A-1 lifeboat
Encyclopedia
The A-1 lifeboat was a powered lifeboat
that was made to be dropped by fixed-wing aircraft
into water to aid in air-sea rescue
operations. The sturdy airborne lifeboat
was to be carried by a heavy bomber
specially modified to handle the external load of the lifeboat. The A-1 lifeboat was intended to be dropped by parachute during Dumbo
missions to land within reach of the survivors of an accident on the ocean, specifically airmen survivors of an emergency water landing
.
by Uffa Fox
in 1943. In the United States, Andrew Higgins
evaluated the Fox boat and found it too weak to survive mishap in emergency operations. In November 1943, Higgins assigned engineers from his company to make a sturdier version with two air-cooled engines. Higgins Industries
, known for making landing craft (LCVP
) and PT boat
s, produced the A-1 lifeboat, a 3300 pound, 27 feet (8 m) airborne lifeboat made of laminated mahogany with 20 waterproof internal compartments so that it would not sink if swamped or overturned. Intended to be dropped by modified Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses, it was ready for production in early 1944.
The yellow-painted vessel was supplied with enough food, water and clothing for 12 survivors to last for about 20 days in the ocean. It was provided with sails kept relatively small so that inexpert operators could use them. A "Gibson Girl" survival radio
was aboard with an antenna to be lifted up with a kite. Its two engines propelled the boat at 8 miles per hour (4 m/s); if just one were used the speed was 5 miles per hour (2 m/s). The effective cruising range was about 1500 mile with some 100 mile made per day.
holding the boat steady while survivors worked to reach it. Inside the boat, the crew of the aircraft that dropped the lifeboat would have placed a map giving the approximate position of the boat and a recommended compass setting to take in order to facilitate rescue.
The first Higgins airborne lifeboat used in an emergency was dropped on March 31, 1945 in the North Sea
, some 8 miles (13 km) offshore of the Dutch island of Schiermonnikoog
. In the evening of March 30, a PBY Catalina
landed in six-foot (2 m) swells to save the pilot of a downed P-51 Mustang
, but one of the Catalina's engines lost its oil in the process, rendering the flying boat
unable to take off. Darkness, distance, and poor visibility prevented the Catalina men from making contact with the Mustang pilot who drifted in a raft and was eventually taken prisoner of war
. The next morning, a Vickers Warwick
located the Catalina and dropped a Fox-designed airborne lifeboat nearby, but after being retrieved the lifeboat began to break up from repeatedly smashing against the Catalina in the increasingly heavy seas. Instead, the six aircrew lashed three of their own inflatable rubber dinghies
together and abandoned the aircraft in ten-foot (3 m) swells. Another Warwick dropped another Fox airborne lifeboat some distance away, but its parachute didn't open and it was destroyed upon striking the water. An SB-17 flying in the 35 miles per hour (15.6 m/s), 40 °F (4.4 °C) breeze dropped its load—Higgins Airborne Lifeboat No. 25—from an altitude of 1200 foot to land about 100 feet (30 m) from the men. As it hit the water, one of the lifeboat's tethering rocket lines snaked out over the junction of two of the dinghies, making an ideal shot. The six airmen transferred to the Higgins lifeboat where they huddled down and waited for three days in the worst North Sea storm of 1945 before two more Fox airborne boats were dropped with gasoline and supplies on April 3, the lifeboats either swamping or breaking up upon hitting the water. On April 4 in continuing rough seas, the airmen were picked up by two Rescue Motor Launch (RML) boats, and the Higgins A-1 lifeboat, unable to be towed, was intentionally sunk by gunfire.
In the last eight months of World War II
, Dumbo operations complemented simultaneous United States Army Air Forces
heavy bombing operations against Japanese targets.
On any one large-scale bombing mission carried out by Boeing B-29 Superfortress
es, at least three submarines were posted along the air route, and Dumbo aircraft sent to patrol the distant waters where they searched the water's surface and listened for emergency radio transmissions from distressed aircraft. At the final bombing mission on August 14, 1945, 9 land-based Dumbos and 21 flying boats covered a surface and sub-surface force of 14 submarines and 5 rescue ships.
