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| Patrie | |
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| The Patrie leaving her hangar at Verdun for the final time, 29 November 1907. | |
| Role | Military reconnaissance airship |
| National origin | France |
| Manufacturer | Lebaudy Frères, Moisson, France |
| Designer | Henri Julliot[1] |
| First flight | 16 November 1906[1] |
| Number built | 1 |
The Lebaudy Patrie was a semi-rigid airship built for the French army in Moisson, France, by sugar producers Lebaudy Frères. Designed by Henri Julliot, Lebaudy's chief engineer, the Patrie was completed in November 1906 and handed over to the French army the following month. The Patrie bears the distinction of being the first airship built specifically for military service.[2]
In 1907, from her base at Chalais-Meudon near Paris, a successful series of military manoeuvres was conducted with the airship by the military command, which included a visit by France's President of the Council Georges Clemenceau. Following the successful completion of these operations, in November 1907 the Patrie was transferred under her own power to her operational base at Verdun, near the German border.
Due to a mechanical fault, the Patrie became stranded away from her base on 29 November 1907 in Souhesmes. During a storm on 30 November she was torn loose from her temporary moorings and, despite the efforts of some 200 soldiers who tried to restrain her, she was carried away by the high winds and lost from sight. Had the rope to the emergency gas-release system been attached, her loss could possibly have been avoided.[3] After crossing the English Channel and passing unseen through English airspace during the night, the Patrie was sighted over Wales and Ireland on 1 December. She made a brief landfall near Belfast, before rising again to be blown out over the Atlantic Ocean. Following a sighting from a steamship off the Hebrides, she was never seen again.
Despite the loss of the Patrie, the Lebaudy Brothers went on to complete a sister-ship to the Patrie, the République, for the French Army. Several airships of a similar design to the Patrie were ordered and delivered to export customers, including the Russian Empire and Austro-Hungarian Empire.
- ^ a b "The French War Office Airship 'Patrie.'" (PDF). Flight Magazine. VIII (47). London: Reed Business Information: 1033. 1916-11-23. Retrieved 2009-01-27.
- ^ The Patrie's predecessor, known as "Le Jaune" ("The Yellow (One)") because of its yellow lead chromate protective coating, was donated by Lebaudy Frères to the French army in September 1906 and was therefore the first airship to see military service in France.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
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