. Howard Pixton at an average speed of 86.83 mph. The trophy was moved to the Royal Aero Club.

Soon afterward, World War I broke out. For the first — but hardly the last — time, a Schneider-winning racer would evolve into something more bellicose. With its floats replaced by a wheeled undercarriage, the Tabloid's simple wood, wire and canvas structure and compact configuration served as the basis for a succession of fighters, including the famous Sopwith 1 1/2-Strutter, Pup, Triplane, Camel, Dolphin and Snipe.

The next Schneider Trophy race was not held until after World War I ended on November 11, 1918. The world was still war-weary, and only three British, three French and one Italian airplane competed at Bournemouth, England, on September 10, 1919. The race was by no means well organized. Speeds could not be measured efficiently because of dense fog that endangered the contestants and made the aircraft difficult for spectators to see. The only plane to actually complete the race was an Italian Savoia S.13bis flying boat, powered by a 250-hp, 6-cylinder Isotta-Fraschini engine and flown by Guido Gianello — and he was disqualified because he had rounded a reserve boat anchored in a cove southwest of the starting point, mistaking it for one of the three official marking boats. The outraged Italian delegation was only partially mollified when the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale, which controlled the race, invited the Royal Aero Club of Italy to manage the next year's race.

When Venice hosted the 1920 Schneider Trophy between September 19 and 21, the Italians found themselves unopposed, and Luigi Bologna completed the 230.68-mile course in a Savoia S.12bis powered by a 500-hp Ansaldo V-12 engine, flying at an average speed of 105.97 mph. Venice was also the setting for the next race, on August 6 and 7, 1921 — and again it was dominated by the Italians. France entered only one plane, whose takeoff was canceled when its floats were damaged. The winner, Giovanni de Briganti, flew a Macchi M.7bis flying boat with a 280-hp Isotta-Fraschini V-6A engine through the 244.9-mile course at an average speed of 117.85 mph.

At that juncture, if Italy could win one more Schneider race, it would keep the silver trophy. The next event was held in Naples between August 10 and 12, 1922. France sent two flying boats. The Italians entered the Macchi M.17bis and a new biplane flying boat, the Savoia S.51. Britain fielded only one entry, the Supermarine Sea Lion II, also a biplane flying boat, powered by a 450-hp Napier Lion II engine. In the course of the race the S.51 crashed, killing its pilot. Adding to the Italians' setbacks was the narrow victory won by the Sea Lion, flown at an average speed of 145.72 mph by Henry C. Biard.

Britain had only a year in which to savor its victory, however, because when the next race was held at Cowes, on the Isle of Wight, on September 27 and 28, 1923, it saw another upset victory — this time by the U.S. Navy. The American entries were part of a public relations campaign being waged by both the U.S. Army and Navy at a time when funding for the military was being rapidly reduced. To counter that trend, both branches of service had financed the development of racing aircraft. Turning its attention to the prestigious Schneider Trophy, the Navy commissioned the Wright Aeronautical Corporation to produce a biplane for the race, the NW-2, but during preliminary testing its 650-hp Wright T-2 engine exploded and the plane crashed into the sea. Its pilot miraculously survived the catastrophe.

Hedging its bets, the Navy also converted its well-established Curtiss CR-2 landplane into a floatplane, raised the tailplane a few inches and enlarged the radiators to cover nearly the entire surface of the upper wing. The result, designated the CR-3, was powered by a 450-hp Curtiss CD-12 5PL engine, and Lieutenant David Rittenhouse flew the aircraft at an average speed of 177.279 mph to win the race. Second place was won by another CR-3, flown by Lieutenant Rutledge Irvine at 173.347 mph, while Biard, flying a Sea Lion III — essentially the same plane he had flown the previous year with a more powerful engine — came in third with a speed of nearly 160 mph. Although the English public warmly applauded the Americans' feat, the London Times commented critically on the unsporting manner in which the U.S. Navy had prepared for the event, remarking that British habits do not support the idea of entering a team organized by the State for a sporting event. Perhaps, but those habits were about to change.

The Schneider Trophy moved to the Western Hemisphere for the first time in 1925. It had been scheduled for Baltimore, Md., between September 19 and 21, 1924, but neither Britain nor Italy had any aircraft ready at that time, so the Americans sportingly postponed the race until October 23–26, 1925, to allow their European rivals to compete. Italy shipped two Macchi M.33 flying boats to Baltimore, while Britain pinned its hopes on the new Supermarine S.4 floatplane, a monoplane powered by a 700-hp Napier Lion engine. During a high-speed trial flight, however, the S.4 developed aileron flutter and pancaked into the Chesapeake Bay. Though its pilot, Henry Biard, bobbed to the surface, the British were left with only a Gloster III biplane. This time the U.S. Army Air Service fielded the principal American contender, a Curtiss R2C-2, powered by a 610-hp Curtiss V-1400 engine, and 1st Lt. James H. Doolittle piloted it to victory, averaging 232.573 mph over the 217-mile course. Second place went to Britain's Hubert Broad in the Gloster III, with an average of 199.16 mph.

