1944 — Apr 19, Houma NAS, LA Airship K-133, down in T-storm, off MS Riv., Gulf of MX-9
Compiled by Wayne Blanchard; last edit 4-7-2024 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/
— 12 Wikipedia. “List of airship accidents.” 11-20-2011 modification.[1]
— 9 Christ, C.J. “Blimps played a vital role in World War II.” Houmatoday.com. 1-19-2003.
— 9 Evening Tribune, Albert Lea, MN. “Wreckage of Blimp Found.” 4-22-1944, p. 1.
— 9 Zanesville Signal, OH. “Blimp in Gulf; Ohioan Survives.” 4-25-1944, p. 1.
Narrative Information
Christ: “During World War II, theA Houma area was unique due to the Naval Air Station located 3 miles south of town. The need for this installation became evident with the arrival of German submarines, or U-boats. The devastating losses sufferAed by allied shipping included 93 attacks, which sank 57 ships and damaged 17 in a four-month period. Drastic measures were called for. The Naval Air Station fulfilled that mission….
“When World War II started, the U.S. Navy had one squadron with four blimps stationed at Lakehurst, NJ. Before the war ended, there would be 11 antisubmarine blimp squadrons: along the coasts of North America, the east coast of South America, throughout the Caribbean, at Gibraltar, the Mediterranean and North Africa….
“The type “K” blimp had a capacity of 425,000 cubic feet of helium. It was 252 feet long, had two engines and a cruising speed of 67 knots or 77 miles per hour; 134 were built during the war. Later models had increased helium capacity up to 456,000 cubic feet of gas. The total “deflated” weight of a “K” blimp, fully loaded, was about 25,000 pounds….
“Now to make this machine useful in war, add a gondola, or car, that measured 42 feet long, 14 feet high and 9 feet wide. A crew of 10 performs all the functions from this car. A fully combat-ready “K” type blimp leaving on a 10-hour patrol out of Houma, for instance, would carry: 1,200 gallons of 91 octane gasoline, .50 caliber machine gun bullets, 30 gallons of engine oil, food, water, miscellaneous tools and other equipment….
“To be a fighting machine during World War II, the blimp had to have weapons. The “K” ship carried four 325-pound Mark XVII depth-charge bombs. Two bombs were carried in a “belly bomb bay,” two were carried on exterior bomb racks. One machine gun was mounted above the pilots where the gondola joined the envelope, or air bag.
“The blimps in Houma had radar for detecting surface craft on the water or to navigate. Each ship had magnetic anomaly detector gear for finding submarines down to 400 feet underwater. The electronics also consisted of: two radios for communication, one radio direction finder for navigation and a secret piece of equipment called “Identification Friend or Foe.” The latter was the forerunner of the present day transponder now used in aviation….This wire could be extended almost a quarter of a mile behind the blimp with a lead weight to hold it taut….
“….On April 19, 1944, blimp K133 was on patrol out of Houma when a tragic weather accident took nine lives. Up until that day, there had never been a weather fatality involving an Atlantic Fleet airship…according to Vaeth,[2] the K133 was forced down in the Gulf of Mexico in an accident many had feared would someday come. It was destroyed by a thunderstorm. There had been a number of close calls as K-ships had been carried violently up and down in the vertical currents of these disturbances. No squadron’s airship, however, had thus far been destroyed by one.
“The K133 unknowingly entered a thunderstorm while flying at 550 feet in visibility that was nil. For 45 minutes it was carried up and down — at one point to 11,000 feet — before crashing into the Gulf of Mexico at 10:35 a.m. Eight of the 10 crew members got out of the car safely. In the strong winds and rough water, the airship’s life raft parted its line. The eight stayed together but, although wearing life jackets, died one by one in the rough water. Only Ensign William Thewes was alive when rescue came. According to Thewes,
“We had a blur about 10 miles around on the radar scope. Once we were at 10,000 feet and there was snow there. During that time, we dropped our bombs and slip tanks and all but 370 gallons of fuel. We hit as high as 11,000 feet. We began to go down. At about 7,000 feet, we got the order to throw everything out. At 1,500 feet, the order was given to break out the life raft. By now everything had been thrown overboard except the radar box and we decided to jettison it out the door behind the rudderman. The order was then given to stand by to hit the water so we braced the radar box in front of the Lawrance (air compressor) as we hit. The tail fin hit first. We were going backwards very fast. The rear doors were open and the water rushed in.”
