Aviation / Aerospace

N.S.7 (North Sea-class)

Non-Rigid Airship [ 1917 ]

N.S.7 served from 1917 through to the end of World War 1, completing her final flight in 1921.

Authored By: Staff Writer | Last Edited: 10/18/2016 | Content ©www.MilitaryFactory.com | The following text is exclusive to this site.

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At the start of World War 1 (1914-1918), the British air service could claim just six airships to its name. This inventory eventually grew as the war advanced and airships and blimps played an ever-increasing role throughout the conflict until matched by the latest fighters and "blimp busters". The North Sea-class airships - or NS-class - of Britain were developed as non-rigid (lacking an internal framework structure) for Royal Navy Air Service (RNAS) operation in mind and arrived in 1917, a first-flight recorded on February 1st of that year. Fourteen of the class were eventually completed and the series flew into the early 1920s. One of the stock was N.S.7 which managed to survive the remainder of the war. She was based out of East Fortune for her part in the conflict.

Airships of the period were used to provide crucial wartime service such as submarine hunting, maritime reconnaissance, naval artillery direction and convoy escort.

As a class, the ship's design carried a crew of ten personnel and were powered by 2 x Rolls-Royce Eagle engines of 250 horsepower. These were later replaced on some airships by 2 x Fiat engines of 240 horsepower each. Performance included a maximum speed of nearly 60 miles per hour with an endurance window of 24 hours and a service ceiling of 9,500 feet.

Three to five 7.7mm Lewis Gun machine guns were carried for point defense against marauding enemy fighters. A bombload of 1,380lb was made up of conventional drop stores.

Of the fourteen NS-class airships available, just six were in service at the end of the war. N.S.7 was used as an aerial escort of the surrendered German High Seas Fleet in the voyage to Rosyth after the war. The airship completed its final flight on October 25th, 1921.©MilitaryFactory.com

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Specifications

Service Year

1917

Origin

United Kingdom

Crew

10

Production

14
UNITS

United Kingdom

(View other Aviaton-Related Manufacturers)

United kingdom

(OPERATORS list includes past, present, and future operators when applicable)

✓ Ground Attack (Bombing, Strafing)
Ability to conduct aerial bombing of ground targets by way of (but not limited to) guns, bombs, missiles, rockets, and the like.

Length

262.0 ft
(79.86 m)

Width/Span

54.1 ft
(16.50 m)

Height

69.2 ft
(21.10 m)

Empty Wgt

4,409 lb
(2,000 kg)

MTOW

8,818 lb
(4,000 kg)

Wgt Diff

+4,409 lb
(+2,000 kg)

(Showcased structural values pertain to the base N.S.7 (North Sea-class) production variant)

Installed: EARLY: 2 x Rolls-Royce Eagle engines developing 250 horsepower each; LATER: Fiat engines developing 240 horsepower each.

Max Speed

57 mph
(92 kph | 50 kts)

Ceiling

9,514 ft
(2,900 m | 2 mi)

Range

1,367 mi
(2,200 km | 4,074 nm)

♦ MACH Regime (Sonic)

Sub

Trans

Super

Hyper

HiHyper

ReEntry

♦

(Showcased performance specifications pertain to the base N.S.7 (North Sea-class) production variant. Performance specifications showcased above are subject to environmental factors as well as aircraft configuration. Estimates are made when Real Data not available. Compare this aircraft entry against any other in our database or View aircraft by powerplant type)

STANDARD:
3 to 5 x 7.7mm Lewis Gun machine guns

OPTIONAL:
Up to 1,380lb of conventional drop ordnance across six hardpoints.

Supported Types

Graphical image of an aircraft medium machine gun

Graphical image of an aircraft conventional drop bomb munition

(Not all ordnance types may be represented in the showcase above)

Hardpoint Mountings: 6

NS7 - Base Series Designation

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