Some Obscurish facts
#819
In 1942, Geoffrey Pyke came up with an alternative idea to aircraft carriers. He proposed making the huge ships out of ice. Built into each ship would be a large refrigeration machine to keep the ship afloat. The plan was given serious attention by the US navy for a while. They discovered that if wood fibers were cast into the ice in the ratio of one part wood to nine parts ice, the material was stronger than concrete. Soon it was discovered that conventional steel aircraft carriers would be cheaper to make.
In 1942, Geoffrey Pyke came up with an alternative idea to aircraft carriers. He proposed making the huge ships out of ice. Built into each ship would be a large refrigeration machine to keep the ship afloat. The plan was given serious attention by the US navy for a while. They discovered that if wood fibers were cast into the ice in the ratio of one part wood to nine parts ice, the material was stronger than concrete. Soon it was discovered that conventional steel aircraft carriers would be cheaper to make.