| HMA No. 1 "Mayfly" | |
|---|---|
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| HMA No. 1 Mayfly at its mooring, Barrow-in-Furness (September 1911) | |
| Role | Aerial scout airship |
| National origin | United Kingdom |
| Manufacturer | Vickers |
| Designer | C.G. Robertson Lieutenant N.F. Usborne |
| First flight | Never flown |
| Status | Abandoned project; airship wrecked by winds on 24 September 1911 |
| Primary user | Royal Navy |
His Majesty's Airship No. 1 was designed and built by Vickers, Sons and Maxim at their works in Barrow-in-Furness, Lancashire, England, as an aerial scout airship for the Royal Navy. It was the first British rigid airship to be built, and was constructed in a direct attempt to compete with the German airship programme. Often referred to as "Mayfly", a nickname given to it by the lower deck (i.e. the non-commissioned component of a naval ship's crew), in public records it is designated 'HMA Hermione' because the naval contingent at Barrow were attached to HMS Hermione, a cruiser moored locally preparing to act as its tender.[1]
When it was moved from its shed in Cavendish Dock to conduct full trials on 24 September 1911 it broke in two before it could attempt its first flight as a result of being subject to strong winds .[2] Although Mayfly never flew, its brief career provided valuable training and experimental data for British airship crews and designers.[3]
- ^ Jarret, P., (ed.) (2002) Pioneer Aircraft; Early Aviation before 1914. London: Putnam. ISBN 0-85177-869-0, p. 41
- ^ "Airship Breaks in Half" Popular Mechanics, December 1911, p. 773.
- ^ HMA No. 1 "The Mayfly" The Airship Heritage Trust. Retrieved on 1 March 2009.