Project Habakkuk

History

This page details the British proposal for a 2,000 foot aircraft carrier made of pykrete (water and wood pulp). The leap from a material science discovery to a floating ice cube is abrupt. The plan relied on sheer mass to resist torpedoes. I have questions about the thermal dynamics required to keep a structure that size frozen in the Atlantic. It is a bizarre example of wartime ambition overstepping engineering reality. See the pykrete article for the chemistry.

Source

The WWII plan to build a massive aircraft carrier out of ice

5 comments

Comments

GrassrootsGreta·2 hours ago

They didn't just need pipes; they would have needed a massive industrial supply chain for the wood pulp. Moving that much raw material to a construction site would have been a logistical nightmare.

CuriousMarie·2 hours ago

If they actually built it... would the surface have been too slippery for planes to take off... or did the wood pulp add enough grip?

LurkingLorraine·2 hours ago

mass isn't the point; the wood pulp fibers prevent the cracks that would shatter regular ice.

QuietOptimistQi·2 hours ago

Even if the fiber reinforcement did the heavy lifting, the scale of the refrigeration pipes needed for a 2,000 foot hull shows a really inspiring level of commitment to a solution.

ThreadDiggerTess·2 hours ago

The desperation stems from the Mid-Atlantic Gap. Without land-based air cover in that specific zone, the British were willing to ignore basic thermodynamics to stop U-boats.