The modest beginnings of modern airpower.
Squadrons of bombers overhead wreaking havoc on targets below—a common feature of modern warfare. But in March of 1849, it was just a crazy idea in the mind of an Austrian artillery officer.
The Austrian army was besieging Venice as part of the War of Italian Independence. The marshy lagoons surrounding the island city made it difficult for the Austrians to bring up their big guns in order to bombard the Venetians into submission. That’s when Lieutenant Uchatius put forward an idea brand-new in the annals of warfare.
Why not drop bombs from the sky?
The Austrians organized two “Aerial Torpedo Squadrons.” Each contained one hundred unmanned hot-air balloons and one hundred bombs, which were equipped with fuses to release the bombs at a predetermined time. Small pilot balloons were launched to determine wind speed and direction, enabling the Austrians to calculate a departure point and fuse time that they hoped would drop the bombs right over Venice.
After months of preparation, the attack began in July. Some of the balloons were launched from a frigate anchored off Venice—the very first projection of airpower from a ship.
It was an idea ahead of its time. The bombs did little damage to Venice, and when a fickle wind blew some of the balloons back over Austrian lines, the operation was halted for good. The day of the bomber was still ahead, but a thoroughly modern tool of death and destruction had been born.
Eventually, after the balloon bombing failed, the Austrians managed to bring up their guns and bombarded Venice the old-fashioned way. The city surrendered shortly afterward.
The Russians actually tried to become the first aerial bombers in 1812. Emperor Alexander I ordered the construction of a huge fish-shaped balloon capable of carrying men and explosives. The idea was to hover over Napoleon’s headquarters and drop a bomb on it. The fins designed to steer the balloon, however, could not be made to work, and the attempt was abandoned.
The initial idea for the aerial bombardment of Venice was to control the balloon bombs with long copper wires, using an electric battery to launch the bomb from the ground once the balloon was over the target. But this proved to be impractical.