Barrage Balloons After Research

[el cid again]

After a question, I began to dig. I found the article below. I learned that Japan had units,
but the official US Army manual on Japanese forces says their organization is unknown. By tomorrow
we will have proposed devices developed.

Article:

Sunday Ship History: Behold the Barrage Balloon!




Take a look at the picture above showing the beach head at the Normandy landings. What do you see? Ships, men, tanks? What about those balloon things above the ships and the beach? Those are barrage balloons and they provide a form of antiaircraft protection to the forces on the beach.

These balloons saw action not just on D-Day, but somewhere- every day during the war -a barrage balloon was being used to defend some vital component of the war machine, from vital harbors, to ship yards, to merchant ships steaming in convoys carrying vital supplies to England, to LSTs landing on the beach heads of the Pacific.


What do we remember about them?

Barrage balloons came into existence during the later stages of World War I, when the British were looking for assistance in reducing the German bombing threat. Steel cables suspended from balloons proved effective in imposing flight limitations on German bombers - limiting altitudes at which they could fly over Britain and closing off certain approaches. As noted in "Barrage Balloons for Low-Level Air Defense" by Major Franklin J. Hillson, USAF, the balloon arrays served multiple purposes:
The barrage balloon was simply a bag of lighter-than-air gas attached to a steel cable anchored to the ground. The balloon could be raised or lowered to the desired altitude by means of a winch. Its purpose was ingenuous: to deny low-level airspace to enemy aircraft. This simple mission provided three major benefits: (1) it forced aircraft to higher altitudes, thereby decreasing surprise and bombing accuracy; (2) it enhanced ground-based air defenses and the ability of fighters to acquire targets,since intruding aircraft were limited in altitudes and direction: and (3) the cable presented a definite mental and material hazard to pilots. Many people think that a barrage balloon system was designed to snare aircraft like a spider web capturing unwary flies. Not so. Any airplanes caught in these aerial nets were a bonus; the real objective of the balloons was to deny low-altitude flight to the enemy. Mindful of these capabilities, the British saw the barrage balloon as a viable means to counter low-level attackers during the world wars.
With the advent of World War II, thousands of barrage balloons appeared in the skies of England and the United States began to develop barrage balloon expertise out of concern about possible air attacks on important assets, including the Panama Canal. See here:
A fourth air defense element, the barrage balloon, received considerable attention but only scant development before the United States entered the war- The Air Corps began work on a barrage balloon in 1938, but more active preparations did not get under way until the beginning of 1941, after reports during the summer and fall of 1940 had indicated the effectiveness of balloons in Great Britain and Germany in interfering with low-level bombardment. After the Air Corps had developed a large and relatively high-altitude-type balloon, the Chief of Staff decided to transfer most barrage balloon activity to the Coast Artillery Corps. When the Coast Artillery took over at the beginning of June 1941, the Army had three barrage balloon companies and just three balloons. But it had tentatively decided to acquire 3,000 more balloons, and plans evolved during the summer and fall of 1941 to expand the barrage balloon force to be used for continental defense purposes alone to eighty-five batteries, each flying thirty-five balloons.54 By 1 November 1941, five battalions of three batteries each were being organized and trained at the Barrage Balloon Training Center at Camp Davis, North Carolina. The Army sent three of these battalions to bolster the air defenses of the west coast soon after the outbreak of war. It also decided to replace the Air Corps type of balloon with the smaller British balloon which, although designed to fly at lower levels, was easier to handle, less expensive to manufacture and operate, and readily procurable.

As one part of the new antiaircraft project approved in the spring of 1942, a maximum of forty balloon battalions of prewar strength for continental defense was to be provided. The number actually employed for this purpose during the war was a little more than one-tenth of this strength, and in the United States balloon battalions were used only at a few west coast locations and at the Sault Ste. Marie Canal.55
Except that the Marines were also working with barrage balloons. And it also ignores the use of barrage balloons in amphibious warfare operations - including D-Day (about which more later).