At that point, the United States had not only surprised Europe with the performance of its Curtiss seaplanes, but it stood only one victory away from permanent possession of the trophy. The next race was scheduled for October 24, 1926. Yet at that same time, America was turning away from racing in favor of a more profitable venture, air transport, while the U.S. Congress was losing interest in allotting taxpayers' money to building military racing planes. In Europe, however, the holiday atmosphere traditionally surrounding the Schneider Trophy race was acquiring an earnest undercurrent, as national governments became involved — especially that of Fascist Italy. While U.S. Army and Navy funding was being reduced and the British and French still depended primarily on the aircraft manufacturers and commercial or private sponsors for financial support, Italian aircraft firms had the enthusiastic backing of Benito Mussolini, who had decreed that the Schneider Trophy would be won by Italy in 1926, no matter what difficulties had to be overcome.

Accepting Il Duce's challenge was Mario Castoldi, chief designer for Aeronautica Macchi, who abandoned flying boats in favor of the twin-float configuration and adopted Tranquillo Zerbi's new 882-hp Fiat AS-2 V-12 engine. This was modeled after the D-12 wet sleeve monoblock engine that Charles B. Kirkham had designed and Curtiss had built, but with several added refinements, including the ingenious use of magnesium alloys. Castoldi shipped four of his racing red M.39s to Norfolk, Va., for the 1926 race, but the new planes proved tricky to fly, as the high torque and heavy floats gave them a tendency to lean dangerously during takeoff. Moreover, one of the new engines caught fire during a trial run, while another broke a connecting rod and then failed a second time after Italian mechanics had spent a sleepless night trying to repair it.

The 1926 race was delayed until November 11, but even by then Supermarine's chief engineer, Reginald Joseph Mitchell, had not yet completed Britain's entry, while the U.S. Navy had simply provided more power to the Curtiss R3C-2 airframe by installing a new 700-hp Packard 2A-1500 engine in the R3C-3 and a Curtiss V-1500 in the R3C-4. The Americans suffered a tragic setback when one of the Navy contestants, Lieutenant Frank Conant, died after crashing his Curtiss on the way to Norfolk. Then, on the day before the race, one of the R3C-3s crashed during landing, though its pilot, Lieutenant William G. Tomlinson, survived.

During the first six laps of the race, Navy Lieutenant George T. Cuddihy broke Doolittle's record with an average speed of 239.191 mph, but in the seventh he had to drop out with a broken fuel pump, just within sight of the finish line.

Lieutenant Charles F. Schildt of the U.S. Marine Corps flew his Curtiss to a maximum of 231 mph, but he ended up settling for second place when Regia Aeronautica Major Mario de Bernardi averaged 246.5 mph, in spite of having to climb his M.39 to 600 feet in order to cool his overheating engine. Soon after crossing the finish line, de Bernardi sent Mussolini a cable announcing, Your orders to win at all costs have been carried out, and then returned home to riotous celebrations. His victory left Jimmy Doolittle as the last American to win the Schneider Trophy, and the last man to do so in a biplane. The 1927 race was held in Venice between September 25 and 26. In addition to an upgraded version of the M.39, Italy entered four Macchi M.52s, the wings of which were of shorter span than the M.39's and had moderate sweepback. Power for the M.52s was provided by a high-compression 1,000-hp Fiat AS-3 V-24 engine. Again, the new engines proved to be dangerously unreliable — one Italian pilot was killed during test flights, leaving only three pilots available once the race began: Frederico Quazetti, Arturo Ferrarin and de Bernardi.

The American Kirkham Product Corporation had been secretly preparing a plane to take part in the race, to be powered by a 24-cylinder, 1,250-hp X-2775 engine that was expected to give it a maximum speed of 300 mph. But the engine was not ready as time for the competition drew nigh, and the United States withdrew, leaving the race essentially a contest between Italy and Britain.
Britain's entries included the Short Crusader, a biplane powered by an 860-hp Bristol Jupiter 9-cylinder radial engine, which crashed and killed its pilot, H.M. Schofield. Also present were two Supermarine S.5 monoplanes and three Gloster IV biplanes, all powered by 875-hp Napier Lion VIIB V-12 engines.

The 200,000 spectators who crowded Lido beach were in for a disappointment, as all of the Italian contenders dropped out of the race due to engine failure. The winner was Royal Air Force (RAF) Flight Lt. Sidney N. Webster in a Supermarine S.5, with an average speed of 281.65 mph, followed by Flight Lt. O.E. Worsley. Mario Castoldi had met his match in Supermarine's Reginald Mitchell, and from then on the Schneider Trophy races would be essentially a competition between those two designers.

