The Fastest Man Alive, 1947

In the 1930s and 1940s, An English motorist John Rhodes Cobb smashed a number of land speed records. Cobb was three times holder of the World Land Speed Record, in 1938, 1939 and 1947, set at Bonneville Speedway in Utah, US. After achieving a world record speed of 394.19 miles per hour on the Bonneville Salt Flats and getting awarded the Segrave Trophy in 1947.

John Cobb (Eyston, G.E.T.; Lyndon, Barré (1935). Motor Racing and Record Breaking)

After the 1947 achievement, Cobb sets his mind on the water to set a new world water speed record. For designing a vehicle capable of setting a water speed record, Cobb turned to engineer Reid Railton, who had crafted the streamlined Railton Mobil Special which conquered Bonneville. With Cobb's financial support, Railton began exploring several concepts for a jet powered boat which would shoot across the surface on narrow outrigger floats. Initial small tests proved promising, and with a jet engine borrowed from the Ministry of Supply, the vehicle began to take shape in 1952.

IMAGE: RAYMOND KLEBOE/PICTURE POST/HULTON ARCHIVE/GETTY IMAGES

Cobb labeled its Crusader. To allow the Crusader to hit their target speed of 200 miles per hour, Cobb and Railton needed to find a water body that was long and calm. After a long scouting, they settled on a deep, 23 mile long water loch of Loch Ness in the Scottish Highlands.

IMAGE: RAYMOND KLEBOE/PICTURE POST/HULTON ARCHIVE/GETTY IMAGES

By summer 1952, the 31 foot watercraft Crusader, built of birch and an aluminum alloy, was deemed seaworthy and transported to the home of the legendary Nessie. Once there, Cobb and his team took the Crusader through a series of escalating speed trails, making adjustments and modifications as necessary. The water conditions proved worrisome. Winds could come storming across the loch with little warning, whipping the surface into fearsome whitecaps, and even the smallest boat wake could prove deadly to the Crusader at full speed.

Crusader is hauled through Aberdeen on its way to Loch Ness.

On the morning of 29th September, the waters were flat calm, and Cobb decided to go for the record. The Crusader and two support boats went out to their positions, but had to postpone the attempt when the wind picked up. But after a couple hours, the wind dropped out again, and the lane was clear. A green flare was launched, and Cobb activated the Crusader’s jet engine. The craft accelerated smoothly and flawlessly, streaking across the surface and reaching a speed beyond 200 miles per hour (320 km/h).

Spectators gather as Crusader is prepared for a trial run on Loch Ness.

The attempt seemed to be a triumph until the Crusader ran through a series of swells which had materialized seemingly out of nowhere. The Crusader began bucking up and down, rapidly destabilizing until its nose dipped below the surface and it decelerated so suddenly it disintegrated. Cobb’s body was thrown 50 yards beyond the wreckage, his body was swiftly recovered and subsequently conveyed back to his home county of Surrey, where it was buried in the graveyard of Christ Church, Esher. A memorial was subsequently erected on the Loch Ness shore to his memory by the townsfolk of Glenurquhart.

Crusader is lowered into Loch Ness at Temple Pier.

"In the old days a Crusader was a man who liked to get away from his office and go out and have some fun."

- JOHN COBB

Boat designer Commander Peter Du Cane (left) and Hugh Jones of boat-builders Vospers (center), making alterations

IMAGE: RAYMOND KLEBOE/PICTURE POST/HULTON ARCHIVE/GETTY IMAGES

Crusader undergoes an engine test on Temple Pier at Loch Ness.

Cobb prepares to board Crusader.

Commander Peter Du Cane (left), managing director of Vosper's, watches an engine test with Cobb.

De Havilland engineers George Bristow (left) and J. Bennets work on Crusader's De Havilland Ghost jet engine.

Engineer Hugh Jones makes an adjustment to Crusader.

Crusader gets clear of her tender as she sets out for a trial run.

Cobb and others venture out onto Loch Ness to assess the water conditions.

Cobb prepares to board Crusader.

Timekeepers monitor the record-setting attempt.

Cobb gives a thumbs-up as he embarks on the record-setting attempt.

Cobb's wife listens via ship-to-shore radio as her husband sets off.

A timekeeper fires a signal flare to begin the attempt.

Memorial to John Cobb. Near Glenurquhart, Scotland. ( Photograph by Mike Peel )