Merchant ships carried the balloons (and occasionally flew "barrage kites" for the same effect - limiting enemy aircraft attacks).

Little can be found on the web about the Marines use of barrage balloons except for some photographs of Marines wrestling with balloons in training and some side comments about the use of barrage balloons during some Pacific island landings as set out here:

The Coast Guard-manned USS LST-207 ...loaded Marine Corps supplies and departed on 4 November and reached Purvata Island, Bougainville on 6 November 1944..

...After three more resupply echelons had been sent to Bougainville from Guadalcanal in which LST-207 participated, she departed on the 11th of February, 1944, for the invasion of the Green Islands. Stopping at Ondonga Island, New Georgia Islands, she loaded personnel and cargo of the 37th Special Battalion, Navy CBs while enemy planes were bombing an airstrip half a mile away and departed with 250 Navy CBs in convoy for the Green Islands invasion. At 0849 on the 15th she passed into Nissan Island Lagoon and put bulldozers ashore for roadwork. At 0650, two bombers were observed attacking one of the screening destroyers on the 207's port bow. Two near misses were observed. After dropping bombs one of the planes circled and headed toward the convoy and the 207 opened fire with no perceivable damage. Again at 0705 a plane approached astern three miles distant at 12,000 feet and when at 3,000 feet and abeam the LST opened fire. The plane dropped two small bombs about 200 yards out and forward of the vessel and then veered up and away beyond range. Barrage balloons flown at 2,000 feet during the attack and were believed to have caused the bombs to fall too far to starboard, thus missing the vessel.
The crew of one LST saved, in part, by a balloon.

Part of the reason for limited Marine history may lie with this:
Six barrage balloon squadrons were activated starting in October 1941 to play a role in the defensive responsibilities of te FMF. During 1942 two squadrons were dispatched to Samoa, one to Tulugi (served without balloons there) and three squadron by December were located at Noumea...A Marine barrage balloon group headquarters was organized in January 1943 to control the squadrons located there...By December 1943 all six squadrons were deactivated...It had been decided in June 1943 that the Army would relieve the Marines of barrage balloon responsibilities.
As an antiaircraft tool, the balloons sometimes seemed a mixed blessing, as set out here:
Barrage balloons for LSTs, which had been used in the Sicilian landings that summer, were introduced to the Pacific fleet by the second echelon. This device snared one Nip plane in early November and proved baffling to the pilots; but the balloons were finally discarded in 1944 because they gave away a task force's position to enemy search planes.
As you might gather, the use of barrage balloons was important to the invasions of Sicily and Italy.

But the biggest use was probably during the Normandy invasion on D-Day, June 6, 1944. As can be seen in nearby photos, every LCI (Landing Craft Infantry) toted along its own barrage balloon, as did some larger vessels. There were some concerns with the ship mounted balloons:
Barrage balloons actually caused some serious concern at the Normandy landings, especially in the early hours. Several batteries of long-range
German artillery could see these large balloons tethered above ships from several miles inland and were able to bombard those ships that they could not see with a fair amount of accuracy. Many Navy crews cut their balloons loose when it became apparent that the Luftwaffe was not going to be a big factor that day, but the artillery was.
Among the first men on the beach were members of the Army's 320th Barrage Balloon Brigade (VLA)(Colored):
The 320th Barrage Balloon Bn. was unique at Normandy for two reasons. First, it was the first barrage balloon unit in France and second, it was the first black unit in the segregated American Army to come ashore on D-Day.

The VLA in the 320th designation stood for "very low altitude." These units used smaller barrage balloons that could easily be moved by a few men and transported across the channel on landing craft. A standard balloon crew was normally four men, but trained personnel were in short supply and the 320th reduced the crews to three men to get as many balloons in the air as possible.

The barrage balloon concept was simple, lighter-than-air balloons were tethered over an area that the Army wished to protect from air attack. The balloons were flown at irregular intervals and altitudes. If an enemy plane attempted to fly into the area, it ran the risk of striking one of the wire cables holding the balloons. This could be enough to slice off a wing or the cable could become entangled in the propeller. It was a passive form of defense which forced the enemy aircraft to fly above the balloons where it would be harder to hit the target. Many of the ships taking part in the channel crossing flew barrage balloons to prevent low level attacks.