The A-1 lifeboat was carried by modified bombers, variants of the B-17 Flying Fortress. The bombers retained their defensive armament except for the removal of belly turrets that were in the way of the lifeboat.
(USCG) operated Dumbo flights along the West Coast
in the early 1950s, using the PB-1G, a B-17 variant
. Such a flight is depicted briefly in the 1954 film The High and the Mighty
. Further Dumbo flights were conducted jointly by the USCG and the U.S. Navy
during the Korean War
.
The A-1 lifeboat was joined and then succeeded by the A-3 lifeboat
from 1947. The A-3 lifeboat was used until the mid-1950s.
Lifeboat (rescue)
A rescue lifeboat is a boat rescue craft which is used to attend a vessel in distress, or its survivors, to rescue crewmen and passengers. It can be hand pulled, sail powered or powered by an engine...
that was made to be dropped by fixed-wing aircraft
Fixed-wing aircraft
A fixed-wing aircraft is an aircraft capable of flight using wings that generate lift due to the vehicle's forward airspeed. Fixed-wing aircraft are distinct from rotary-wing aircraft in which wings rotate about a fixed mast and ornithopters in which lift is generated by flapping wings.A powered...
into water to aid in air-sea rescue
Air-sea rescue
Air-sea rescue is the coordinated search and rescue of the survivors of emergency water landings as well as people who have survived the loss of their sea-going vessel. ASR can involve a wide variety of resources including seaplanes, helicopters, submarines, rescue boats and ships...
operations. The sturdy airborne lifeboat
Airborne lifeboat
Airborne lifeboats were powered lifeboats that were made to be dropped by fixed-wing aircraft into water to aid in air-sea rescue operations. An airborne lifeboat was to be carried by a heavy bomber specially modified to handle the external load of the lifeboat...
was to be carried by a heavy bomber
Heavy bomber
A heavy bomber is a bomber aircraft of the largest size and load carrying capacity, and usually the longest range.In New START, the term "heavy bomber" is used for two types of bombers:*one with a range greater than 8,000 kilometers...
specially modified to handle the external load of the lifeboat. The A-1 lifeboat was intended to be dropped by parachute during Dumbo
Dumbo (air-sea rescue)
Dumbo was the code name used by the United States Navy during the 1940s and 1950s to signify search and rescue missions, conducted in conjunction with military operations, by long-range aircraft flying over the ocean. The purpose of Dumbo missions was to rescue downed American aviators as well as...
missions to land within reach of the survivors of an accident on the ocean, specifically airmen survivors of an emergency water landing
Water landing
A water landing is, in the broadest sense, any landing on a body of water. All waterfowl, those seabirds capable of flight, and some human-built vehicles are capable of landing in water as a matter of course....
.
Design
The first airborne lifeboat was designed in the United KingdomUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
by Uffa Fox
Uffa Fox
Uffa Fox CBE was an English boat designer and sailing enthusiast.-Life:Uffa Fox was born on the Isle of Wight and was raised in East Cowes. He lived for a while in Puckaster on the Isle of Wight.-Work:...
in 1943. In the United States, Andrew Higgins
Andrew Higgins
Andrew Jackson Higgins was the founder and owner of Higgins Industries, the New Orleans-based manufacturer of "Higgins boats" during World War II. General Dwight Eisenhower is quoted as saying, "Andrew Higgins ... is the man who won the war for us. .....
evaluated the Fox boat and found it too weak to survive mishap in emergency operations. In November 1943, Higgins assigned engineers from his company to make a sturdier version with two air-cooled engines. Higgins Industries
Higgins Industries
Higgins Industries was the company owned by Andrew Higgins based in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Higgins is most famous for the design and production of the Higgins boat, an amphibious landing craft referred to as LCVP, which were used extensively in D-Day Invasion of Normandy...
, known for making landing craft (LCVP
LCVP
The Landing Craft, Vehicle, Personnel or Higgins boat was a landing craft used extensively in amphibious landings in World War II. The craft was designed by Andrew Higgins of Louisiana, United States, based on boats made for operating in swamps and marshes...
