U.S.S. Shenandoah (ZR-1)
U.S. Navy Rigid Airships
On 11 July, 1919, Congress passed the Naval Appropriations Act, which in part provided for the construction of one rigid airship and the purchase of another one. To this end, the following year the U.S. Navy contracted for the purchase of the R-38, a British dirigible, and sent a detachment of personnel overseas for instruction. The R-38 made her maiden flight on 23-23 June, 1921, and completed two additional ones before tragedy struck. On 23 August, 1921, the dirigible broke in two, which ignited the hydrogen (the lifting gas on used in R-38) and fuel. Of the forty-four people killed in the accident, seventeen were Americans, including senior officer Lieutenant Commander Lewis Maxfield.
Meanwhile, the construction of a second American-built dirigible continued, and in August, 1922 she became airborne for the first time. On 4 September the Navy's newest rigid airship took to the skies for her first extended flight, logging one hour of flight time covering a distance of some twenty miles. Christened USS Shenandoah on 10 October, 1922, the airship participated in many notable flights during her career, conducting experiments with a shipboard mooring mast on board the airship tender Patoka (AO-9) and completing a transcontinental flight. On 3 September, 1925, during a flight from Lakehurst, New Jersey, to Columbus, Ohio, Shenandoah encountered a severe storm, which broke her in two over Ava, Ohio. The control car dropped to the earth immediately, followed by the after section of the airship, which broke in two upon hitting the ground. The forward section of Shenandoah remained airborne for nearly an hour before falling to earth. All told, twenty-nine crewmen survived the crash, but among the fourteen killed was the airship's skipper, Lieutenant Commander Zachary Lansdowne.
The crash of Shenandoah in part prompted a Presidential review of military and civilian aviation, but the U.S. Navy's operation of rigid dirigibles continued, championed by none other that Rear Admiral William A. Moffett, the first Chief of the Bureau of Aeronautics and naval aviation's senior officer. Constructed by Germany's Zeppelin Airship Company, USS Los Angeles (ZR-3) was flown to the United States in 1924, and following the loss of Shenandoah operated as the only rigid dirigible in the Navy for a time. Her career, which included 331 flights totaling 5,368 hours, included a long-distance flight between New York and Panama, a carrier landing on board Saratoga (CV-3), and experiments with operating aircraft from a trapeze-like contraption suspended beneath the airship. The latter was perfected on board succeeding airships, USS Akron (ZRS-4) and USS Macon (ZRS-5), commissioned in 1931 and 1933 respectively.
Akron and Macon marked the pinnacle of the airship in the U.S. Navy, yet also symbolized its ultimate downfall. The two rigid dirigibles carried one of the most unique aircraft to ever fly, the F9C Sparrowhawk, a diminutive fighter with a so-called skyhook affixed to its upper wing. Pilots were launched and recovered using a trapeze that could be raised and lowered from a hangar located inside the dirigible. The Sparrowhawks and their airborne homes operated extensively in the interwar fleet exercises, flying scouting missions over the opposing fleet. Though successful in their mission, the airships were deemed too vulnerable to attacking fighters and antiaircraft fire. In reality, their greatest enemy was weather. On the evening of 3-4 April 1933, Akron plunged into the Atlantic off the coast of New Jersey during a storm with the loss of seventy-three men, including Admiral Moffett. On 12 February 1935 Macon crashed in the Pacific Ocean after wind carried her non-reinforced upper fin away. Fortunately, all but two of her eighty-three man crew were rescued.
The loss of Akron and Macon spelled the end of rigid dirigible operations in the U.S. Navy. The tragic fates of four of the five airships, Los Angeles completed her service intact and was scrapped in 1939, cast a pall over their service, but in aviation's golden age they were true marvels in the air.
U.S.S. Shenandoah (ZR-1)
The first of four rigid airships commissioned into the U.S. Navy (actually the second built, see ZR-2 below), the Shenandoah (American Indian for "Daughter of the Stars"), was designed based on the German rigid airship L-49 shot down over France at the end of the First World War. Components for the airship were fabricated in Philadelphia and shipped to Lakehurst, New Jersey where they were assembled in Hangar One. On October 19, 1923 the Shenandoah was christened by Mrs. Edwin Denby, wife of the Secretary of the Navy. The first flight was on September 4, 1923. The airship's performance didn't meet expectations, partially because it was designed to carry hydrogen and used the heavier, albeit safer, helium. Basically a training airship, she flew 59 flights (logging 740 hours) before she crashed on September 3, 1925 near Ava, Ohio. Torn apart during a violent thunderstorm, the accident garnered national media attention. 14 crew members, including commanding officer Lt Cmdr Zachary Lansdowne, were killed when the ship broke apart in midair. The forward section of the airship, with seven crew members under the leadership of Lt Cmdr C. E. Rosenthal (later C.O. of NAS Lakehurst), remained aloft for more than an hour enduring a harrowing flight while Rosenthal directed his men in "free-ballooning" the nose section to a safe landing twelve miles from the original crash site
Specifications:
Powerplant: Six 300 hp Packard engines
Length: 680 feet
Diameter: 79 feet
Volume: 2.1 million cubic feet
Crew: 23
Max speed: 60 mph
(ZR-2)
In 1919, the U.S. Navy was granted authority to acquire and utilize two rigid airships. The first, the Shenandoah, had yet to be built. This would take considerable time since America had little experience with airships. But the second ship was already in operation in England; designated the R-38 by the British air service. Built by the Royal Aircraft Works at Bedford for the U.S. Navy, the ship was constructed using German airship technology derived from a captured airship, the L-33. The R-38 never received any proper name by the U.S. Navy however, because it crashed into the Humber river during low-altitude flight trials killing 44 airmen including 16 Americans.
