Roma (airship)

The keel airship Roma was born near Rome under the Italian airship designer Umberto Nobile in cooperation with Uselli, Crocco and Pissone and was founded in 1921 by the air forces of the U.S. Army (then U.S. Army Air Service ) bought for 165 000 U.S. dollars.

The official construction designation was 18- M, but it was internally called the construction T -34. The 34 stood for a boost of about 34 tons.

Before delivery to the U.S. several tests had been made near Rome. In one, the American Ambassador Robert Underwood Johnson was on board. After the ship was taken apart again and transported to America.

After the commissioning of the original Ansaldo engines were replaced by Liberty L12 engines. Supposedly, the Italian engines were unreliable. The first ride with the new engines was held from Langley Field ( Virginia) from 21 February 1922. It had 45 people on board, including seven civilian technicians. During the flight, the nose structure collapsed. Whether the increased motorization was a cause for this is unclear. The damage resulted in the failure of the elevator. Unable to control the airship lost altitude and landed near the Norfolk Army base on a high voltage line. Upon contact with the cables, the hydrogen carrier gas caught fire. Only eleven people survived, injured, some seriously, the fire.

This accident led to the departure of the American forces of hydrogen. The airship ZR -1 "USS Shenandoah " was filled the first large airship with helium.

The "Roma" was originally to be stationed in the new Balloon and Airship School at Brooks Air Force airfield. They never reached their planned basis. Specially for them a 8500 m² large airship hangar had been built there.

A Ansaldo motor can still be seen in the U.S. Air Force Museum at Wright - Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio / USA Today.

Technical data and performance

  • Length: 125 m
  • Diameter: 25 m
  • Volume: 33,810 m³
  • Empty weight: 34,500 kg
  • Buoyancy force: 19,100 kg
  • Drive: Liberty six twelve-cylinder V-engine with 300 kW
  • Maximum speed: 128 km / h
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