The 1927 race also turned the Schneider Trophy into the most prestigious aerial competition in the world. Webster had outpaced most land aircraft, demonstrating that the long, streamlined floats of Schneider contenders created less drag than the wheeled landing gear of many conventional aircraft. The point was brought home further when de Bernardi test flew an M.52 at 297.83 mph — a little more than two miles per hour short of the 300 mph mark.

In 1928 Jacques Schneider died and the race was canceled for the year, to resume on September 7, 1929, in the waters off Portsmouth, England. France built three aircraft for the 1929 race, but they did not stand a chance and were not entered. Germany had begun to take an interest in the competition, but the one design it had in mind never got beyond the model stage.

The principal Italian entry, Castoldi's Macchi M.67, was similar in general layout to the M.39, but its structure had been beefed up to take a much larger engine, the 1,800-hp, 57.26-liter Isotta-Fraschini Asso 1000 V-18. The Italian public was highly vocal in its concern that the hot new engine had not undergone sufficient testing before being committed to the 1929 race. But the government — especially Mussolini's ambitious Air Minister Italo Balbo — favored the M.67 as its best bet to win.
Three M.67s were built for the race, and no fewer than 27 of the Asso engines were made available for the event, some of which exploded during testing. Another unusual aspect of the M.67's design was that one float carried more fuel than the other, so that its weight would counter the torque of the M.67's three-bladed propeller — an arrangement that proved dangerous when the plane was struggling to take off. During a trial run over Lake Garda in August 1929, Captain Guiseppe Motta reached a maximum speed of 362 mph but suddenly fell into a dive and crashed. Motta did not survive.

Fiat planned to enter one C.29 floatplane, powered by a 1,000-hp AS-5 engine, but that aircraft also crashed during testing. Savoia-Marchetti's S.65 mounted two 1,000-hp Isotta-Fraschini engines in tandem, with the tailplane supported by a pair of booms and extended rear floats. Finally, there was the Piaggio-Pegna Pc.7, a shoulder-wing monoplane whose most remarkable feature was that instead of floats it had a set of hydroplanes. The plane's 1,000-hp AS-5 engine was connected by a long metal shaft to a two-blade propeller with automatically adjustable pitch — and, by means of a second shaft, to a smaller propeller, similar to that of a motorboat, under the tail. Before takeoff, the Pc.7 floated up to its wings on its watertight fuselage. For takeoff, the pilot started the engine, then a clutch engaged the tail screw and the plane started to move. It was raised above the water's surface almost instantly by the high-incidence hydroplanes. At that point, the pilot opened the normal carburetor air intake and gave full power to the engine, at the same time engaging the flight propeller, which automatically went from feathered to flight pitch. Then the pilot, straining to see through the spray from the hydroplanes, would take off. Freed of the drag and weight of floats, the Pc.7 was supposed to reach a projected maximum speed of 434.7 mph. There were allegedly some takeoff attempts, but the drive train was plagued with problems, and many pilots were unwilling to fly the Pc.7.

Ultimately, both the Pc.7 and the twin-engine S.65 were excluded from the race. When the Royal Aero Club refused to postpone the contest to allow more time for Macchi to iron out the M.67's problems, General Balbo announced that the Italian team is going to England merely to perform a gesture of chivalrous sportsmanship. Privately, he no doubt hoped against hope that one of the two M.67s might function properly just long enough to recover the trophy for Italy. Almost as an afterthought, Italy also entered a slightly redesigned Macchi M.52, the M.52R.

Britain fielded two Gloster IVs, powered by 1,320-hp Napier Lion Mk.VIID engines, and two of Reginald Mitchell's newest design, the S.6, powered by a new 1,920-hp engine developed by Rolls-Royce. Sir Henry Royce, scorning Isotta-Fraschini's attempt to gain extra power by adding more cylinders, had sat on the beach near his home with three Rolls-Royce engineers and drawn his concept for a new V-12 engine in the sand with a stick. Essentially, it was a refined version of the Curtiss D-12, but instead of taking the risky step of raising cylinder compression, as the Italians had done, Royce proposed adding a supercharger — a mechanism that would force more air-fuel mixture into the cylinders than atmospheric pressure would normally admit. The first such engine, completed in May 1929, had produced 1,545 hp at 2,750 rpm before self-destructing in 15 minutes. After a dozen more disastrous failures, Rolls-Royce's 14th R engine managed to sustain 1,850 hp for 100 minutes. On August 5, Mitchell's first S.6, with Rolls-Royce's new engine, took to the water off Calshot Castle, near Portsmouth, to begin trials.

