Left, a kite balloon in the “balloon well” of USS Wright (AZ-1) in July 1922. Left below, an artist’s rendering of Wright. The ship was designed andbuilt as an LTA tender, with kite balloon operations as her primary mission. Above, USS Shenandoah (ZR-1), the Navy’s first rigid airship, at NASLakehurst, N.J. Lakehurst was to become synonymous with the operation and development of LTA in the Navy.

of costly helium. Further operations werelimited by the need for a gas-cell andstructural overhaul of Los Angeles, andthe lack o f non- r ig id a i r sh ips i nsatisfactory flying condition. WhenShenandoah was lost, Los Angeles wasthe only airship, rigid or non-rigid, inoperat ional condi t ion in the Navyinventory. This was true until October1926, when the J-3 non-rigid airshipmade its first flight.

In the spring of 1927, a commercialcompany proposed a contract to producehelium from a Kansas field. This offerwas accepted by the government and acontract was signed for the delivery ofhelium. To transport the helium, a tankcar was procured, designed for both

helium transport and storage. Besides asaving in transportation costs, there wasless leakage than had been the casewhen helium was transferred in smallcylinders. The tank car also added a greatdeal of mobility to the helium supply.

The helium supply tended to fluctuate,but by the end of the 1920s it wasadequate for airship operations becauseof increased storage, transportation andadd i t i ona l supp l i es bo th f rom ac o m m e r c i a l c o n c e r n a n d t h egovernment ’s hel ium plants. Thedevelopment and use of helium wouldnot have progressed as rapidly as it didhad it not been for the pioneer workbegun by the Navy and other governmentagencies during WW I.

X. The Development ofLTA’s Home Base and

the Rigid Airship Program

A center for LTA operations wasestablished in August 1921 at NASLakehurst, which was dest ined tobecome the Navy’s most important LTAbase. Construction work had begun onthe LTA hangar there in 1919. It wascompleted just prior to the establishmentof the naval air station in August 1921.Work began immediately on the Navy’sfirst rigid airship.

In the late 1920s and early 193Os, NAS

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Lakehurst became the primary base foroperating airships and training LTApersonnel. When the Navy’s last rigida i r s h i p w a s t r a n s f e r r e d t o N A SSunnyvale, Calif., in late 1933, Lakehurstwas placed in a reduced operating status.The air station was still maintained forthe training of personnel and for limitedoperations with the ZMC-2 and the non-rigid K-1. Lakehurst gained recognizationin the mid-1930s as the terminal forcommercial operation of the Germanrigid airships G r a f Z e p p e l i n a n dHindenburg.

In the latter part of the 1930s. LTAoperations were again centered atLakehurst. As the only LTA station,Lakehurst was involved in training,experimentation and ASW exercises.Training included airship operations andextensive tests in the mooring andground handling of airships. LTA activitycontinued at Lakehurst and it was notuntil the advent of a war that additionalLTA shore facilities were developed andplaced in operation.

The rise of NAS Lakehurst as an LTAcenter is mirrored by the development ofthe Navy’s rigid airship program. TheNaval Appropriations Act passed byCongress on July 11, 1919, provided forconstruction of a rigid airship and thepurchase of another. Facilities in the U.S.did not have the capability to construct alarge rigid airship, so the Navy decidedto buy one built in Europe, who wasahead of the U.S. in r ig id airshipconstruct ion and design. Such apurchase would give the Navy immediatepossession of a state-of-the-art vehicleand provide invaluable training for Navycrews in operating and handling rigid

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airships. Thus, the Secretary of the Navyapproved the purchase of a British rigidairship on August 9, 1919, and also theconstruction of a second one in the U.S.

A contract with the British for thepurchase of the R-38 (ZR-2) wasapproved by the Secretary of the Navy onDecember 5, 1919. In 1920, the Navysent personnel to England under thecommand of Lt.Cdr. Lewis Maxfield fortraining at the British airship bases ofPulham and Howden. Several Britishairships were used, particularly the R-33and R-80. The R-38 made her maidenflight June 23-24, 1921 (the flight beganthe night of the 23rd and ended themorning of the 24th). Three other flightsfollowed and on August 23, 1921, duringthe fourth trial flight, the R-38 broke intwo during maneuvers, igniting the fueland hydrogen. The airship crashed intothe Humber River, near the city of Hull.Seventeen of the 44 personnel killed inthe crash were Americans. Two of theNavy’s most prominent LTA officers,Lt.Cdrs. Maxfield and Coil, were amongthose lost. The loss of the Americanpersonnel and the R-38 was a seriousblow to the Navy’s rigid airship program,as well as a portent of things to come.

