US Navy

“Blimp” over Rome

www.warwingsart.com

Rome, Spring 1945: an airship of the US Navy’s ZP-14 (Blimp Squadron 14, Blimpron 15) overflying Piazza San Pietro during his deployment in Italy. The story begin when, to assist with anti-submarine warfare around the Straits of Gibraltar, the US Navy decided to send six, and after other two, blimps at Gibraltar where the PBY-5A Catalina of VP-63 (Patrol Bombing Squadron 63 or VPB-63), “The Mad Cats”, had been searching for German U-boats since early 1944. However, because of the low altitude required (75 or 100 feet) for effective magnetic anomaly detection (MAD), the Catalinas could not search safely at night. The slow-flying blimps were determined to be the perfect solution for night-time MAD patrols. The eight K-ships (K-123, K-130, K-109, K-134, K-101, K-112, K-89, K-114) were the only blimps sent across the Atlantic during WWII. Based also on French Morocco (Port Liautey), Algeria (Oran), Tunisia (Bizerte) and Malta, the Blimpron 14 changed his primary mission to mine clearing in Mediterranean ports and shipping lanes and moved to Sardinia (Cagliari-Elmas), Mainland Italy (Rome-Littorio Airfield, Pisa, plus Venice only planned) and Southern France (Cannes and Cuers-Pierrefeu). The first operations in Italy started on March 1945 during the first week in March when a “blimp” was based at Rome, Littorio Airfield (today Roma-Urbe Airport), ZP-15 Advance Base 6. The Cagliari’s base, Advance Base 4, was closed in April and a new advanced base (Advance Base 3) was open at Pisa (San Giusto Airfield today Pisa “Galileo Galilei” International Airport) early in May few days after the liberation of Genoa. The sweeping operations began on 5 May 1945. During the final weeks of the war an Advance Base was planned in Venice, “de facto” never operational because the end of the war (partial abstract from “Blimpron 14 Overseas”). For see again an airship over Rome will wait for the Eighties of XX Century when a Goodyear airship was based for advertising reasons at Capena, North of the City, near the entry of A1 Highway. Victor Sierra