RIGID AIRSHIP No. 23 CLASS

After the decision had been made in 1915 that work on No. 9
should be restarted, the Admiralty determined that a programme of
rigid airships should be embarked upon, and design was commenced.

Several ships of the same class were, ordered, and the type was
to be known as the 23 class. Progress on these ships, although
slow, was more rapid than had been the case with No. 9, and
by the end of 1917 three were completed and a fourth was rapidly
approaching that state.


The specification, always ambitious, laid down the following main
stipulations.

(1) The ship is to attain a speed of at least 55 miles per hour
for the main power of the engines.

(2) A minimum of 8 tons is to be available for disposable weights
when full.

(3) The ship must be capable of rising at an average rate of not
less than 1,000 feet per minute, through a height of 3,000
feet starting from nearly sea level.

As will be seen later this class of ship, although marking a
certain advance on No. 9 both as regards workmanship and design,
proved on the whole somewhat disappointing, and it became more
evident every day that we had allowed the Germans to obtain such