P l a n s f o r t h e c o n s t r u c t i o n o fShenandoah, the first rigid airship to bebuilt in the United States, were begun inSeptember 1919, and the first materialswere delivered to the Naval AircraftFactory at Philadelphia early in 1920. Herparts were manufactured at the NavalAircraft Factory and then shipped to NASLakehurst for final assembly. When theZR-2 crashed, the Navy immediatelyfocused its attention on Shenandoah (ZR-1). Numerous investigations, design

rev iews and fu r the r tes t ing andexperimentation were conducted toensure that the structural integrity anddesign of the ZR-1 were adequate tofulfill all required missions.

Shenandoah achieved many firstsduring her short career. She was the firstrigid airship to be inflated with helium;the first to use water recovery apparatusfor the continuous recovery of ballastfrom the exhaust gas of the fuel burned;and she was the first to fly across theUnited States. During her relatively shortlife of two years, she made 57 flights,logging 740 hours in the air, whichcovered about 28,000 miles on flightsdesigned to train men in the science ofhandling large airships in naval missions.

The following is a chronological sketchof USS Shenandoah’s career:

1922: 11 Feb — Completion of thefirst cradle for building the ZR-1 at NASLakehurst marked the initial step in herassembly.

1923: 13 Aug — Inflation withhelium began.

20 Aug — Became airborne forfirst time as construction scaffolding wasremoved and she was floated to a newposition in the hangar.

4 Sep — First flight from thehangar at Lakehurst. The flight was aboutone hour in duration and reached a pointabout 20 miles from the station. Amongthose on board were: Commander F.R.McCrary, first commanding officer of theZR-1, R.D. Weyerbacher, Manager ofConstruction, who was responsible forthe assembly of the ship at Lakehurst;and Captain Anton Heinen, test pilot, aformer German zeppel in test p i lotemployed by the Navy Department.

1 1 S e p — First flight overPhiladelphia and New York City.

2 2 S e p — First flight overWashington, D.C.

2 Oct — Flew cross country to

Far left, the British-built R-39 (ZR-2) in anEnglish hangar. Note a second British rigidairship under construction. Personnel in theforeground include members of the Americancrew sent to England for training andacceptance of the R-38. Many of them werekilled when the R-39 crashed in August 1921.Left, the R-39 at Bedford, England, inJuly 1921.

visit the International Air Races at St.Louis.

10 Oct — Christened USSShenandoah (an Indian name meaningdaughter of the stars) by Mrs. EdwinDenby, wife of the Secretary of the Navy.Commissioned as a U.S. Navy ship atNAS Lakehurst.

16 Nov — First tests of themooring mast at Lakehurst.

3 Dec — President Coolidgeapproved the plan to send Shenandoahon a flight over the North Pole in 1924.

1924: 16 Jan — In the early evening,was torn from her mooring mast atLakehurst by a 70-knot gale which droveher northward toward Newark andStaten Island. The crew of 22 on board,under command of the navigatorLieutenant Commander M. R. Pierce,

brought her under control and returnedher to Lakehurst in spite of considerabledamage to the outer cover and nose capand a partially damaged vertical fin. Thisdamage caused cancellation of theplanned polar flight.

22 May — First flight on 16January after repair of damage was fromLakehurst toward Toms River and return,with the new commanding officer,L ieu tenan t Commander Zacha ryLansdowne.

8 Aug — Secured to themooring mast on USS Patoka whileunderway in Narragansett Bay andremained there for almost 24 hours whilethe ship moved to her anchorage offJamestown, R.I. This was the first use ofthe shipboard mooring mast designed tofacilitate airship operations with thefleet. She was moored to Patoka seventimes during her career.

16-17 Aug — Participated in ascouting problem with the Scouting Fleetinvolving a continuous cruise of 40hours, 300 miles at sea.

