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World War II Operation Habbakuk, an ice boat experiment at Patricia Lake, Jasper National Park, Alberta.
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1 photograph : b&w ; 20 x 25 cm
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In 1943, the National Research Council coordinated the top secret construction of Habbakuk, a 1-to-50-scale model ice and sawdust ship, to test the feasibility of protecting North Atlantic wartime shipping lanes with a fleet of massive, unsinkable aircraft carriers. The aircraft carriers would be at least 600 metres long, 90 metres wide and up to 60 metres deep. The vessels would weigh two million tons, be equipped with 26 electrically driven propellers, reach a top speed of seven knots, and be capable of housing two thousand crewmen in metal compartments. Habbakuk began with a heavily insulated wooden frame. Army personnel then added to its hull large blocks of ice mixed with sawdust (to add strength). On-board refrigeration units kept the ice from melting. The National Research Council proved that the ice-hulled ships were technically possible to build. But the cost of material and labour to construct such ships made the concept impractical. Late in 1943, refrigeration equipment was removed from Habbakuk. Its resistant ice hull melted and the wooden superstructure of the ship sank to the bottom of Patricia Lake. A plaque at the shoreline, and a commemorative cairn on the bottom of Patricia Lake, near the wreck, explain the history of the project.<br><br>