Today, blimp airships fly above cityscapes displaying commercial and political advertising. Still, these slow and seemingly harmless vehicles once played a crucial role in fearlessly hunting down Nazi U-boats in the Atlantic Ocean during World War 2.

As Germany began its ruthless U-boat campaign in the North Atlantic in 1942, the US Navy had limited tools to identify and counter the stealthy and versatile submarines. Then, out of sheer desperation, the Americans deployed the six blimps they had available for patrol and rescue operations.

Astoundingly, the K-class airships quickly proved to be an influential asset in anti-submarine warfare, helping rescue crews after U-boat attacks, locating submerged submarines before they could ambush Allied convoys, and eventually raining destruction upon German U-boats by themselves.

By the time the war reached its final phase, German submarine crews absolutely dreaded the sight of a blimp flying over an Allied convoy…

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