"Gene S. Park" wrote in message
. ..
You may want to investigate further as it is very likely that they used
steam powered catapults, possible to reduce the chances of starting a fire
on board the passenger ships.

Gene


"John B" wrote in message
...

"shiver" wrote in message
...
So.... I'm curious as to how the JATO rockets were developed and where
they were first used.

Looking at those famous pix of a HERC using them for takeoff assistance
made me kinda curious.

Now it is a bit of a trick question.... so have at it.

The "Hurricat" - Hurricane launched by rocket assistance from Merchant
ships as an escort stop gap measure on Atlantic convoys must surely be
one of the earliest uses.

JohnB


Hurricats were only used on merchantmen - normally tankers - not passenger
ships. They were rocket assisted - see photo at;

http://www.geocities.com/usarmyaviat...jsfspecops.htm

JohnB