More than a million people crowded the beach, Calshot Castle, yachts and the decks of the battleship Iron Duke as the 1929 Schneider Trophy race opened on September 7. Italian aviation enthusiasts sat transfixed beside their radios, knowing that Lieutenants Remo Cadringher and Giovanni Monti were risking their lives, as well as Italy's honor, in the cockpits of their M.67s. Cadringher started the first 217.48-mile race with a thrilling burst of speed, but as he made the first turn, smoke and fumes suddenly poured into his cockpit, and the Macchi skidded wildly as its pilot, half-blind and choking, fought to regain control. Cadringher came out of a high-speed spin to find himself over land, but he courageously brought his plane back on course and completed one 33-mile lap at 284 mph before giving up and landing. At that point, his windscreen was so hazy from the smoke that he could not see the pylons marking the turns.

Monti averaged 301.5 mph on his first circuit, but as he began the second lap a pipe in his radiator burst, filling his cockpit with steam and boiling water. With his arms and legs scalded, Monti somehow managed to land and was taken to the hospital.

In contrast to the M.67s, both Supermarine S.6s behaved perfectly. Flight Lt. Henry R.D. Waghorn took the trophy with an average speed of 328.63 mph. Flying Officer R.L.R. Atcherley averaged 325.54 mph but was disqualified from second place when the judges ruled that he had cut inside a pylon in the first lap. Italy's M.52R took the second prize by default, but Warrant Officer T. Dal Molin's average speed was an embarrassing 44.458 mph less than the winner's. Britain now stood one race away from permanent possession of the Schneider Trophy.

We have finished playing our part as sportsmen, Balbo declared during a postrace banquet. Tomorrow our work as competitors will begin. Based on the experience of the 1929 race, the authorities agreed to allow two years for the contenders to develop new aircraft. Once again, the 1931 race would be a duel between Britain and Italy, Supermarine and Macchi, Mitchell and Castoldi. And again it would be held in England, near Portsmouth.

With the backing of the Mussolini government, Balbo established a flying school, designated the Reparto Alta Velocita (High Speed Section), on Lake Garda in 1930. Its sole purpose was to put seven specially selected pilots through 18 months of training for the 1931 race. Castoldi designed his next entry around Zerbi's new Fiat AS-6 V-12 engine — or rather, two of them coupled in tandem, generating a total of 2,800 hp — which could be raised to 3,100 hp for short spurts. The engines were connected by double reduction gears and concentric shafts to two contrarotating duralumin propellers. The arrangement eliminated the torque that had made takeoffs so hazardous in the past. Each of the engines was 11 feet long, weighed 2,083.7 pounds and had two Marelli magnetos per valve.

Cooling the engines required radiators on every available surface on the plane — wings, fuselage, the front of the floats and even the struts that supported the floats. The oil tank was in the lower front cowling, and two pumps circulated the oil in two stages. Four oil coolers with filters were placed on the rear of the floats. Fuel was housed within the floats and was independently drawn to each engine, which generated power for both of the fuel pumps. The cooling system was complex and expensive, but it worked.

The Macchi racer's structure was of steel tubing covered with sheet duralumin forward of the wings, and wood with plywood covering aft, including the tail surfaces. Plywood was used for the lower part of the floats and duralumin for the upper part.

Castoldi's new contender was designated the Macchi-Castoldi M.C.72 in his honor, and five were to be produced. Three were completed in 1931, but the development program suffered a tragic setback when the first one, after reaching a speed of 375 mph, crashed, killing Giovanni Monti. The Italians petitioned for the race to be postponed, but Britain refused, effectively eliminating Italy and France — whose entry was not ready, either — from participating in the 1931 race.

Meanwhile, Reginald Mitchell had refined his S.6 further to use a new version of the Rolls-Royce R, which could generate 2,350 hp without a significant gain in weight over the 1929 model. But at first it looked as if Supermarine would not have his S.6B ready either, for the firm was low on funds, and the Air Ministry refused to spend any more money on a racing event. At that point, however, Lady Lucy Houston intervened, contributing 100,000 pounds sterling to ensure that Britain did not win the race merely by default — and to give herself a forum to castigate Britain's Labor government. Even Mussolini himself could scarcely have surpassed Lady Houston's rhetoric. Every true Briton would rather sell his last shirt than admit that England could not afford to defend herself, she declared.

Originally scheduled for the second Saturday in September, the 1931 Schneider Trophy race was held up for one day due to bad weather, but the following day, September 13, turned out sunny and clear. The two contestants, both Supermarine S.6Bs, prepared to take off from Lee-on-Solent to begin the 217.48-mile course before an audience of nearly a million, crowding the coast of Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight. As his blue and silver S.6B, S1595, was pushed off its barge near Calshot Castle, Flight Lt. John N. Boothman speculated on whether he would complete the triangular 33-mile laps seven times as planned. Even with five long fluted radiators down each side of its fuselage, he feared that his plane would be unlikely to last more than 90 minutes before the engine, which had hitherto never run longer than 27 minutes, started to melt on its mountings.

