There is no doubt
that the wholesale sinking of our merchant shipping was
sufficient to cause grave alarm, and the authorities were much
concerned to devise means of minimizing, even if they could not
completely eliminate the danger. One proposal which was adopted,
and which chiefly concerns the interests of this book, was the
establishment of airship stations round the coasts of Great
Britain. These stations were to be equipped with airships
capable of patrolling the main shipping routes, whose functions
were to search for submarines and mines and to escort shipping
through the danger zones in conjunction with surface craft.
Airship construction in this country at the time was, practically
speaking, non-existent. There was no time to be wasted in
carrying out long and expensive experiments, for the demand for
airships which could fulfil these requirements was terribly
urgent, and speed of construction was of primary importance. The
non-rigid design having been selected for simplicity in
construction, the expedient was tried of slinging the fuselage of
an ordinary B.E. 2C aeroplane, minus the wings, rudder and
elevators and one or two other minor fittings, beneath an
envelope with tangential suspensions, as considerable experience
had been gained already in a design of this type.
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