(Christ, C.J. “Blimps played a vital role in World War II.” Houmatoday.com. 1-19-2003.)
April 22, AP: “New Orleans, April 22 – (AP) – Army, navy and coast guard crews discovered today the wreckage of a storm-downed navy blimp in the Gulf of Mexico off the Mississippi river but nine members of the 10-man crew still are missing, eighth naval district headquarters announced. Tenth member of the crew, Ensign William Thewes, Lakewood, Ohio, was rescued by a navy craft last night and today returned to the Houma, La., lighter than air base from which the blimp had been missing since Wednesday.
“Thewes told officers aboard the rescue vessel that the blimp, on routine patrol, fell into the gulf after a 40 minute battle with a thunderstorm Wednesday. All members of the crew, he said, escaped from the control Gondola but later was scattered by the waves.
“The navy announced today also that two sister craft of the blimp had been destroyed and another suffered major damage early Friday when they were torn loose from moorings inside the hangar at Houma ‘by a freak tornado like storm with winds of approximately 60 miles an hour.’ No injuries were suffered by personnel, the announcement said.” (Evening Tribune, Albert Lea, MN. “Wreckage of Blimp Found. Airship Brought Down by Storm in Gulf…” 4-22-1944, p. 1.)
April 25, Associated Press: “Houma, La. – (AP) – A salt-burned young ensign told yesterday how he fought for his life after a navy blimp dived into the Gulf of Mexico Wednesday. Only known survivor of the blimp’s crew of 10, William Thewes, 21, of Lakewood, O., said the craft was sucked skyward in an updraft after running into a thunderstorm, and that after 40 minutes the blimp slanted at ‘terrific speed’ into the water. His story.
The sea was rough. The wind was blowing. It was raining hard and most of us had swallowed a lot of salt water when we hit the gulf. We tried to stay together the best we could. One man disappeared shortly after we hit. But the rest of us clustered around an empty gasoline tank. The tank had been ripped loose from the blimp.
We kidded each other for a while — about the long leaves we’d get for being ‘survivors.’ We were all there except the one man.
After several hours I saw most of the others drift away. A crewman and I took the best bearings we could and started paddling northward in our Mae West life jackets. My watch was still working and it seemed funny.
At about 7:25 Wednesday evening I saw a blimp. The crewman and I knew they were looking for us. They seemed about 10 miles away. I lost sight of my buddy that night.
Next morning about 7 o’clock I saw a ship coming. It passed about 100 yards away. A few minutes later it came back. They saw me from a distance of some 200 feet. They scooped me out of the water and gave me dry clothes. And that was that.
(Zanesville Signal, OH. “Blimp in Gulf; Ohioan Survives.” 4-25-1944, p. 1.)
Wikipedia: “19 April 1944 – US Navy airship K-133, of ZP-22, operating out of NAS Houma, Louisiana, was caught in a thunderstorm while patrolling over the Gulf of Mexico. It went down and twelve of thirteen crew were lost; the sole survivor was recovered after spending 21 hours in the water.[3]” (Wikipedia. “List of airship accidents.” 11-20-2011 modification.)
Sources
Christ, C. J. “Blimps played a vital role in World War II.” Houmatoday.com. 1-19-2003. Accessed at: http://www.houmatoday.com/article/20030119/NEWS/301190301
Evening Tribune, Albert Lea, MN. “Wreckage of Blimp Found.” 4-22-1944, p. 1. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=35785068
Wikipedia. “List of airship accidents.” 11-20-2011 modification. Accessed 11-20-2011 and again 4-7-2024 at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_airship_accidents#cite_note-Vaeth-13
Zanesville Signal, OH. “Blimp in Gulf; Ohioan Survives.” 4-25-1944, p. 1. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=5140307
[1] Not used as high estimate – not substantiated by other sources cited and uncited.
[2] J. Gordon Vaeth. Blimps and U-boats. Naval Institute Press, July 1992.
[3] Cites: Shettle, M. L., “United States Naval Air Stations of World War II – Volume II : Western States“, Schaertel Publishing Co., Bowersville, Georgia, 1997, p. 99.