Taking off at 1:02 p.m., Boothman ran the first lap in 5 1/2 minutes, averaging 343.1 mph and reaching nearly 380 mph in the straightaways. From then on, however, his average speed gradually went down, until his seventh lap average was 337.7 mph. By that time, uneven fuel consumption had altered the trim, causing his plane to list to the left, but that was not enough to stop him from streaking over the finish line and then making a triumphant circling turn over Calshot Castle to the sound of a cheering crowd and ships' bells and whistles.

The Schneider Trophy race had ended with a bang rather than a whimper after all — in only 47 minutes, Boothman had averaged 340.08 mph, establishing the Supermarine as the fastest airplane in the world. Later that month, Royce installed an engine capable of producing 2,600 hp for short sprints in S1595, and on September 29 Flight Lt. George H. Stainforth flew it on five straight 1.9-mile runs over Southampton Water, averaging 407.5 mph and at one point hitting 415.2 mph. The S.6B was the first airplane to pass the 400 mph mark.

Although Italy's ambitions were dashed in regard to the Schneider Trophy, Castoldi continued to work on his M.C.72, in which Warrant Officer Francesco Agello finally completed a successful test flight over Lake Garda on April 10, 1933. A series of increasingly fast flights reached their climax on October 23, 1934, when Agello flew four laps in the M.C.72, at a maximum of 442.081 mph and an average of 434.7 mph, setting an absolute speed record that would not be broken until April 29, 1939, when a specially redesigned Messerschmitt Bf-109V-1 reached 469.22 mph, and an official seaplane record speed that would stand until October 1961, when a jet-powered Soviet Beriev Be-10 flying boat flew at 547 mph. Trophy or no trophy, the Italians had the last word on the subject of speed.

Over the 18 years of its existence, the Schneider Trophy race did much to influence progress in aviation, most dramatically in the increase in speed — from 45.71 mph in 1913 to 340.08 mph in 1931. A.F. Sidgreaves, managing director of Rolls-Royce, declared that it had compressed 10 years of engine development into two years. And yet the heated competition did not really fulfill the original hopes of Jacques Schneider, who had envisioned it as a means of accelerating the development of reliable flying boats for rapid air transport around the world. Instead, by becoming a quest for speed alone, the race had cost the lives of three British, two American and seven Italian pilots, and it ultimately led to the creation of more warlike aircraft than its founder had had in mind. Mario Castoldi applied the lessons he learned from the race to fighters, including the radial-engine M.C.200 Saetta, the sleek M.C.202 Folgore and the superlative M.C.205 Veltro. Rolls-Royce continued work on the engine it had built for the race, which evolved into the Merlin. Among the many great warplanes that would be powered by the Merlin was one that Reginald Mitchell, like Castoldi, evolved from his S.6B seaplane racer — a racy looking fighter that, against his personal preference, was christened the Spitfire.

This article was written by Radko Vasicek and originally published in the September 2002 issue of Aviation History.

NDRC ARMORED CAR PROJECTS

A model of the eight wheel Baker jumping vehicle

The jumping cycle of the Baker vehicle is illustrated above in the following steps: 1. Chassis squats, 2. Chassis accelerates upward, 3. Wheels accelerated upward, 4. Vehicle in air, 5. Chassis decelerated upward, and 6. Chassis rises to normal road clearance.

Above is the model of the four wheel Baker jumping vehicle. The view at the right shows the turret removed with the driver in his position. Note the different weapons illustrated in the models. The right view obviously shows a 40mm gun.

Above at the left is another view of the four wheel model without the turret. At the right is a bottom view of the four wheel model.

In the Spring of 1941, the National Defense Research Committee studied the development of a new series of armored vehicles. Referred to as the Turtle series, it included not only medium and heavy equipment, but also a highly mobile, lightly armored, vehicle suitable for air transport. A wheeled vehicle was considered to be necessary to meet the latter requirement and it was studied in two basic models. The larger, eight wheel, version was intended to carry a 3 inch gun while the smaller, four wheel, design was to be armed with a lighter weapon. The weapons under consideration included the British 17 pounder (3 inch gun) and the 40mm gun Ml. All wheels were powered on these vehicles and an hydraulic anti-recoil system was a feature of both designs. However, the most interesting aspect of the new vehicles was the method used to overcome obstacles and achieve good cross-country mobility. This was accomplished by a new independent suspension system which was designed to permit the vehicle to jump over ditches, fences, and similar obstructions. This suspension was capable of very high energy absorption and was designed to permit the chassis to squat and then be accelerated upward. The wheels would then be accelerated upward and the entire vehicle would leave the ground. Although no actual vehicle was constructed, a full scale test unit consisting of one wheel with its suspension drive, associated frame members, and hydraulic jumping apparatus was completed. Tests performed with this equipment indicated that a full scale vehicle using this design could clear a height of 49 inches or a ditch 47 feet wide at a speed of 40 miles per hour. However, under estimating the dimensions of the obstacle might have been disastrous. Although a variety of armament was considered, preliminary designs were based upon the use of the 3 inch gun for the eight wheel vehicle and the 40mm weapon for the four wheel design. The eight wheel car was designed with a wheel base of 189 inches, a width of 121 inches, and an estimated weight of approximately 20,000 pounds. The four wheel vehicle had a wheel base of 137 inches, a width of 121 inches, and an estimated weight of about 10,000 pounds. Except for the test apparatus, the program did not progress beyond the model stage. Design work on the jumping vehicle program was carried out by the Baker Manufacturing Company of Evansville, Wisconsin under OSRD contract OEMsr-524. As a result, these vehicles were frequently referred to as the Baker tank.

