U.S. Navy Blimp Landing on the Flight Deck of HMCS Magnificent

As a small boy I was given a postcard of a US Navy blimp landing on the flight deck of HMSC Magnificent. I was so impressed by it that I tacked it up in my room, and carried it with me ever since. It depicts one of two U.S. Navy K–class Non–Rigid Airships (blimps) operating from HMCS Shearwater in May 1952. It is making practice landings on the flight deck of HMCS Magnificent. The blimps were based in Lakehurst New Jersey. There is a Royal Canadian Navy TBM–3E Avenger on the flight deck.

The K–class non–rigid airship was a class of blimps built by the Goodyear Aircraft Company of Akron, Ohio. These blimps were powered by two radial air–cooled engines mounted on outriggers on the side of the control car that hung under the envelope. Before and during World War II, 135 K–class blimps were built, configured for patrol and anti–submarine warfare operations and were extensively used in the Navy’s anti–submarine efforts in the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean areas.