In Vampire_pilot's fantastic "Straight Down - from an Airship" campaign, a wide variety of ZRS/ZRCV airships are shown beyond the USS Long Island that the player serves on for the duration of the campaign. However, the observant among you might have noticed that a few that were mentioned in the campaign were not given skins to depict them in-game. I seek to change that
USS Merrimack (ZRCV-6)
One of the Atlantic Fleet ZRCVs, noted for it's expertise in dealing with the U-Boat menace
USS Newark (ZRCV-7)
The ill-fated replacement for the Long Beach
USS Lewis and Clark (ZRS-6)
Goodyear Civil airship built to the specifications of the Akron/Macon taken into service by the USN to augment the USS Macon as a LTA/HTA training vessel
In addition, a few "What Ifs" that are purely my own invention
USS Los Angeles (ZRCV-8)
Built to replace the loss of the Newark. Too late to see service in WWII, took part in speculative trials of the F8F Bearcat for hook-on operations, project suspended with the end of WWII
ZRCVs: The Postwar Years
In the aftermath of the Second World War, the place of the ZRCVs in the modern Navy came into question. Nevertheless, the 'Long Island,' 'Merrimack,' and 'Los Angeles' soldiered on in USN service until the end of the 40s, with them eventually being presented to Goodyear and converted to passenger-carrying configuration. All would carry on into this role until the 1980s, at which point the worn airframes were retired, with 'Long Island' and 'Merrimack' becoming museum-ships commemorating the service of the ZRCVs in WWII
The service careers of 'Shenandoah' and 'Shangri-La' would be far more interesting. The end of the war saw an expression of interest by the French government in purchasing a pair of the large airships for use in the Marine Nationale, ostensibly for the purpose of being "scouting cruisers." With the vessels being seen increasingly as unacceptably vulnerable to modern threats by the USN, the offer was accepted, with 'Shenandoah' and 'Shangri-La' entering service as 'Joffre' and 'Painleve,' respectively, alongside a squadron of SBD-3Z scout/dive bombers judged as surplus to requirement. The true purpose of the airships would be revealed when they were sent off to support the French in their war to maintain their grip on their colonies in Indochina. The allure of a "flying airfield," capable of moving inland (beyond the range of conventional carriers and their aircraft), and remaining more or less invulnerable to sabotage, unlike a traditional land airfield. They would serve in several tours over the course of the war, with their last stint being in support of the failed defense of Dien Bien Phu. Afterwards, they would see brief service in Algeria performing similar missions against the FLN until the late 50s. By then, the combination of aging Dauntless airframes, the degradation of the airships themselves after years of hard service in the tropics, and the increasing protest by the American public regarding the iconic vessels being used very prominently in colonial wars resulted in the vessels being sold back to Goodyear in 1960. Upon examination, they were found unsuitable for passenger conversion, and both would be scrapped.
Link:
https://www.mediafire.com/file/4me3slbdyrunn39/MissingZepps.7z/file
Author
Topic: The Missing USN Zeppelins (Read 490 times)