THE LATER WWI GERMAN GUIDED BALLISTIC MISSILE PROJECTS

As soon as the A4 was viable, the project was taken out of von Braun's hands. He and his team, it is suggested, were never entirely satisfied with it, and would happily have gone on refining their design, but Heinrich Himmler, who had previously seized control of all the secret weapons programmes, would not accept that. Von Braun turned to working on ways of increasing its range. The simplest means, he concluded, was to fit it with wings, so that it would glide in the final phase of its flight, prolonging its descent and increasing its range to 435km (270 miles), but he counted without the effects of re-entering the dense air at lower atmospheric levels. The one A4b missile which was launched successfully (the first one crashed soon after take-off) failed to re-enter cleanly and was destroyed.

The A6, which never made it past the discussion stage, was to have been an A4 fueled by SV-StoiT, made up of 94 per cent nitric acid and 6 per cent nitrous oxide, and Visol (the generic name given to a group of isobutyl-vinyl esters); it was to have 20 per cent more thrust. The A7 was a winged version of the A5, air-launched as a concept vehicle for the A9. The A8 was virtually identical to the A6 but fuelled with SV-Stoff and diesel oil, although it is also suggested that it was to have been fuelled with LOX and methanol contained in pressurized tanks, rather than employing the turbine pump to deliver them to the combustion chamber. The A9 was the A4b with modified wing planform: essentially, the horizontal fins were to have been continued forward, right to the rocket's nose, in a simple ogive, to allow it to survive re-entry; it had the motor from the A6, with a projected range of 600km (370 miles).

The final ballistic missile project, the A10, was much more ambitious in scale and had it ever materialised, would have been the first ever ICBM. The projected inter-continental ballistic missile was to have been a two-stage rocket, the first stage being based on six A4 motors linked into a common venturi, and designed to propel its second stage - either an A4 or an A9 - to an altitude of 24km (14.9 miles) before its own motor was fired, giving it a range of around 4800km (2800 miles) with a 1000kg (22001b) amatol warhead and a flight time of around 45 minutes. It is suggested that this project was first discussed as early as 1940, long before the United States entered the war, but there is no evidence that it got beyond the discussion stage. There was also talk of modifying the second-stage A9 missile to carry a pilot, who would have been ejected once he had locked the missile on a course for its target (presumably he would have been recovered by a submarine), but that idea can be dismissed as a flight of fancy.
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A6
A6 was a designation applied to a variant of the A5 test rocket which used different propellants.

Some sources indicate that it was also applied to a speculative proposal for a manned reconnaissance version of the A4b winged variant of the A4. This A6 was initially proposed to the German Air Ministry as an uninterceptable reconnaissance craft. It would be launched vertically by rocket, taking it to an apogee of 95 km (59 mi); after re-entering the atmosphere it would enter a supersonic glide phase, when its single ramjet would be ignited. It was hoped that this would provide 15 to 20 minutes of cruise at 2,900 km/h (1,800 mph) and would allow the aircraft to return to its base and make a conventional runway landing assisted by a drag chute. However, the Air Ministry had no requirement for such an aircraft and the proposal was rejected. Similar concepts (though unmanned) were produced after the war in the form of the USA's SM-64 Navaho missile and the USSR's Burya, both intercontinental cruise missiles with ramjet propulsion.

A7
The A7 was a winged design that was never fully constructed. It was worked on between 1940 and 1943 at Peenemünde for the Kriegsmarine. The A7 was similar in structure to the A5, but had larger tail unit fins (1.621 m²) in order to obtain greater range in gliding flight. Two unpowered models of the A7 were dropped from airplanes in order to test flight stability; no powered test was ever performed. The finished rocket should have produced a takeoff thrust of 15 kN and a takeoff weight of 1000 kg. The design had a diameter of 0.38 m and a length of 5.91 m.

