100 HP green, 4 blade

[french@bellnet.ca]

New forum member looking for help.
What I have (sadly the remnant - the hub and about 8 inches of each of the 4 blades) is marked as follows:
on the face of each of four blades, a circle with the letters ADP
On the hub:
AD521
RIGHT HAND
100HP GREEN
D237OP1520
WDO6500
Appears to be a tractor, but not sure.
What machine was this made for? Would it have been RFC or civilian?
Thank you.

[Bob Gardner]

Dear French,

Welcome to the forum.

The propeller is from the Royal Naval Air Service and dates from c1917.

The data on your hub translates as;

ADP Passed as airworthy by the Air Department of the Admiralty
AD521 The propeller drawing number, where AD indicates the Air Department and 521 indicates it was for the SSP, a non-rigid airship, colloquially called a blimp. SSP tr. as Submarine Scout Pusher. Only six entered service between January and June 1917. It had an endurance of 24 hours.
RIGHT HAND Direction of rotation
100HP GREEN The engine
D2370 Diameter
P1520 Pitch
WDO6500 I don't know; perhaps a serial number

As only six of these airships were made, comparatively few propellers would have been made, perhaps a hundred, so your hub is rare and the first example I have heard of.

With kind regards,

Bob