The Parseval airship was delivered to this country and became
known as No. 4; a second ship of the same type was also building
when war broke out; needless to say this ship was never
delivered. At a later date Messrs. Vickers, who had obtained the
patent rights of the Parseval envelope, completed the other two
ships of the order.

The Forlanini ship was completing in Italy on the declaration of
war and was taken over by the Italians; Messrs. Armstrong had not
commenced work on the other two. These ships, although allocated
numbers, never actually came into being.


PARSEVAL AIRSHIP No. 4

This airship deserves special consideration for two reasons;
firstly, on account of the active-service flying carried out by
it during the first three years of the war, and, secondly, for
its great value in training of the officers and men who later on
became the captains and crews of rigid airships.

The Parseval envelope is of streamline shape which tapers to a
point at the tail, and in this ship was of 300,000 cubic feet
capacity. The system of rigging being patented, can only be
described in very general terms. The suspensions carrying the
car are attached to a large elliptical rigging band which is
formed under the central portion of the envelope. To this
rigging band are attached the trajectory bands which pass up the
sides and over the top of the envelope, sloping away from the
centre at the bottom towards the nose and tail at the top. The