A8
The A8 was a proposed "stretched" variant of the A4, to use storable propellants (most likely nitric acid & kerosene). The design never reached the prototype stage, but further design work was carried out after the war by a German rocket team in France as the "Super V-2". The project was eventually cancelled, but led to the French Veronique and Diamant rocket projects. Véronique is the designation of a French sounding rocket with liquid fuel drive that was developed partly by German scientists who worked in Peenemünde. The Véronique was built between 1950 and 1969 in several versions, of which the versions P2, P6 and R were only experimental models. They were made in Vernon, Eure. Véronique is of course a female first name, but is the abbreviation for Vernon-electronic too.

A9/A10
It was proposed to use an advanced version of the A9 to attack targets on the US mainland from launch sites in Europe, for which it would need to be launched atop a booster stage, the A10.

Design work on the A10 began in 1940, for a projected first flight to take place in 1946. The initial design was carried out by Ludwig Roth und Graupe and was completed on 29 June 1940. Hermann Oberth worked on the design during 1941, and in December 1941 Walter Thiel proposed that the A10 use an engine composed of six bundled A4 engines, which it was thought would give a total thrust of 180 tonnes.

Work on the A10 was resumed in late 1944 under the Projekt Amerika codename, and the A10's design was amended to incorporate a cluster of 6 A4 combustion chambers feeding into a single expansion nozzle. This was later altered to a massive single chamber and single nozzle. Test stands were constructed at Peenemunde for firings of the 200 tonne thrust motor.

It was considered that existing guidance systems would not be accurate enough over a distance of 5,000 km, and it was decided to make the A9 piloted. The pilot was to be guided on his terminal glide towards the target by radio beacons on U-boats and by automatic weather stations landed in Greenland and Labrador.

The final design of the A10 booster was approximately 65 ft (20 m) in height. Powered by a 375,000 lbf (1,670 kN) thrust rocket burning diesel oil and nitric acid, during its 50 second burn it would have propelled its A9 second stage to a speed of about 2,700 mph (4,300 km/h) and an altitude of 15 mi (24 km).

A11
The A11 (Japan Rakete) was a design concept which would have acted as the first stage of a three stage rocket, the other two stages being the A9 and A10.

The A11 design was shown by von Braun to US officers in Garmisch-Partenkirchen; the drawing was later published in 1946 by the US Army. The A11 was shown as using six of the large single-chamber engines proposed for the A10 stage, with a modified A10 second stage nested within the A11. The design also showed the winged A9, indicating a gliding landing or bombing mission. To achieve orbit, either a new "kick stage" would have been required, or the A9 would have to have been lightened. In either case, only a payload of approximately 300 kg (660 lb) could have been placed in a Low Earth Orbit.

A12
The A12 design was a true orbital rocket. It was proposed as a four-stage vehicle, comprising A12, A11, A10 and A9 stages. Calculations suggested it could place as much as 10 tonnes payload in low Earth orbit.

The A12 stage itself would have weighed around 3,500 tonnes fully fuelled, and would have stood 33 m (108 ft) high. It was to have been propelled by 50 A10 engines, fuelled by liquid oxygen and alcohol.

German battleship Gneisenau

The final design was based on that of the Mackensen class (1917) which had been planned at the end of the First World War, and as completed the Scharnhorst class heralded the return of Germany as a respectable sea power - even though small in numbers. They were first-class ships and good all-rounders - adequately armed, well armoured, good seaboats and very fast for their size. Again, as with Deutschland, weight was saved by extensive use of electric welding and put into extra armour and high-pressure machinery. Note the elevation (45°) of the 11 in gun.

Classed as battlecruisers they had retained an 11 in armament, but protection was very much on a battleship scale (14in) and speeds of 31 knots were planned. Provision for another ship (Scharnhorst) was made during the same year, and they became the Scharnhorst class. As displacement restrictions were still in force, the released figure gave 26,000 tons, but in reality they were 31,800 tons normal and 38,000 tons deep.

The straight stem was to prove inadequate, and in a seaway both vessels shipped hundreds of tons of water over the forecastle. Shortly after trials, however. Gneisenau was fitted with a new bow (Scharnhorst received hers in 1939) which, although it proved to be better, still left them wet ships forward.

These warships were often criticized for being under-gunned, but the 11 in 54 calibre piece was a first-class weapon capable of piercing all but the thickest armour. By 1941, however, plans were afoot to convert them to 15 in gunned ships. After being damaged by bombs in February 1942, it was decided to fit Gneisenau with six 15 in guns while making good the damage. Photographs were taken by reconnaissance aircraft showing her without turrets and minus her bow (with a view to lengthening the ship).