U.S.S. Los Angeles (ZR-3)
The most successful of the U.S. Navy rigid airships, the Los Angeles was built in Germany and delivered to the United States government in 1924 as part of Germany's war reparations following World War One. The airship was delivered to the newly built Naval Air Station at Lakehurst, New Jersey on October 14, 1924 after successfully completing the longest airship flight up to that time. She was christened on November 25, 1924 by first lady, Mrs. Calvin Coolidge at NAS Anacostia. Because of international treaty limitations, airships at the time were limited to serving as training and experimental ships only. In this capacity the Los Angeles performed magnificently. She conducted the first in-flight test of launching and recovery of fixed-wing aircraft. She also made the first successful landing at sea when she rendezvoused with the aircraft carrier USS Saratoga on January 27, 1928. The airship remained aboard long enough to transfer passengers, take on fuel, water and supplies. In 8 years of service, Los Angeles flew 331 flights (logging 5,368 hours) before she was grounded for budgetary reasons in 1932. She was decommissioned on June 30, 1932, but continued to be used for non-flight experiments until dismantled and scrapped in 1939.
Specifications:
Powerplant: Five 400 hp German-built Maybach engines
Length: 658 feet
Diameter: 90 feet 6 inches
Volume: 2.3 million cubic feet
Max speed: 76 mph
U.S.S. Akron (ZRS-4)In 1926, congress authorized the procurement of two new rigid airships for fleet scouting service. Each airship was to be 6.5 million cubic feet in volume. On October 6, 1928, contracts for the USS Akron (ZR-4) and the USS Macon (ZR-5) were awarded to the Goodyear-Zeppelin Company. The Akron was christened on August 8, 1931 in her namesake city of Akron, Ohio by another first lady, Mrs. Herbert Hoover. On September 23, 1931, the Akron made its first flight, and on October 27 was commissioned at NAS Lakehurst; Lt Cmdr Rosenthal as commanding officer. On November 3, 1931, the Akron set a new airship record when she carried 207 people aboard during a ten hour flight. This new-era airship was designed from the start to be helium-filled. This allowed the eight engines to be located inside the hull with the propellers driven by shafts and gearing which allowed thrust upward, downward, or reverse. A 60 foot by 75 foot hangar was also installed inside the hull to provide stowage of four fighters which could be launched and recovered by a retractable trapeze assembly. This trapeze was designed to allow the scout planes (F9C-2 Sparrowhawk) to be stowed in the hangar until required. The Akron completed 74 flights (logging 1,700 hours) in her twenty months of service before she was lost at sea on April 4, 1933. 73 members of her crew were killed; 3 survived. Later investigation into the accident blamed rapid changes in atmospheric pressure affecting erroneous instrumentation readings as the probable factor in her loss.
Specifications:
Powerplant: eight 560 hp, German-built Maybach engines
Length: 785 feet
Diameter: 132 feet 9 inches
Volume 6.5 million cubic feet
Crew: 60
Max speed: 84 mph
Range: 9,200 miles at 60 mph
USS Macon (ZRS-5)Like her sister the Akron, the USS Macon represented the latest developments of naval rigid airship development. The Macon, named after the largest city in Georgia (also the home of the powerful chairman of the House Committee on Naval Affairs, Carl Vinson) was christened on March 13, 1933 by Mrs. William Moffet, widow of former Chief of Naval Aeronautics who had perished on the Akron's last flight). The Macon represented the US Navy's final hopes for rigid airships. Following the losses of two other airships, and the grounding of the Los Angeles, the navy was under considerable pressure to demonstrate the viability of lighter-than-air ships. This pressure ultimately doomed the Macon. Despite an awareness of "minor" structural deficiencies which should have been corrected by prudent routine maintenance, the navy leadership ordered the Macon to participate in fleet exercises in the Pacific. On February 12, 1935, following a less-than-spectacular performance, an upper fin failure caused the crew to ditch the airship off the coast of California. Of the 83 crew on board, only 2 were killed. The Macon had flown 54 flights (logging 1,798 hours) in her 23 months of service. Following this last accident, the navy tuned its eyes away from rigid airships, and placed greater reliance on the semi-rigids, and blimps.
2003 Wings Publishing
