The strange tale of the Habakkuk

by graeme

It was the dark days of World War II. Hitler’s armies were at the apex of their power. The allies were losing thousands of tonnes of shipping to German U-Boats, threatening to strangle the war effort.

They needed a secret weapon. They found Project Habakkuk. A 2,000 foot long, 300 foot wide aircraft carrier built of ice. Well, a mixture of wood pulp and ice, anyway. A plane-launching, U-Boat thumping motorized iceberg.

The ship was never built, but a small prototype was built in Alberta. The cost of the project was estimated at $70 million in 1942 dollars. That proved too rich for the British, especially for a ship made out of, well, ice.

Benefits: great for cocktail and/or skating parties. Drawbacks: its made of ice.

Thanks to MN for passing this along

Proposed design of the Habakkuk