Rapid gains in technology were made in World War II, and no idea
seemed too outlandish. To wit: British inventor Geoffrey Pyke
wanted to make the largest aircraft carrier ever seen — even by
today's standards — crafted from his own original material
composed largely of ice. That material, Pykrete (see where the
name comes from?) was born from Pyke's concern over there
potentially not being enough steel to sustain Britain's war
efforts against Nazi Germany. Pyke's Pykrete was a mixture that
was 86% ice and 14% sawdust, making it far easier to produce in
large quantities than steel. Being made mostly out of ice, it
shared some similarities with it: like that fact that it melts.
That said, it melts slower, it's more durable and it could be
repaired while at sea using the same water the vessel floated
in. Pyke, at different times a war corespondent, teacher and an
inventor, worked with the U.K.'s Combined Operations division,
which was a mixed group of civilians operators and military
personnel. His proposal to m