"Gordon" wrote in message...
On Nov 30, 8:58 pm, Gordon wrote:
I have a photo of a whale boat returning to the ship, titled "USS
North Dakota whale boat rescuing balloon man." It is not a motor
whaleboat, its rowed by hand - but there isn't any other details.
Always intrigued by such references - who was this 'balloon man'?
- The only markings on the whaleboat are block letters "ND" on the bow.
-Either 12 or 14 oarsmen, a caller at the bow and two men back by the
-tiller. Uniforms look ~1900-1910 to me, which is why I am so
-interested in the name of the airman.

I do not know. But, I would suspect the "balloon man"
was part of her crew. They did use balloons in those
days to go aloft to observe, spot, and adjust fire for NGF.
Used telegraph lines for communication.