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Avro Vulcan

The hulking Vulcan was the second of Britain’s famous “V” bombers and the first such craft outfitted with a delta wing. Although intended for a possible war with the Soviet Union, it fired its only shots in anger during the 1982 Falklands conflict.

A 1946 British air staff study recommended production of a trio of new strategic bombers that combined high speed, heavy payload, and great range. The Air Ministry then issued Specification B.35/46 to that effect, and an Avro design team under Roy Chadwick came up with a unique solution. They held that a large delta configuration was the best possible solution to all three requirements, especially in providing lift and, hence, range. A prototype of the huge craft was rolled out in August 1952 as the Vulcan. It was a very streamlined airplane, with the air intakes and engines buried within the wing and tricycle landing gear. The design was strong enough to be rolled in flight, and the prototype exhibited fighter-like qualities. The only major problem encountered was buffeting at high speeds, which was corrected on production models by providing a kinked leading edge and a less swept-back wing. The Vulcan B.1 entered the service in 1957, and 45 were constructed. These were followed by 87 of the B.2 model in 1960, which had extensively modified flight-control surfaces and stronger engines. This version was also equipped to fire the nuclear- tipped Blue Steel standoff missile.

The Vulcans served capably in their roles as part of the West’s nuclear deterrent. However, when the Soviet Union finally perfected surface-to-air missile technology, the big bomber’s mission changed from high-altitude bombing to low-altitude penetration. New and better electronic countermeasures were installed, as well as an array of conventional bombs. The Vulcans were due to be phased out early in 1982 but earned a brief reprieve during the Falklands conflict with Argentina of that year, where a handful conducted very long-range bombing missions with mixed results. This memorable bomber’s replacement was the Panavia Tornado.

Variants
B.1
    The initial production aircraft. First few with straight leading edge, later retrofitted with Phase 2 (kinked) wing. Early examples finished in silver, later changed to "anti-flash" white. Many converted to B.1A standard 1959-1963. Last few unmodified B.1s in RAF service with No. 230 OCU retired by 1966. Last flight by any B.1, an engine testbed XA903, March 1979.
B.1A
    The B.1 with an Electronic Countermeasures (ECM) system in a new larger tail cone (as in B.2). Unlike the B.2, the B.1As did not undergo extensive wing strengthening for low-level flying and were withdrawn from service 1966-67.
B.2
    Developed version of the B.1. Larger, thinner wing than the B.1 (Phase 2C wing) and fitted with Olympus 201-202 engines of 17,000 lbf (76 kN) each, or Olympus 301 engines of 20,000 lbf (89 kN) each. Uprated electrics with Auxiliary Airborne Power Plant (AAPP) (Auxiliary power unit) and Ram Air Turbine (RAT). ECM similar to B.1A. Terrain-Following Radar (TFR) in nose thimble radome fitted to most aircraft in mid-60s. New Radar warning receiver aerials on tail fin giving it a square top from mid-1970s.
B.2 (MRR)
    Nine B.2s converted to Maritime Radar Reconnaissance (MRR). TFR deleted. Five aircraft further modified for Air Sampling Role. Distinctive gloss finish with light grey underside.
K.2
    Six B.2s converted for air-to-air refuelling with Mark 17 Hose Drum Unit (HDU) mounted semi-recessed in tail cone. TFR deleted. Fitted with three bomb-bay drum tanks, it was the only mark of Vulcan that could jettison fuel in an emergency.

Specifications Vulcan B.1

General characteristics
    Crew: 5 (pilot, co-pilot, AEO, Navigator Radar, Navigator Plotter)[nb 1]
    Length: 97 ft 1 in (29.59 m)
    Wingspan: 99 ft 5 in (30.3 m)
    Height: 26 ft 6 in (8.0 m)
    Wing area: 3554 ft² (330.2 m²)
    Empty weight: 83,573 lb (including crew) (37,144 kg)
    Max. takeoff weight: 170,000 lb (77,111 kg)
    Powerplant: 4 × Bristol Olympus 101, or 102 or 104 turbojet, 11,000 lbf (49 kN) each

Performance
    Maximum speed: Mach 0.96 (607 mph (1,040 km/h)) at altitude
    Cruise speed: Mach 0.86 (567 miles per hour (912 km/h)) at 45,000 ft
    Range: 2,607 mi (4,171 km)
    Service ceiling: 55,000 ft (17,000 m)
    Thrust/weight: 0.31
Armament
    21 x 1,000 pounds (454 kg) of conventional bombs
    1 x Blue Danube nuclear gravity bomb
    1 x Violet Club 400 kT nuclear gravity bomb
    1 x US Mark 5 nuclear gravity bomb supplied under Project E
    1 x Yellow Sun Mk.1 400 kT nuclear gravity bomb
    1 x Yellow Sun Mk 2 1.1 MT thermonuclear gravity bomb
    1 x Red Beard nuclear gravity bomb

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