BillyNoMates
War Hero
Probably seemed like a good idea at the time.
By 1943 the Allies' production of everything was in full swing. We were pumping out tanks, artillery pieces, ships, and planes at an incredible rate. Almost everything was made from materials that were in critical shortage, especially steel. One thing we really needed was aircraft carriers but, unfortunately, all our shipyards and steel workers were busy making ships. Even if we could have spared the workers and construction facilities, the steel would have been in short supply... Enter Churchill's Unsinkable Aircraft Carrier.
By using floating airfields Churchill explained that "If we could create a floating airfield, we could refuel our fighter aircraft within striking distance of the landing points, and thus multiply our air power on the spot at the decisive moment." When he discussed the idea with Lord Louis Mountbatten, they had the idea of making their floating airfields by cutting the top off of icebergs, thus providing a deck and landing area. The Germans could strafe, bomb and torpedo an iceberg all day with no chance of sinking it. Best of all, ice was "free."
Naming their Ice Carrier "Habakkuk", from the Old Testament prophet who said "Look over the Nations and see, and be utterly amazed! For a work is being done in your days that you would not have believed, were it told."
Geoffrey Pyke, one of Mountbatten's scientific staff, wasted no time developing a tough, slow-melting mixture of ice and wood pulp he called "Pykrete." The new mixture was self-insulating, lasting many times as long as normal ice, and extremely tough. If you have to have an ice ship, this was the right stuff.
Design commenced while workers built a smaller prototype of the Ice Carrier at Patricia Lake in Jasper, Canada . The 60-foot long, 3--feet wide, 1100-ton prototype Habakkuk took 15 men two months to construct. To maintain secrecy, the prototype was roofed over and disguised to look like a boathouse.
The lessons learned during the construction of the prototype revealed the full size Habakkuk (designed to be 2000-feet long, 190-feet high, and weighing 1.8 million tons) would need over 280,000 Pykrete blocks and take over 8000 men eight months to complete. Suddenly, "free" ice wasn't so free anymore...
Building HMS HABBAKUK
Source:-
http://www.de220.com/Strange Stuff/StrangeStuff.htm
By 1943 the Allies' production of everything was in full swing. We were pumping out tanks, artillery pieces, ships, and planes at an incredible rate. Almost everything was made from materials that were in critical shortage, especially steel. One thing we really needed was aircraft carriers but, unfortunately, all our shipyards and steel workers were busy making ships. Even if we could have spared the workers and construction facilities, the steel would have been in short supply... Enter Churchill's Unsinkable Aircraft Carrier.
By using floating airfields Churchill explained that "If we could create a floating airfield, we could refuel our fighter aircraft within striking distance of the landing points, and thus multiply our air power on the spot at the decisive moment." When he discussed the idea with Lord Louis Mountbatten, they had the idea of making their floating airfields by cutting the top off of icebergs, thus providing a deck and landing area. The Germans could strafe, bomb and torpedo an iceberg all day with no chance of sinking it. Best of all, ice was "free."
Naming their Ice Carrier "Habakkuk", from the Old Testament prophet who said "Look over the Nations and see, and be utterly amazed! For a work is being done in your days that you would not have believed, were it told."
Geoffrey Pyke, one of Mountbatten's scientific staff, wasted no time developing a tough, slow-melting mixture of ice and wood pulp he called "Pykrete." The new mixture was self-insulating, lasting many times as long as normal ice, and extremely tough. If you have to have an ice ship, this was the right stuff.
Design commenced while workers built a smaller prototype of the Ice Carrier at Patricia Lake in Jasper, Canada . The 60-foot long, 3--feet wide, 1100-ton prototype Habakkuk took 15 men two months to construct. To maintain secrecy, the prototype was roofed over and disguised to look like a boathouse.
The lessons learned during the construction of the prototype revealed the full size Habakkuk (designed to be 2000-feet long, 190-feet high, and weighing 1.8 million tons) would need over 280,000 Pykrete blocks and take over 8000 men eight months to complete. Suddenly, "free" ice wasn't so free anymore...
Building HMS HABBAKUK
Source:-
http://www.de220.com/Strange Stuff/StrangeStuff.htm