In his memoir I Wish I’d Made You Angry Earlier, Max Perutz describes his work on a secret project during World War II to build an aircraft carrier out of ice. Project Habakkuk relied on strengthening the ice by adding sawdust, which increased its strength, as well as an on-board refrigeration plant and a system of ducts to keep the ice from melting.
I cannot remember anyone ever revealing to me officially what Habakkuk stood for, but gradually the secret leaked out, like acid from a rusty can. [British inventor Geoffrey] Pyke foresaw that for several purposes air cover was needed beyond the range of land-based planes. Conventional carriers, he argued, were too small to launch the heavy bombers and fast fighters that would be needed for the invasion of any distant shores, Already, to extend air cover for Allied shipping over the entire Atlantic, floating air bases were needed; such bases would allow planes to be flown from the United States to Britain instead of being shipped, But what material could such islands be made of sine every ton of steel was needed for ships and tanks and guns, and every ton of aluminum for planes? What material existed that was still abundant? To Pyke, the answer was obvious: ice. Any amount of it could be had in the Arctic; an island of ice melts very slowly, and could never be sunk. Ice could be manufactured for only one per cent of the energy needed to make an equivalent weight of steel. Puke proposed that an iceberg, either natural or artificial, be levelled to provide a runway, and hollowed out to shelter aircraft.
Project Habakkuk was abandoned before the end of the war as it became clear that it was impractical due to the large amount of steel it required, making it less attractive in comparison to conventional ships.
Nehaveigur 