NS11

NS airship and Coastal

Art — Fri, 18 May 2012 20:59:39 +0000

Kindly provided by the Pennoyer Centre, Pulham and the Owens family. Photograph taken by George Hamilton Wakefield.

NS1 and Coastal

Art — Fri, 18 May 2012 20:47:11 +0000

Kindly provided by the Pennoyer Centre, Pulham and the Owens family. Photograph taken by George Hamilton Wakefield.

NS1 trial flight, Kingsnorth

Art — Fri, 18 May 2012 20:34:13 +0000

Kindly provided by the Pennoyer Centre, Pulham and the Owens family. Photograph taken by George Hamilton Wakefield.

NS6 leaving Pulham

Art — Fri, 18 May 2012 20:12:24 +0000

Kindly provided by the Pennoyer Centre, Pulham and the Owens family. Photograph taken by George Hamilton Wakefield.

NS11 over the Sea

Art — Fri, 18 May 2012 19:36:12 +0000

Kindly provided by the Pennoyer Centre, Pulham

NS11 at Pulham

Art — Fri, 18 May 2012 19:17:25 +0000

Kindly provided by the Pennoyer Centre, Pulham

New images of NS11 from Pulham

Art — Fri, 18 May 2012 17:36:01 +0000

Our visit to the Pennoyer Centre in Pulham St Mary, Norfolk has opened a rich seam of imagery and information to help tell the story of NS11 and the North Sea airships. On a large interactive screen we were taken on a tour of some of the centre’s archives by the wonderful Sheila Moss King. The recently acquired George Wakefield images are stunning in their quality and detail. From other parts of the archive came two new images of NS11. One shows the airship over the accommodation huts (most probably during June or July 1919). The rear of the photograph lists the crew that was lost on 15 July 1919.

Back of photograph of NS11 over Pulham

The second photograph is captioned “NS11 over the sea, starboard side”. While not in the best condition, the atmospheric photograph does clearly show what is probably one of her engineers sitting between the engine car and the starboard FIAT engine. This photograph can be seen in the NS11 Gallery.

We thank Sheila and the Pennoyer Centre for allowing us to show these wonderful photographs.

www.pennoyer.org.uk

www.facebook.com/pennoyercentre

New account of NS11 record breaking flight

Art — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 16:52:39 +0000

WWI aviation author Michael J Dunn has provided a new account of NS11’s record breaking flight – written by Air Mechanic Redvers Robert Heath, NS11′s 2nd wireless operator. It provides a very different view from that of the commander and gives us a vivid insight into what life would have been like on board during the 100 hours and 50 minutes flight. The account was used in Michael’s article on NS11′s world record flight in the Spring 2012 edition of Cross & Cockade International’s quarterly journal. Heath’s account can seen here.

New image of NS4

Art — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 20:37:31 +0000

A new acquisition to the image library is this magic lantern slide of NS4 – probably taken during the winter of 1917/18. NS4 was one of the commands of NS11′s Captain W. K. F. G. Warneford. Seen here loaded with its maximum payload of six 230lb bombs (used for anti-submarine duties) NS4 was photographed often and appears several times in our NS-Class gallery. It is rare to find a photograph of an NS-Class airship with bombs loaded. In this photograph it is fitted with two 250HP Rolls Royce engines – with the complicated drive shafts that gave so much trouble before the class (NS4 was modified as NS3 with a Wheelwright control car) was later converted to use 240HP FIAT engines. Two Lewis guns are mounted at the rear of the control car.

NS4 undertook trial flights on 17 September 1917 and was transferred to East Fortune on 15 October. To Longside on 17 June 1918 and back to East Fortune 27 August and on to Kingsnorth two days later. Transferred to Howden via Cranwell on 13 october 1918 and then to Longside on 23 October by Captain W. K. Warneford. Deflated Longside 6 February 1919. Deleted October 1919.

Pulham WWI airship photos rediscovered

Art — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 10:12:32 +0000

From BBC News website

About 60 rare images of World War I airships operating from RNAS Pulham in Norfolk have been rediscovered by the family of the photographer. They were taken on the base by Royal naval Air Service’s photographer George Hamilton Wakefield from 1916 onwards.

The images have been given to Pulham’s Pennoyer Centre which holds an archive of material about the air station. Sheila King, chairwoman of the centre, said: “We get offered a lot of pictures but as these started coming through we realised they were quite amazing. Mrs Owen is the great niece of George Hamilton Wakefield. They came across these albums in a box that had been marked for the skip. They thought they’d be useful so kept them in the house for many years, but it was only at Christmas when Michael Owens found us.”

“It’s just amazing to think these photos, fantastic quality large scale prints from the original plates, could have so easily ended up in the skip.”

The station at Pulham opened in 1916 and employed 3,000 servicemen and 2,000 civilians. Airships flew from there until 1930.

Locally the airships became known as the Pulham Pigs after a local man was rumoured to have looked up at a huge early airship floating above the village and said, “Thet luk loike a gret ol’ pig” and the name stuck.

It was the pioneering days of aviation. Airships from the base were used for the first parachute drop from an airship and to test launching fighter planes from them, as an aerial base, to extend their range.

Mr Hamilton Wakefield’s photographs offer an insight to the airships that is rarely seen. Ms King said: “I think because they are taken by an RNAS officer employed as a photographer there’s access to shots of airships you don’t normally see.

“Because of the quality of the photographs it enables us to zoom in and understand a lot more about their construction, the systems they had on board and so on that was previously unknown.”

An exhibition to launch the photographs opens at the Pennoyer Centre in Pulham St Mary on 14 April until mid-May 2012.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-norfolk-17689509