LTA and WWII: role of Navy airships often forgotten

DAV Magazine, May-June, 2002 by Rob Lewis

Perhaps the most famous blimp attack on a U-boat during the war was mounted by Lt. Nelson Grills, pilot of the K-74. It is the only combat loss of a blimp acknowledged by the U.S. Navy.

While protecting two ships sailing in an area just off the Florida Keys on July 18, 1943, the K-74 crew spotted a surfaced U-boat. Lt. Grills decided the boats under his protection were in immediate danger and took a steep dive to attack the German U-boat.

The slow-moving K-74 was an easy target for anti-aircraft fire from the U-boat, but the airship returned fire with its guns, and the blimp's momentum carried it directly over the U-boat. Unfortunately, the blimp's bomb-release mechanism failed, and the battered airship crashed into the sea.

As the downed crew waited to be rescued, machinist mate/bombardier AMM2 Isadore Stessel was attacked and killed by a shark.

At first reprimanded for his attack on the U-boat, Lt. Grills would later be awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.

Isadore Stessel's vindication didn't come until 40 years later, when he was posthumously awarded a commendation medal, which was given to his surviving family members.

Forgotten by history ...

According to blimp veterans names like "poopie-bag sailors" given to them by others reflect the disrespect and historical disregard experienced by World War II's airship operators.

Although many LTA veterans cite a feeling of safety and security in the bellies of the silver giants, many who served on airships suffered disabilities.

"We were very vulnerable to attack from subs, but for some reason I always felt safe," said John McWade, a radar officer who served in several locations in the Western Hemisphere including Jamaica, Columbia, and Panama.

Mr. McWade, a DAV life member from Cathedral City, Calif., was exposed to harmful radar microwaves while serving in airships. The exposure left his eyes damaged but not his enthusiasm for LTA.

"I loved my service with LTA. The flying, the flight pay, and the chance to take part in those missions was something very special to me," Mr. McWade said.

Unfortunately, the Navy's leadership didn't always share his love of LTA.

"The hierarchy in the Navy had little or no LTA experience for the most part. This led to a lack of understanding for what we did," said John P. Hely IV, a blimp pilot who was involved in an attack on a German U-boat off the coast of Georgia in 1943.

Years later, Mr. Hely actually corresponded with the U-boat captain and found the aging officer, Volker von Simmermacher, still in awe of the defensive prowess of blimps.

"Part of Germany's fear of the blimps came from their belief that we would be as efficient with them as they would have been if they had blimps," Mr. Hely said."

By war's end, LTA squadrons had performed 35,600 operational flights in the Atlantic and 20,300 flights in the Pacific. There was a total of 5.5 million hours in the air, escorting nearly 90,000 ships loaded with cargo, troops, weapons, and supplies.

The 10 blimps of the pre-war days had grown to more than 130 by war's end, but it didn't last.