The Age of the Hovercraft

[Ian Hathaway]

Prior to WW2 the Finnish engineer DI Toivo J. Kaario, head inspector of Valtion Lentokonetehdas (VL) airplane engine workshop, began to design an air cushion craft in 1931. He constructed and tested his craft, dubbed pintaliitäjä (Surface Glider), and received its Finnish patents 18630 and 26122.

Kaario is considered to have designed and built the first functional ground effect vehicle (Hovercraft), but his invention did not receive sufficient funds for further development.

What if someone (a major foreign power) had seized upon the idea and provided the funding?

Could we have seen hovercraft used during WW2?

Who is most likely to have provided the funding? (In the mid-30's the Soviets were toying with a similar concept with a rigid air cushion, maybe the German's with their need to find innovative solutions to cracking the RN, or the RN themselves ... maybe a completely different nation)

 

[sharlin]

If anyone was to toy with it, you would probably see the US and UK working on the tech. an air cushoned landing craft would probably be bloody useful for invasion purposes

 

[Ian Hathaway]

If anyone was to toy with it, you would probably see the US and UK working on the tech. an air cushoned landing craft would probably be bloody useful for invasion purposes

I'm not sure the US would be that interested back in the 30's but the landing craft idea seems like it would be the most logical. Just for infos sake the Soviets produced 20 prototypes of a fast attack craft that could travel at a reported 70 knots plus.

 

[PMN1]

If anyone was to toy with it, you would probably see the US and UK working on the tech. an air cushoned landing craft would probably be bloody useful for invasion purposes

Tony Williams has the UK using them in 'The Foresight War'.

 

[pedmore1202]

If Britain had access to the technology, I could see it being proposed for use by the Commando's and the other special forces, as well as for elite landing forces for D-Day and other amphibious assaults

 

[sharlin]

Aye thats what I was thinking. They would offer a lot of tactical and strategic mobility.

 

[Simon]

I don't think it would be the Germans since they were never really that interested in amphibious warfare, even though it would be a major boost for a cross channel invasion I'm nor sure the Germans knew enough about that kind of thing to realise how badly they were lacking in the capability and that they might need something like that. Just look at the plans for Operation Sea Lion with its towed river barges that would swamp if a destroyer went past them too quickly or how they weren't able to spot any possible flaws in Allied deception operations since they weren't able to know what was really possible or not with the assets the Allies had.

 

[Ian Hathaway]

If Britain had access to the technology, I could see it being proposed for use by the Commando's and the other special forces, as well as for elite landing forces for D-Day and other amphibious assaults

I hear what you are saying but in the early 30's Britain was on a defensive footing, I don't think they would have the desire for an assault craft.

 

[juanml82]

What about Italy? Of course, their armed forces weren't on par with the major powers, but they have an incentive for amphibious operations.

 

[Ian Hathaway]

What about Italy? Of course, their armed forces weren't on par with the major powers, but they have an incentive for amphibious operations.

Now there's a nation I hadn't thought of ... plus they have expansion ambitions ...

 

[Simon]

I hear what you are saying but in the early 30's Britain was on a defensive footing, I don't think they would have the desire for an assault craft.

As far as I'm aware they did have an amphibious warfare programme pre-war and there were apparently suggestions about re-tasking the Royal Marines as a specialist formation for that but it all came to naught as the department was shut down in the 30s due to lack of funds I think it was. So they were looking at specialist craft, you just need to find some way to keep their funding going/make people consider it important enough and it might be possible.

 

[pedmore1202]

I hear what you are saying but in the early 30's Britain was on a defensive footing, I don't think they would have the desire for an assault craft.

Yeah, I was actually meaning it for during the war. If they had the technology and ability needed to build them, they could have built several for various units for quick in and out assaults/raids

 

[Just Leo]

The skirt was the final technological innovation that allowed all the other innovations to be viable. Everyone could be interested in the final product, but who gets the final idea and who pays for the development? This looks like another private venture, because of the "It's not a boat nor an aircraft" thing. Historically, nobody cared until it was built, much like the jet engine.

 

[Some Bloke]

The speed and manouvrabilty would be very attractive for coastal strikes.
Assault Boat. Has a nice ring to it don't you think.

 

[Just Leo]

The speed and manouvrabilty would be very attractive for coastal strikes.
Assault Boat. Has a nice ring to it don't you think.

Do you mean the Fresian mud flats? Also good for Russian mud, Dutch floodlands, desert wadis etc.

 

[ComradeHuxley]

There is also the possibility that the soviets do something with the technology, since they had their own expert already.

First successful experiments with hovercraft in the USSR date back to the mid-1930s and are tightly connected with the name of a talented engineer and designer Vladimir Levkov, who substantiated the possibility of hovercraft as far back as in 1925 in his treatise named The vortex theory of rotor (Russian: Вихревая теория ротора).
In 1934 the L-1 hovercraft boat which is sometimes referred to as the first hovercraft boat in the world was designed and built in his laboratory, with the L-5 fast-attack boat soon to follow. It became obvious that there was a great potential in further development of this technology of transportation. Alongside with civilian vehicles, Levkov also made attempts to employ the technology for military use

 

[Dathi THorfinnsson]

The obvious answer is the US Marines. They dont care if its a boat or a plane or a tardis, as long as it will do the job. Moreover, they did a handful of interventions in the Caribbean, iirc, in the inter war year, and a hovercraft would be great as a landing craft in the pacific- get across a bit of ocean, cross a coral reef, over the lagoon on the other side and onto the beach.

If there were a handful of experimental infantry versions available in '41, you might have a tank carriers available for DDay.

 

[LHB]

If hovercraft were widely used in WWII, let's say the first two major adopters are the US and Italy (cause hey the Italians need a break sometime lol), what impact would this have on the development of the technology during and after the war? Would this result in hovercraft replacing conventional ground or sea vehicles in some roles in the post-war period?

And to throw out a really fun sci-fi inspired one: would a hovertank ever be feasible

 

[Carl Schwamberger]

... Would this result in hovercraft replacing conventional ground or sea vehicles in some roles in the post-war period?

Probably not. In the 1980s the USN finally did have some hovercraft built for amphib ops. They have been usefull, but are not supercraft. One problem is sea states that are only anoying to boats prevent hovercraft from operating. Another is they turn copious amounts of fuel into very hot masses of exhaust gas, turning one thing into two problems. What they do well is move boat loads at high speed across water, and can disembark onto dry beach.

 

[NothingNow]

Probably not. In the 1980s the USN finally did have some hovercraft built for amphib ops. They have been usefull, but are not supercraft. One problem is sea states that are only anoying to boats prevent hovercraft from operating. Another is they turn copious amounts of fuel into very hot masses of exhaust gas, turning one thing into two problems. What they do well is move boat loads at high speed across water, and can disembark onto dry beach.

Which makes them somewhat less useful than an LVT or DUWK, despite those being vulnerable to underwater obstructions.