What were observation balloons used in WW2?

Question

Were they literally balloons-like?

Answer 1

They were called Zeppelins. They were rigid motorized airships used for commercial and military purposes. The Hindenburg was filled with 200,000 cubic meters of hydrogen, a dangerous gas which led to the Hindenburg Disaster. However, after the Hindenburg Disaster in 1937 and because of political issues (Hitler ?) the Zeppelin program was disbanded and they weren't used during WW2.
Barrage Balloons, during WW2, were sent up above cities or factories but weren't used for observation, they were connected to land by a thick cable and were used to prevent low-flying planes from making bombing runs.

Answer 2

They were not used in WW2 only in WW1 as spotters for Artillery.
In WW2 the only balloons used were barrage balloons. These were raised around targets vulnerable to bombing such as large cities and were designed to prevent enemy planes from bombing at low level because they might hit the restraining wires and crash.
They were a shape similar to an airship so they were less likely to be blown out of position by strong winds

Answer 3

Actually, both the Soviets and the Germans used observation balloons for artillery control and observation. The Germans actually had a balloon observer s badge that they introduced in 1944. Although extremely rare, they were used in primarily static situations. More info is available online including Wiki

Answer 4

Google them in the images. Some were shaped like small Hindenburgs. Others like balloons.

Answer 5

By WWII observation balloons were not used except for blimps used by the US Navy to spot UBoats. he K-ships were used for anti-submarine warfare (ASW) duties in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans as well as the Mediterranean Sea. All equipment was carried in a forty feet long control car. The installed communications and instrumentation equipment allowed night flying. The blimps were equipped with the ASG-type radar, that had a detection range of 90 miles (167 km), sonobuoys, and magnetic anomaly detection (or magnetic airborne detection (MAD)) equipment. The K-ships carried four Mk-47 depth bombs, two in a bomb bay and two externally, and were equipped with a 50-cal (12.7 mm) Browning machine gun in the forward part of the control car. An aircrew of 10 normally operated the K-ships, consisting of a command pilot, two co-pilots, a navigator/pilot, airship rigger, an ordnanceman, two mechanics, and two radiomen.

The ability of the K-ships to hover and operate at low altitudes and slow speeds resulted in detection of numerous enemy submarines as well as assisting is search and rescue missions. The K-ships had an endurance capability of over 24 hours which was an important factor in the employment of ASW tactics.

There was also an M class blimp, somewhat larger, used in warmer climates.

Zeppelins were not used. Those rigid airships were used for observation and bombing in the first world war, but not by the second. They would have been sitting ducks for fighters.

For recon purposes specially equipped aircraft with advanced cameras were used in WWII, instead of balloons, except for marine anti-uboat purposes were blimps were more useful due to their endurance. Over land they would have been shot down by enemy fighters.

Answer 6

blimps..or Dirigibles