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Concept
23-class airship
Summary
The 23 class were rigid airships produced in the United Kingdom during the First World War. Development of the 23 class began in August 1915 when Vickers was asked to improve the 9r design by increasing its gas capacity by adding a bay and increasing the capacity of the bow and stern gas cells. The 23-class was designed by
H.B. Pratt and Barnes Wallis of Vickers. Vickers built the first and last of the four ships. The other two were built by William Beardmore and Company and Armstrong-Whitworth. While the 23 class airships were never used in combat, the four ships provided many hours of valuable training and experimental data for British airship crews and designers. Although a total of 17 of these ships were contemplated at one time, only four were ever built. The 23 class was found to be significantly overweight, leading to its cancellation in favour of the more-refined R23X class.
Following proposals in July 1915 to order more airships to the same design as the 9r then being built by Vickers, on 28 August Vickers were asked to design a new class of airship based on the 9r. To facilitate rapid mass-production, the same transverse frame design as the 9r were used, but lift was increased by adding an extra bay and by making the nose and tail fuller to accommodate larger gasbags. The great portion of the 23 class structure was identical to the 9r's. Power was provided by four Rolls-Royce Eagle engines.
The triangular section exterior keel had a widened section amidships incorporating a bomb bay, sleeping quarters, radio room and toilet. Three gondolas were suspended from the keel. The forward gondola contained the control room and one engine driving a pair of swivelling propellers, a second amidships contained two engines each driving a fixed four-bladed pusher propeller on outriggers, and the aft gondola contained the fourth engine driving a single two-bladed pusher propeller and an emergency control car. Ballast and fuel were carried in tanks along the keel. Rudders and elevators were of the cruciform type.
Official source
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