Class K soft airships

In 1937, the Kudyr company ordered the K-1 and K-2 aircraft. The volume of the internal space of the K-2 airship balloon was 11.440 m³. The airship arrived at Lakehurst on December 6, 1938.

A lot of tests were carried out on the K-2 airship, since it was a prototype. In 1940, the US Navy drafted a contract with Goodyear to build six airships of this class (K-3-K-8). They received the designation Goodyear ZNP-K. They were used for patrol and escort purposes. The Navy received these airships in late 1941 - early 1942 .

K-3 cost about 325,000 dollars . Then (October 14, 1942) an order was followed for another 21 airships (K-9-K-30). The next order was placed on January 9, 1943: another 21 airships (K-31-K-50). The airships from K-9 to K-13 had a volume of 11,780 m³, which was soon increased to 12,035 m³. The final order was indicated in mid-1943 - the construction of 89 airships .

• ZNP-K

The original designation of the airships of this class. Modified copies were designated as ZNP-K-2, etc.

• ZPK is another revised series designation.
• ZP2K - designation of an airship with an increased volume (14.923 m³).
• ZP3K - an airship with a volume of 14923 m³ and an upgraded control and navigation system.
• ZP4K - the volume remained the same (14923 m³), ​​and the length was 81.08 meters.

Airships were used for anti-submarine warfare (ASW) in the Atlantic and the Pacific . Enhanced navigation equipment made it possible to make night flights. The modified ships were equipped with ASG radar, which had a detection range of 140 km. On some ships, deep bombs Mk-47 were installed. Also, 12.7 mm Browning machine guns were installed on some airships .

On June 1, 1944, two groups of these airships crossed the Atlantic. For the first time, soft airships made a transatlantic flight. The ability of airships of this class to "hang" at low altitude led to the discovery of a large number of submarines .

• Crew : 9-10 people
• Length : 76.73 m
• Diameter : 17.63 m
• Payload : 3,524 kg
• Powerplant : Pratt & Whitney R-1340-AN-2, 425 liters. from. (317 kW) each
• Shell volume : 12 043 m³
• Maximum speed : 125 km / h
• Cruising speed : 93 km / h
• Maximum flight duration :: 38 hours 12 minutes

• 1 × 0.50 inch (12.7 mm) M2 Browning Machine Gun
• 4 × 350 pounds (160 kg) of bombs.

• Shock, James R. US Navy Airships 1915-1962. - Edgewater, Florida: Atlantis Productions, 2001 .-- ISBN 0-9639743-8-6 .
• Althoff, William F. Sky Ships. - New York: Orion Books, 1990. - ISBN 0-517-56904-3 .
• Althoff, William F. Forgotten weapon: US Navy airships and the U-boat war. - Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 2009 .-- P. 419. - ISBN 978-1-59114-010-8 .
• Vaeth, J. Gordon. Blimps & U-Boats. - Annapolis, Maryland: US Naval Institute Press, 1992. - ISBN 1-55750-876-3 .