Italian naval vessels ‘Bracco’ and ‘Altair’ in Cagliari Harbour
Date
1952
Object type
Material
Dimensions
height (print): 115mm
width (print): 159mm
width (print): 159mm
Subject
Content object
Description
View of the ships, starboard sides facing, taken from the dockside. The ships were used in balloon recovery operations, following cosmic ray detection flights from Elmas Aerodrome, Cagliari, Sardinina, May-June 1952.
The expedition’s objectives and results in sending recording equipment into the upper atmosphere to detect cosmic rays were outlined by the physicist Cecil Frank Powell FRS (1903-1969) in his descriptive report: “Memorandum on high altitude balloon flights in the Mediterranean” (Typescript, Bristol, 20 July 1952) from which this image is taken. His account states that the main reason for flight failures was “The slow speed of the naval vessel. This was 12 knots, and the upper easterly winds in which the balloons drifted were often of 25 knots. Even thought the vessel stood out to the west from the point of launching...it was sometimes overhauled and 2 or 3 hours steaming time away from the point of descent”.
The original caption reads: “The ‘Bracco’ and ‘Altair’, which were employed in the recovery of the balloons, in Cagliari Harbour. The ‘radio-wind’ receiver was mounted in a gun turret”.
The expedition’s objectives and results in sending recording equipment into the upper atmosphere to detect cosmic rays were outlined by the physicist Cecil Frank Powell FRS (1903-1969) in his descriptive report: “Memorandum on high altitude balloon flights in the Mediterranean” (Typescript, Bristol, 20 July 1952) from which this image is taken. His account states that the main reason for flight failures was “The slow speed of the naval vessel. This was 12 knots, and the upper easterly winds in which the balloons drifted were often of 25 knots. Even thought the vessel stood out to the west from the point of launching...it was sometimes overhauled and 2 or 3 hours steaming time away from the point of descent”.
The original caption reads: “The ‘Bracco’ and ‘Altair’, which were employed in the recovery of the balloons, in Cagliari Harbour. The ‘radio-wind’ receiver was mounted in a gun turret”.
Associated place