Intrépide (balloon)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Intrépide war balloon in the HGM

The Intrépide is one of six observation balloons of the French army , which was captured by the imperial army on September 3, 1796 in the battle of Würzburg . The tethered balloon is now in the permanent exhibition of the Vienna Army History Museum and is the oldest surviving military aircraft .

history

At the beginning of 1794, the French army established its own airship division, the Compagnie d´aérosiers . The commander of this department was the scientist Jean Marie Joseph Coutelle , who, through his acquaintance with the physicist Charles Alexandre, studied the experiences of the Montgolfier brothers and their balloons . With the Convention for the Manufacture of Balloons for the Armies of the Republic, dated April 2, 1794, he became the captain of the first officer in aviation.

For the purpose of reconnaissance and communication, the first deployment of these French military aeronauts took place on June 2, 1794. At low altitudes, communication with the commander took place on the ground via a speaking tube; at higher altitudes, light signals and signal flags were used. On June 26, 1794, in the Battle of Fleurus , the French General Etienne had the positions and movements of the Austrian army explored several times with the help of the L´Entreprenant observation balloon . The French then attributed a large part of their success in the Battle of Fleurus to this aerial reconnaissance. As a result, on October 31, 1794, it was decided to found an aviation school in Meudon . Coutelle was entrusted with the establishment of a second company and appointed to command all French military aeronauts. He continued to try to make the balloons suitable for field service. The balloon should be made of the lightest possible material and the balloon gondola should not accommodate more than two people. As a result, less gas was required, which in turn accelerated the readiness of the balloon, as it took about 50 hours to fill the balloon.

In April 1795, Coutelle joined the head of the second company of the French Army on the Rhine under General Jean-Charles Pichegru ; the first company operated with its balloons L´Hercule and L´Intrépide as part of the army under General Jean-Baptiste Jourdan . This was finally defeated by the Austrian army under Archduke Karl in the battle of Würzburg . The first French airship company fell into Austrian captivity, which meant that the victors also got the Intrépide balloon .

After their release from captivity, the first company returned to Meudon, was reorganized and assigned to the Egyptian expedition under Napoleon Bonaparte . The cumbersome material was never to be used there, as the military importance of the balloons rapidly declined in the further course of the coalition wars. Napoleon, who, as an advocate of the war of movement, could not use the rigid balloon, finally ordered the final dissolution of the two aeronautical companies on January 18, 1799.

Painting by Karl von Blaas, 1870 (HGM)

technical description

  • Balloon:
    • Total circumference: 20 m
    • Total length: 14.5 m
    • Diameter: 9.8 m
    • Cover: pure silk , over it a split net
  • Gondola:
    • Material: Wooden framework covered with strong canvas painted over blue
    • Height: 105 cm (including wooden gallery)
    • Length: 114 cm
    • Width: 57 cm on the sides, 75 cm in the middle

Museum reception

The Intrépide balloon in the Army History Museum in Vienna is in the permanent exhibition in Hall III ("Hall of Revolutions"). It is the oldest military air vehicle that has survived to this day. Already in the records of the Imperial Armory from 1846 there are references to the French war balloon presented there. After the completion of the Imperial and Royal Court Weapons Museum in the Vienna Arsenal it was prominently exhibited there. The balloon was exhibited once outside the Army Museum, namely in the International Aviation Exhibition organized by the Austrian Aviation Association from May 18 to 23, 1912 in the Rotunda in Vienna .

In 1870, the history painter Karl von Blaas painted the scene in which Generals Sztaray and Kray handed over the Intrépide balloon to Archduke Karl after the battle of Würzburg. The painting can be seen next to the balloon in the Army History Museum.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Manfried Rauchsteiner, Manfred Litscher: The Heeresgeschichtliche Museum in Vienna. Verlag Styria, Graz, Vienna 2000, 37.
  2. Christoph Hatschek: "L'Intrépide". The “fearless” captive balloon from Würzburg , in: Viribus Unitis. Annual report of the Army History Museum 2003. Vienna 2004, pp. 23–36.
  3. Christoph Hatschek: "L'Intrépide". The “fearless” captive balloon from Würzburg , in: Viribus Unitis. Annual report of the Army History Museum 2003. Vienna 2004, pp. 37–40.

literature

  • Christoph Hatschek: "L'Intrépide". The “fearless” captive balloon from Würzburg , in: Viribus Unitis. Annual report of the Army History Museum 2003. Vienna 2004, pp. 23–42.
  • Army History Museum / Military History Institute (ed.): The Army History Museum in the Vienna Arsenal . Verlag Militaria, Vienna 2016, ISBN 978-3-902551-69-6 , p. 57
  • Manfried Rauchsteiner , Manfred Litscher: The Army History Museum in Vienna . Verlag Styria, Graz, Vienna 2000, ISBN 3-222-12834-0 , p. 3

Web links