“Unbelievable Inventions: The Bizarre Secret Weapons That Almost Changed the Course of WWII!”
In the end, these problems, combined with the fact that during the planning phase the range of aircraft had increased significantly to the point where the need for a floating island became less necessary, ultimately sunk the planned ship.
That said, while the plan to build Habakkuk was short-lived, its prototype was surprisingly resilient. It took three hot summers to completely melt the smaller version of the boat.
Bonus Facts:
Speaking of Pyke and absurd secret weapons, beside an Ice ship, Pyke once suggested using thousands of balloons with microphones and transmitters attached as a way of triangulating enemy positions. He was not aware at the time of the advancements and development in radar technology. Yet another oddball invention Pyke came up with to help in the war was a screw-propelled snow vehicle. The vehicle would be propelled by having two cylinders with flanges in a screw thread-like fashion spinning in opposite directions and varying their speed to facilitate turns. The M29 Weasel put an end to the potential of Pyke’s snow vehicle seeing the light of day.
Yet another idea of Pyke’s was to use pykrete to quickly construct buildings and protective barriers in a mobile war. In the end, this was deemed impractical given the amount of equipment, water, and pulp that would need to be lugged around.
Another idea of Pyke’s, this one to solve the problem of transporting equipment from ships to shore in the many places where a harbor wasn’t available, was to create massive pipe systems from the ships that would be extended to shore and beyond as the soldiers advanced… literal supply lines. Equipment could be packed in airtight containers that would be whisked through the pipes to the waiting soldiers. Ultimately a more practical idea was developed using floating trucks and floating concrete structures.
