TheAstra-Torres airships were non-rigidairships built bySociété Astra in France between about 1908 and 1922 to a design by the SpaniardLeonardo Torres Quevedo.[1][2][3] They had a highly characteristic tri-lobed cross-section rather than the more usual circular cross-section. This was the result of moving most of the blimp's bracing wires inside the envelope in an attempt to minimise drag. Early Astra-Torres airships could be trimmed by moving the entire gondola fore and aft.
Astra-Torres airships, likeAlsace, were used by theFrench Navy during theFirst World War and for a few years before and after. A few of these were transferred to the American expeditionary forces in Europe, andAT-1,AT-13 andAT-17 were eventually taken back to the United States.
Britain'sRoyal Naval Air Service purchased AT-14, AT-17 and AT-19, these becomingHMA No. 3,HMA No. 8 andHMA No. 16 respectively. They went through testing and evaluation atRNAS Kingsnorth before all were later taken out of service in May 1916,[4] although the Astra-Torres design was imitated in Britain's ownCoastal class, andNorth Sea blimps that served through to the end of the war.[5]
After the war, AT-16 was operated byTransaérienne, carrying sightseeing passengers over Paris, and AT-24 was purchased by the Japanese Navy.
