Nobile Umberto

Umberto Nobile is an Italian airship designer and Arctic explorer, general. Nobile served in the Italian Air Force, held the rank of general, and his work was closely related to government and military orders. He specialized in semi-rigid airships and made important improvements to their design. He not only designed the vehicles, but also flew them himself as a commander. His expeditions are an example of early international cooperation in Arctic research: experts and resources from different countries participated in them.

The 1926 expedition aboard the airship Norway
Nobile was the designer and commander of the N‑1 airship (renamed Norway), which reached the North Pole under the general direction of Roald Amundsen. It was one of the most technically advanced devices of its time.

The disaster of Italy and the rescue operation (1928)
During the second polar expedition on the airship Italy, the device crashed in the Arctic. Nobile survived, but the tragedy and subsequent controversy surrounding the circumstances of the accident and the rescue greatly affected his reputation. International forces participated in the rescue, including Soviet sailors and pilots — this story later became the basis for the film "The Red Tent".

Work in the USSR
He arrived in the Soviet Union in 1931 at the invitation of the Soviet government after the disaster of the airship Italia in 1928, when the USSR actively participated in its rescue by the icebreaker Krasin. Disappointed in fascist Italy, where he was blamed for the tragedy, Nobile accepted an offer to head the airship building program in the Soviet Union. He became the technical director of the Airship Industry, where he worked with a group of Italian specialists on the design and construction of semi-rigid airships.
Under his leadership, the first small semi-rigid airship of the USSR, the B-5, was built in 1933 (with a volume of about 2,158 m3), and in 1934, the largest Soviet airship of the USSR, the B6 Osoaviakhim (104.5 m long, 18,500 m3 in volume). During his stay from 1931 to 1936, several airships were built with his participation, a boathouse was built and infrastructure was developed in Dolgoprudny, which became the center of Soviet aeronautics.
Nobile made a significant contribution to the development of the industry, although the program was later curtailed due to accidents and a change in priorities for aircraft.

Later years
He left the USSR in 1936, and later described the experience in the book "My Five Years with Soviet Airships." After returning to Italy, he went through a period of political harassment, then taught, studied science and wrote memoirs.

Heritage
In Dolgoprudny, his name is immortalized in Umberto Nobile Boulevard and the museum, emphasizing the role of the Italian engineer in the history of the city and the Soviet airship industry.

Materials about Nobile's expeditions are available in aviation and polar museums; a house museum has been opened in his hometown of Lauro, and the Italian Air Force Museum (Vigna di Valle) has a large exhibition about his work.