The Balloon-carrying Second-Class Cruiser "Russ"
Russian Language book about the Balloon-carrying Second-Class Cruiser "Russ" and it's load of captive balloons.
"...the Russo-Japanese war was responsible for the creation of the world’s first “aircraft carrier” - in the sense of an ocean-going vessel especially equipped for the operation of aerial devices at sea.
This ship was an aging merchantman, the Lahn, purchased as a patriotic gift for his former service by Count Sergei Stroganoff, a wealthy retired naval officer. Launched at Glasgow in 1887 for the North German Lloyd Line, the Lahn had seen days of glory as the third fastest steamer in the Atlantic. But after many years of service in the transatlantic run, the Count’s 700,000-ruble present was hardly a bargain for the Russian Navy in 1904 - she was reported as being in appalling condition, with some 250 patches on her boilers. Nevertheless, she was accepted for service and taken in hand late in 1904 at the Baltic port of Libau for conversion to a balloon-carrying ship under the designation of second-class cruiser with the new name of Russ.
The Russ was the first balloon vessel which can truly be termed a ship, and so thorough and extensive was her conversion that in many respects of her designed mission, she was superior to the balloon ships operated by the British navy in 1915-18.
The aeronautical facilities on the Russ were concentrated on four deck levels at the stern of her approximately 450-foot-long hull. For the principal function of aerial reconnaissance, she carried four kite balloons and one spherical balloon. There were also four smaller kite balloons for use in signaling. A system of auxiliary steam engines and dynamos powered electric winches to which the cables of the captive balloons were to be attached. Three hydrogen gas generators were installed, with equipment to compress and store the gas. A photographic facility indicated that use of aerial cameras was planned. An enclosed deck shelter - the forerunner of all shipboard aircraft hangars - was to protect balloons from wind and sea during inflation. Communication with the aerial observers was telephonic - 1,000 meters of phone cable were stowed. There was a specialist crew to man all this equipment - exclusive of the normal ship’s complement - consisting of four officers, a specialist mechanic, and 113 enlisted men." [this description from: Early Russian Shipboard Aviation by R. D. Layman and Boris V. Drashpil]
Softcover, large format
88 Seiten / pages
many illustrations
very good condition, like new
Moskow - 1997 - Anchor
Art.Nr. 23705