The men of the 320th were not second rate soldiers. They were highly trained and took pride in their job. When they were told they were going to land in France to protect the invasion beaches, they quickly realized that the standard VLA balloon winch was too heavy and cumbersome to lug ashore from a landing craft. The M-1 US Army winch had a gasoline motor and weighed 1,000 pounds. The British Mark VII weighed almost 400 pounds. They developed an expedient by adding two handles to a Signal Corps RL-31 Winder and putting the balloon wire on the DR-4 drum. This new winch weighed only 50 pounds and could easily be carried ashore by one man.
In addition to tying up enemy aircraft assisting in preventing the aerial mining of waterways, the English barrage balloons also were responsible for taking out V-1 rocket bombs (early cruise missiles), perhaps as many as 100.

With the end of WWII, the barrage balloon seems to have faded away, having served well in two wars.

In 1989, however, barrage balloons were suggested as a possible solution to low flying aircraft threats:
Modern technology allows aircraft to fly high and fast, but it also permits them to fly at very low altitudes--perhaps their most advantageous capability. Radar, antiaircraft artillery (AAA), and particularly SAMs make today's air defenses extremely formidable, but these systems are vulnerable to ultra-low-level attack by enemy aircraft. Because SAMs and other antiaircraft systems are deadly to high-flying aircraft, both NATO and the Warsaw Pact emphasize low-level attacks. This tactic helps negate the effect of SAMS, decreases enemy response time, and enhances the element of surprise.
To counter that surprise there might be a need for "a wonderfully simple weapon--the barrage balloon."

Give a salute to the brave men and women who wrangled balloons at time of war!

[Yaab]

So much work for nothing - a 1945 hurricane undoes a blimp base.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naval_Air ... n_Richmond

[el cid again]

At last I have learned how to spell "balloon"!

This is, of course, pure chrome. They have a slight game function - mitigating against a decision to fly very low (where more bombs hit the target IRL and perhaps too many do in germs of game algorithms). But not very many places.

They are surprisingly effective - and there were DOD proposals to bring them back in the 1980s - and they still get good press in some professional circles concerned with things like cruise missiles. [This is somewhat ironic, their greatest effect was in re the first cruse missile, the V-1. They either got 'about 100' - or 242 depending on your source.] But their real operational impact is, as with most air defenses, because of targets not hit (because the bombers flew higher or avoided the target altogether). They rarely have been credited with saving ships - even a lone LST unable to mount a proper 'barrage' - just one balloon!]

Barrage balloons were mainly an ETO phenomena. They also are surprisingly standardized. While the US Army did develop its own model just about when WW2 began, they quickly abandoned it in favor of the standard British type. This itself was simplified from a WWI design, and also flew lower. The Japanese and Russians had their own designs, but they were not functionally different enough (nor numerous enough) to justify unique, national devices. I standardized on the basic British model, which flies at up to 5024 feet (the cable was measured in meters rather than feet or yards). I expected to have different kinds because of parachutes cables and explosive bomblets, but they had no measurable impact on effectiveness - which remains remarkably constant.

I have created two devices - and implemented only one of them so far. These are variations on the same theme, modeling the same standard balloon - static and mobile (meaning truck mobile) - because that was the two forms used. They are peculiar devices, and show up as Flak with very little "range" and a modest "ceiling". They come in packages of 24 (British and Commonwealth), 30 (Japanese and Russian), and 45 (US). A variation is that LSTs can "convert" to a form with the after AA mounting replaced by a single barrage balloon (otherwise retaining all their cargo capacity and other AA guns). These are dual conversions - an LST can be normal or "with barrage balloon" - and can go back and forth as desired. This is because the most common application at sea was at landing sites where they were indeed flown by LSTs. There were some cases of merchant ship use - at least one in the Solomans - but until I have more information - it is unwise to model it.