1 Sep — Began a one-monthoverhaul at NAS Lakehurst.

Above, the frame of USS Shenandoah (ZR-1) under construction at Lakehurst. Left,Shenandoah in flight.

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7 Oct — Left NAS Lakehurst at1002 for an extended flight to Tacoma,Wash., and return, via Fort Worth, Texas,and San Diego, Calif.

25 Oct — Landed at NASLakehurst completing the most extendedoperation accomplished by an airship upto that time. In crossing the U.S. from theAtlantic to the Pacific and from Canada toMexico, total time away from the shed atLakehurst was 19 days, 19 hours, anddistance covered was 9,317 statutemiles. A great variety of weather, windand climate was experienced, much ofwhich was adverse. Mooring masts werethe only facilities available throughoutthe trip for fueling, gassing, provisioningand repair.

1925: 3 Jul — Departed Lakehurst foroperations with USS Patoka in the BarHarbor, Maine area.

23-24 Jul — Operations withUSS Texas. Left Lakehurst at 0800 for theSouthern Drill Grounds, arrived at and1240 proceeded with the exercises. Aftercompletion, moored to Patoka near CapeCharles at 1928. At 0925, July 24, leftPatoka to continue operations withTexas. The return flight to Lakehurstbegan about 1600; the airship arrived at2250, and was docked in the hangar at2130.

3 Sep — Shenandoah disaster.Left the mooring mast at NAS Lakehurstat 1500, September 2, for a flight over themidwest. The airship proceeded westerlyover Philadelphia and Wheeling, W. Va.,headed for Columbus, Ohio. While over

eastern Ohio, before dawn on themorning of September 3, the airshipencountered a severe storm at 0548.EST. She broke in two, ahead of theforward engines over Ava about 25 mileseast of Zanesville. The control carseparated and fell to the ground while theforward section of the ship rose to a greatheight and remained in the air for thegreater part of an hour, before making afree balloon landing at Sharon, Ohio. Thea f te r sec t i on descended a lmos timmediately, breaking into two partswhen it struck the ground. Twenty-nineof those on board survived the crash, butthe commanding of f icer , L t . Cdr .Lansdowne and the following men of hiscrew were lost: Lieutenant CommanderLewis Hancock, L ieutenants JohnBullard Lawrence, Arthur ReginaldHoughton, and Lietenant Junior GradeEdgar Wi l l iam Sheppard; enl istedcrewmen: Everett Price Allen, CharlesHar r i son B room, James Wi l l i amCu l l i nan , Ra lph Thomas Je f f ray ,Celestino P. Mazzuco, James AlbertMoore, Bartholomew B. O’Sullivan,George Conrad Schnitzer, Will iamHoward Spratley.

The most successful of all the rigidairships operated by the Navy was USSLos Angeles (ZR-3),which was receivedfrom Germany after WW I. The twoairships originally scheduled for the

agreed that Germany should constructone airship for the U.S. as compensationfor the loss of the two airships destroyed.This new airship was to be a purelynonmilitary ship, with a gas capacity nott o exceed 2 ,750 ,000 cub i c f ee t ,approximately the size of the largestairship previously built in Germany.

The airship was ordered from theZeppelin Airship Company on June 26,1922. Lieutenant Commander GarlandFulton, who had been executive assistantto Commander Jerome C. Hunsakersince the summer of 1918, was sent toFr iedr ichshafen in ear ly 1922 asInspector of Naval Aircraft to supervise

USS Los Angeles (ZR-3) was built in Germanyfor the U.S. Navy and was involved in an

United States after the war had been extensive number of experiments and “firsts.”

destroyed by their German crews. On Here, a UO-1 aircraft is hooked onto a trapeze

December 16, 1921, the Council ofthat was specially built for Los Angeles. The

Ambassadors of the Allied Nationsairship was the first to successfully complete ahook-on and release of an aircraft.

the construction of the ZR-3 by theLuftschiffbau Zeppelin, a.m.b.a. The keelfor the airship was laid on November 7,1922, and she was completed in August1924. The airship had been designatedLZ-126 by her German builders and onAugust 27, 1924, made her first trialf l ight f rom Fr iedr ichshafen. Af tercompleting flight trials in Germany, theairship left on October 12, 1924, and wasflown to the United States by a Germancrew. She arrived at NAS Lakehurst onOctober 15 after an 81-hour, 4229-nautical-mile flight. En route, the airshipwas under the command of Dr. HugoEckener, the lighter-than-air expert whowas later well-known for his command ofGraf Zeppelin and Hindenburg. One ofthe future commanding officers of theZR-3, Captain G. W. Steele, Jr., was apassenger on the flight. The arrival of theairship at Lakehurst was attended bymuch fanfare.

