HMS 'Queen Elizabeth' - Only Afloat as Long as Their 'Carrier Escort Fleets'
Can Protect It's Ten Decks & 1,600 Bunks from Attack
.. Maybe someone should have first checked their history under "frozen sawdust" & "Project Habukkuk"
In 1943 the British built a 1,000 ton experimental ice / wood pulp "Pykrete" vessel on Lake Patricia in Canada - that they maintained frozen by the use of a one horsepower motor. - Some say that when they abandoned the vessel it took three years to melt and sink.
However - the experimental Habukkuk craft seems to have been constructed using a lot of structural timber - check this dive report from Maryland marine archaeologist Dr. Susan Langley ..
Link:
http://divermag.com/habbakuk/
However - the experimental Habukkuk craft seems to have been constructed using a lot of structural timber - check this dive report from Maryland marine archaeologist Dr. Susan Langley ..
Link:
http://divermag.com/habbakuk/
Pykrete Project Habukkuk.
Geoffrey Pyke's idea was that a huge "unsinkable" island aircraft carrier would be built and positioned anywhere it was needed to extend British air power beyond their then current capabilities.
Geoffrey Pyke rightly believed that he could solve every problem.
Now don't scoff too loudly ... as some very important War Office folk signed-off on the project - Sir Winston Churchill & Lord Mountbatten no less - who played together in Winnie's bath tub.
Link:
The facts are that ice floats but melts and isn't very strong - But blended with 14% wood pulp it is insulated & much tougher - bullet-proof - and the mix melts very slowly.
"Naval architects and engineers continued to work on Habbakuk with Bernal and Perutz during the summer of 1943. The requirements for the vessel became more demanding: it had to have a range of 7,000 miles (11,000 km) and be able to withstand the largest waves recorded, and the Admiralty wanted it to be torpedo-proof, which meant that the hull had to be at least 40 ft (12 m) thick. The Fleet Air Arm decided that heavy bombers should be able to take off from it, which meant that the deck had to be 2,000 ft (610 m) long. Steering also raised problems; it was initially projected that the ship would be steered by varying the speed of the motors on either side, but the Royal Navy decided that a rudder was essential. However, the problem of mounting and controlling a rudder over 100 ft (30 m) high was never solved."
What a fascinating story eh: Link:
- Only 6 planes each on HMS Queen Elizabeth Class Carrier - In the 21st Century !!
Marty K.
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