Blimps & U-Boats: U.S. Navy Airships in the Battle of the Atlantic

This is the first full-length book to tell the story of the U.S. Navy's lighter-than-air craft during World War II. The blimps flew 37,000 operational sorties in the North and South Atlantic, the Caribbean, and over the Strait of Gibraltar, and their operations included safely escorting thousands of surface vessels. The author covers every aspect of the blimp's wartime efforts -- construction, performance in all weathers, piloting and navigation, anti-submarine warfare tactics, submarine detection gear, armament and equipment. He also discusses numerous incidents such as the historic running gun battle between airship K-74 and U-134 in the Florida Straits. J. Gordon Vaeth was an intelligence officer on the staff of the Atlantic Fleet's airship commander from 1942-1945. He wrote many of the official documents – operational summaries, intelligence reports, and newsletters – used as key sources for World War II blimp operations. He went on to be director of systems engineering for the National Environmental Satellite Service of NOAA. Mr. Vaeth died in 2012 at the age of 91.