At Lakehurst, the hydrogen wasreleased from the gas cells and theairship was reinflated with helium.Water recovery apparatus was installedand on November 10, 1924, the ship wasformally accepted by the Secretary of theNavy. On November 25, 1924, she wasflown to NAS Anacostia in Washington,D.C., where she was christened USS LosAngeles by Mrs. Calvin Coolidge andcommissioned as a ship of the U.S. Navy.

Operations were restricted during thefirst few months since the existing supplyof helium was not enough to keep bothLos Angeles and Shenandoah operatingat the same time. By transferring the gasfrom one ship to the other, however, eachwas available in alternating periods, andthe two operated in this fashion untilSeptember 3, 1925, when Shenandoahwas lost. Los Angeles proved to be worthher weight in gold as a training airshipand a research and development vehicle.She was involved in a variety of scientificand technical experiments. As a flyinglaboratory, she served to develop many ofthe improvements and novel deviceslater used in the designs of Akron andMacon.

Los Angeles continued as the only rigidairship in the Navy for a number of years.She operated from NAS Lakehurst as atraining ship and laboratory for manyexperimental projects, both in the air andon the ground. On January 24, 1925,she took a group of scientists aloft toobserve and photograph a total eclipse ofthe sun, thereby eliminating possiblecloud interference. On February 20,1925, she took off from Lakehurst andmade a round trip flight to Bermuda,returning to Lakehurst on February 22. InMay 1925, she cruised to Puerto Rico tooperate briefly over the Caribbean andwhile there moored between flights tothe special mast built on the tenderPatoka.

Operations in late 1925 and early 1926were temporarily suspended as the shipwent into overhaul. When her overhaulwas completed, operations were furthercurtailed due to lack of helium. In mid-1926, she began a series of flights alongthe Atlantic seaboard to calibrate radiodirection stations set up as an aid tonavigation for vessels approaching thecoast and entering port. Flights of thistype and training flights in the Lakehurstarea, northward to Newport, R.I.,southward to Pensacola, Fla., and inlandto Detroit, Mich. accounted for most ofher flight time in 1927 and made her afamiliar sight to persons living in the east.

Los Angeles scored notable firsts. OnJanuary 27, 1928, she made a landing onthe aircraft carrier USS Saratoga, stayinglong enough to transfer passengers andtake on fuel and water. In the next monthshe made the first nonstop flight fromNew York to the Panama Canal Zone,returning home after a few days. InOctober of the same year, she flew to thehelium plant near Fort Worth, Texas, andthe following February made an extendedflight to St. Josephs, Fla., again basing onUSS Patoka. During 1929, Los Angeleswas used to test the feasibility ofoperating aircraft from rigid airships.

Plans for new rigids included use ofspace within the envelope frame as ahangar for fighter aircraft which could belaunched and recovered in air, therebyproviding the airship with its own fighterprotection. A specially-built trapeze wasrigged on Los Angeles, tested on theground and then taken up for practicaltests in the air.

On July 3, 1929, while the airship wascruising at an altitude of 2,500 feet at aspeed of 48 knots in the vicinity ofLakehurst, a UO-1 airplane piloted byLieutenant A.W. Gorton successfullyhooked onto the trapeze, and then wasre leased . Other success fu l t r i a l sfollowed. Early the next year, a glider wasreleased from the airship by the samemethod. These successes demonstratednot only that the operation of airplanesfrom an airship was feasible, but that itwas also possible to deliver passengersand cargo to the ground without theairship landing. Special fighters, CurtissFSCs, were built as a result of these testsand were ready for service when the newrigids went into operation.

