Description and History of Site:-
Location now (2018) occupied by a wind-farm. Until quite recently, the last remaining standing structure was the water tower at SE 7469 3298 which was demolished some time between 2007 and 2012. Howden was opened as an airship station in March 1916 by the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS), which in 1918 became part of the RAF, as an airship station to provide protection of the east coast ports from submarine attack. At the time of construction, the station consisted of living accommodation for the officers and other ranks, a chapel, YMCA, post office and a pigeon loft, the latter housing the carrier pigeons which were carried, two per airship. By 1919 Howden was to boast the largest airship shed in the world. The 'No.2 Double Rigid Shed' measured 750 feet in length and 130 feet clearance height at the doors. The station was closed by the RAF in 1921.

The Station reopened when the Airship Guarantee Company, a subsidiary of Vickers Ltd, acquired the site for £61,000 (presumably including the airship shed and mooring mast) to build a new airship (the R.100) for the Air Ministry. This airship, designed by Barnes Wallis, made its first flight from Howden in December 1929 and eventually made a successful return flight to Canada in July-August 1930. Nevil Shute Norway, the author, was in charge of the computational work involved in the design and construction.

The managing director of the AGC was Sir Dennistoun Burney. By the end of the 1920s with the R.100 nearing completion and no new orders on the horizon, Burney started a new project: a streamlined car. The engine would be at the rear with passengers seated within the wheelbase for maximum comfort. The prototype was built at Howden. The bodywork was a light aluminium space-frame, like an airship, covered with silver painted airship fabric. By mid-1929 it was being road tested on the roads around Howden. Its rear engine and overall shape was quite unlike other cars of the time. As the Howden factory was soon to close, Burney found premises at Maidenhead to continue development of the prototype and the production of further streamlined cars.

The loss of its rival airship, R.101, in October 1930, and an increasing appreciation that air transport using heavier-than-air craft would soon supplant the use of rigid airships, signalled the end of development at Howden and its closure by Vickers in December 1930. The R.100 was eventually broken up for scrap. Very little of the station remains except for a few mooring blocks which survive on an area near a local golf course. One is on display, with other R100 memorabilia, at the Elvington Air Museum near York.

Further Reading and References:-
http://www.airshipsonline.com/sheds/Howden.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RNAS_Howden
Shute, N. Slide rule: autobiography of an engineer. Heinemann, 1954.
Nield, B J. The Burney Streamline car. Howden Civic Society, c2016.

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Key Words :- royal airforce naval airship r100 factory cars

Viewing the Site :- Can be viewed from the public road or footpath along the edge of the site

Address :- Bubwith Road, Howden, Goole, East Yorkshire, DN14 7NX
Grid Ref :- SE 7471 3303
Co-ordinates :- Lat 53.788237 , Long -0.867491
Local Authority :- East Riding of Yorkshire Council
Pre 1974 County :- Yorkshire - East Riding
Site Status :- Site demolished or no longer extant
Site Condition :- Site in alternative industrial use
Site Dates :- 1916 - 1930
Record Date :- 20 August 2018

Copyright :- cc-by-nc-sa 4.0 © Nick Nelson