) and PT boat
PT boat
PT Boats were a variety of motor torpedo boat , a small, fast vessel used by the United States Navy in World War II to attack larger surface ships. The PT boat squadrons were nicknamed "the mosquito fleet". The Japanese called them "Devil Boats".The original pre–World War I torpedo boats were...
s, produced the A-1 lifeboat, a 3300 pound, 27 feet (8 m) airborne lifeboat made of laminated mahogany with 20 waterproof internal compartments so that it would not sink if swamped or overturned. Intended to be dropped by modified Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses, it was ready for production in early 1944.
The yellow-painted vessel was supplied with enough food, water and clothing for 12 survivors to last for about 20 days in the ocean. It was provided with sails kept relatively small so that inexpert operators could use them. A "Gibson Girl" survival radio
Survival radio
Survival radios are carried by ships and aircraft to facilitate rescue in an emergency. They are generally designed to transmit on international distress frequencies...
was aboard with an antenna to be lifted up with a kite. Its two engines propelled the boat at 8 miles per hour (4 m/s); if just one were used the speed was 5 miles per hour (2 m/s). The effective cruising range was about 1500 mile with some 100 mile made per day.
Operations
The Higgins A-1 lifeboat was to be dropped by an SB-17 traveling at an airspeed of 120 mile per hour and an altitude of about 1500 foot. Precisely as the aircraft passed directly over the rescue target the boat was to be released. The boat dropped free for a short distance, then static lines attached to the aircraft's bomb bay catwalk drew taut, pulling out three 48 feet (15 m) parachutes of a standard U.S. Army design. Under the open parachutes, the boat took on a 50° bow-downward angle and descended at a rate of 27 feet (8.2 m) per second, or about 18 miles per hour (8 m/s). In a manner similar to Fox's airborne lifeboat, upon contact with seawater, rocket-projected lines were automatically sent out 200 yard to each side to make it easier for survivors to reach the Higgins lifeboat. The parachutes settled into the water to create a sea anchorSea anchor
A sea anchor, is a device external to the boat, attached to the bow used to stabilize a boat in heavy weather. It anchors not to the sea floor but to the water itself, as a kind of brake. Sea anchors are known by a number of names, such as drift anchor, drift sock, para-anchor, and boat brakes...
holding the boat steady while survivors worked to reach it. Inside the boat, the crew of the aircraft that dropped the lifeboat would have placed a map giving the approximate position of the boat and a recommended compass setting to take in order to facilitate rescue.
The first Higgins airborne lifeboat used in an emergency was dropped on March 31, 1945 in the North Sea
North Sea
In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...
, some 8 miles (13 km) offshore of the Dutch island of Schiermonnikoog
Schiermonnikoog
Schiermonnikoog is an island, a municipality, and a national park in the northern Netherlands. Schiermonnikoog is one of the West Frisian Islands, and is part of the province of Friesland....
. In the evening of March 30, a PBY Catalina
PBY Catalina
The Consolidated PBY Catalina was an American flying boat of the 1930s and 1940s produced by Consolidated Aircraft. It was one of the most widely used multi-role aircraft of World War II. PBYs served with every branch of the United States Armed Forces and in the air forces and navies of many other...
landed in six-foot (2 m) swells to save the pilot of a downed P-51 Mustang
P-51 Mustang
The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang was an American long-range, single-seat fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II, the Korean War and in several other conflicts...
, but one of the Catalina's engines lost its oil in the process, rendering the flying boat
Flying boat
A flying boat is a fixed-winged seaplane with a hull, allowing it to land on water. It differs from a float plane as it uses a purpose-designed fuselage which can float, granting the aircraft buoyancy. Flying boats may be stabilized by under-wing floats or by wing-like projections from the fuselage...
unable to take off. Darkness, distance, and poor visibility prevented the Catalina men from making contact with the Mustang pilot who drifted in a raft and was eventually taken prisoner of war
Prisoner of war
A prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...