Fixed barrage balloons are generally limited to major cities, usually ports. At the start of the war Japan had a single "company" (CW nations and USMC call them 'squadrons') at Tokyo, Osaka and Shimonozeke. Several more were formed (perhaps four or five companies) but where they were sent is not known (I have the official US Army report on them from the occupation) - so I will make them road mobile. The US had three deployed units when the war began (Panama, Bremerton, and San Diego), and deployed several more to Oahu, Seattle "area" (including Renton), and LA. Britain sent one unit each to Columbo, Trincomalee and Calcutta. Probably the Russians only used them over Vladivostok and the Chinese only over Chunking.
There is a chance the US might have deployed a battalion in 1945 - on return from Europe it was sent to Hawaii after service in France and other places - so in strictly historical games the US will get at least one very late war mobile unit. There are a few units with unknown histories that may add to the list - probably only 1 or 2 - probably 1942 or 1943. The UK could have sent mobile units after VE day - but more analysis is needed. More of these kinds of additions will be considered for Japan Enhanced Scenarios - where we are less constrained by history and Japan is presumably a bigger threat.

These will be part of comprehensive update 1.40 - possibly within 24 hours.

[el cid again]

Thanks for this.

Fortunately, the US East Coast isn't involved in a PTO simulation.

Also fortunately, experiences with high winds (and also with lightning storms)
led to tactics to render these issued moot. Kite Balloons and Barrage Balloons
are not flown in such conditions. And, unlike blimps, they can rapidly deflate
and be put into storage. They even developed an automatic deflation mechanism
to take effect if a cable broke loose, etc. Both the balloon and the cable, separately,
fall to Earth slowly on a parachute - creating a probability they can be found
and recovered.

I am something of a fan of LTA craft, and advocated their return to military (and
para-military) service (mainly as radar/search platforms) - something which has
come to pass. I have historical material on these matters.

The Barrage Balloon - and its heavier than air cousin the kite balloon - remains
both the simplest and the most effective kind of application of tethered vehicles.
They were the very first to matter in military history, and are periodically re-considered
for modern air defense! [In particular in re cruise missiles. And in history, their
greatest success was re the first cruise missile - the V-1.]

ORIGINAL: Yaab


So much work for nothing - a 1945 hurricane undoes a blimp base.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naval_Air ... n_Richmond

[el cid again]

The US Marines formed two barrage balloon battalions just as the Pacific War began. These were eventually disbanded - along with almost all other special USMC units -
when pre-war plans did not work out and it became clear the war strategy required
major assaults by major combat units. But from late 1941 until mid 1943, the US has two mobile battalions. Late in the war, the 320 th was sent to Hawaii and available for PTO operations. Otherwise, although three battalions and three independent batteries were sent to ETO, only one other unit was maintained into 1945 - the 302nd. Originally a training unit, it apparently spent most of the war defending points in the Eastern USA, and was only disbanded in July when it was clear no need for it would develop in PTO. So these are the only two mobile US units late in the war.

Russia could have sent a mobile unit to the Far East after Germany surrendered - if there was deemed to be an enemy bomber threat. So I have put one in to give players the option, depending on the war situation. China used barrage balloons big time in the Korean War and clearly had a domestic industry. Pending more data, I have given China a static battalion at Chunking and a mobile one for use anywhere - but no more.

Since the USN and RN both use the same LSTs, RN LSTs may convert to the barrage balloon form just as the USN can - players choice. I have found photographs of RN LSTs flying them - so it is OK to let this stand. But I did not find evidence UK sent mobile units - which it could have done after Germany fell - it had 2000 deployed (mainly static) in the UK itself. I did find a call by Churchill to send them to Ceylon and photographic and documentary evidence they also went to Calcutta, but no where else.

In game terms, I hope these devices discourage some very low altitude attacks. Which, if they do, was their
actual function. There are not many units and not very large numbers of balloons in PTO - compared to England in
particular - so it is unclear. But anecdotal evidence seems to show even one matters IRL! This is less likely to be
true in game terms.