. The next morning, a Vickers Warwick
Vickers Warwick
The Vickers Warwick was a multi-purpose British aircraft used during the Second World War. Built by Vickers-Armstrongs at Brooklands, Surrey, the Warwick was used by the Royal Air Force as a transport, air-sea rescue and maritime reconnaissance platform, and by the civilian British Overseas...
located the Catalina and dropped a Fox-designed airborne lifeboat nearby, but after being retrieved the lifeboat began to break up from repeatedly smashing against the Catalina in the increasingly heavy seas. Instead, the six aircrew lashed three of their own inflatable rubber dinghies
Inflatable boat
An inflatable boat is a lightweight boat constructed with its sides and bow made of flexible tubes containing pressurised gas. For smaller boats, the floor and hull beneath it is often flexible. On boats longer than , the floor often consists of three to five rigid plywood or aluminium sheets fixed...
together and abandoned the aircraft in ten-foot (3 m) swells. Another Warwick dropped another Fox airborne lifeboat some distance away, but its parachute didn't open and it was destroyed upon striking the water. An SB-17 flying in the 35 miles per hour (15.6 m/s), 40 °F (4.4 °C) breeze dropped its load—Higgins Airborne Lifeboat No. 25—from an altitude of 1200 foot to land about 100 feet (30 m) from the men. As it hit the water, one of the lifeboat's tethering rocket lines snaked out over the junction of two of the dinghies, making an ideal shot. The six airmen transferred to the Higgins lifeboat where they huddled down and waited for three days in the worst North Sea storm of 1945 before two more Fox airborne boats were dropped with gasoline and supplies on April 3, the lifeboats either swamping or breaking up upon hitting the water. On April 4 in continuing rough seas, the airmen were picked up by two Rescue Motor Launch (RML) boats, and the Higgins A-1 lifeboat, unable to be towed, was intentionally sunk by gunfire.
In the last eight months of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Dumbo operations complemented simultaneous United States Army Air Forces
United States Army Air Forces
The United States Army Air Forces was the military aviation arm of the United States of America during and immediately after World War II, and the direct predecessor of the United States Air Force....
heavy bombing operations against Japanese targets.
On any one large-scale bombing mission carried out by Boeing B-29 Superfortress
B-29 Superfortress
The B-29 Superfortress is a four-engine propeller-driven heavy bomber designed by Boeing that was flown primarily by the United States Air Forces in late-World War II and through the Korean War. The B-29 was one of the largest aircraft to see service during World War II...
es, at least three submarines were posted along the air route, and Dumbo aircraft sent to patrol the distant waters where they searched the water's surface and listened for emergency radio transmissions from distressed aircraft. At the final bombing mission on August 14, 1945, 9 land-based Dumbos and 21 flying boats covered a surface and sub-surface force of 14 submarines and 5 rescue ships.
The A-1 lifeboat was carried by modified bombers, variants of the B-17 Flying Fortress. The bombers retained their defensive armament except for the removal of belly turrets that were in the way of the lifeboat.
Coast Guard
The United States Coast GuardUnited States Coast Guard
The United States Coast Guard is a branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven U.S. uniformed services. The Coast Guard is a maritime, military, multi-mission service unique among the military branches for having a maritime law enforcement mission and a federal regulatory agency...
(USCG) operated Dumbo flights along the West Coast
West Coast of the United States
West Coast or Pacific Coast are terms for the westernmost coastal states of the United States. The term most often refers to the states of California, Oregon, and Washington. Although not part of the contiguous United States, Alaska and Hawaii do border the Pacific Ocean but can't be included in...
in the early 1950s, using the PB-1G, a B-17 variant
B-17 Flying Fortress variants
The following is an extensive catalogue of the variants and specific unique elements of each variant and/or design stage of the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bomber...
. Such a flight is depicted briefly in the 1954 film The High and the Mighty
The High and the Mighty (film)
The High and the Mighty is a 1954 American "disaster" film directed by William A. Wellman and written by Ernest K. Gann who also wrote the novel on which his screenplay was based. The film's cast was headlined by John Wayne, who was also the project's co-producer...
. Further Dumbo flights were conducted jointly by the USCG and the U.S. Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
during the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
.
The A-1 lifeboat was joined and then succeeded by the A-3 lifeboat
A-3 lifeboat
The A-3 lifeboat was an airborne lifeboat developed by the EDO Corporation in 1947 for the United States Air Force as a successor to the Higgins Industries A-1 lifeboat...
from 1947. The A-3 lifeboat was used until the mid-1950s.