For a brief period in early 1931, byvirtue of a special waiver of the provisoprohibiting her use on military missions,L o s A n g e l e s part icipated in f leetexercises, as a military aircraft, testingthe defenses of the Panama Canal.

Although attacked and theoreticallydestroyed by planes from the carrierLangley, Los Angeles discovered one ofthe “enemy” convoys before being takenunder attack, and otherwise proved hervalue as a scout on extended patrols.

During these exercises, including theflight from Lakehurst to Panama viaGuantanamo, Cuba, and her return tohome base, Los Angeles set a record forextended operations away from a hangaror base unequaled by any airship up tothat time.

On the night of June 24, 1932, LosAngeles took off from Lakehurst for aleisurely flight over Philadelphia andNew York City. She docked at Lakehurstshortly after five o’clock the next morningand was moved immediately into thehangar. It was her last flight. On June 30,1932, she was decommissioned. Thedecision was based on the need foreconomy. The airship, in spite of her longlife, was still airworthy, but a new rigidwas already in service, with anotherunde r cons t ruc t i on , and gene ra leconomic conditions made it imperativethat operating costs be reduced.

In her service career of seven years andeight months, the longest for any of theU.S. Navy rigids, Los Angeles made 331flights, totaling over 4,300 hours, andalso logged almost 2,000 hours mooredat masts out in the open. Her passengerlist included a king and queen, and manydistinguished naval personnel andcivilians. She had been seen in the air bythousands of Americans and had been afamiliar sight at countless fairs andfestivals. She had made noteworthycontributions to the Navy, to the countryand to the progress of airships and theiroperation. But her decommissioning wasnot the end of her career. She waspreserved in the hangar at Lakehurst,i n i t i a l l y i n a condi t ion to permi trecommissioning on 30 days’ notice. InDecember 1934, she was reinflated withhelium, on the 14th was airborne, and onthe 18th she was moved out of thehangar into the open. She became alaboratory once more for experimentsand tests and, although at one time shewas moored out continously in all kindsof weather for about five months, shenever took to the air again.

On January 6, 1939, the Board ofInspection and Survey recommendedthat she be made available for additionaltests not involving flight and that, upontheir completion, she be dismantled andscrapped. But it was clear that herpopularity had not waned. In June, part ofher outer cover was removed and she

27

was opened to visitors. From June 20until September 8, when PresidentRoosevelt proclaimed a limited nationalemergency and all stations were closedto visitors, a total of 44,871 personssigned her visitors’ log, an average of 577per day. On October 24, she was strickenfrom the Navy list. Dismantling beganimmediately and was completed onDecember 15. The commanding officersof USS Los Angeles were: Commander J.H. Klein, Jr., November 1924 - April1925; Captain George W. Steele, April1 9 2 5 - J u n e 1 9 2 6 ; L i e u t e n a n tCommander Charles E. Rosendahl, June1 9 2 6 - A p r i l 1 9 2 9 ; L i e u t e n a n tCommander Herbert V. Wiley, April 1929- April 1930; Commander Alger H.Dresel, June 1931 - March 1932; andCommander Fred T. Berry, March - June1932.

Perhaps the most romantic period inthe Navy’s LTA operations was the era ofthe rigid airships Akron and Macon. TheAkron - Macon design was conceived inthe Bureau of Aeronautics in 1924 as am a j o r i m p r o v e m e n t o v e r t h eShenandoah design, based on theexperience gained from her operation.The design embodied a series of tentativestudies designated BuAer Design No. 60.

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Above, USS Akron (ZRS-4) while underconstruction, showing the aluminum alloyframework and the outer covering beingapplied. Above right, an N2Y hooks onto thetrapeze of Akron. Note the dark cross on theunderside of the airship. The aircraft washoisted through this opening and placed inthe hangar of Akron. Right, Akron overNew York City.

These initial designs experienced a widevariety of changes over the years. WhenShenandoah was lost in 1925 the Navywas left with only one rigid airship, whichcould not engage in military operations.Admiral Moffett immediately insisted ona replacement for Shenandoah a n drequested two rigid airships to enable theNavy to more effectively evaluate airshipoperations.

O n J u n e 2 4 , 1926, Congressauthorized the construction of two morerigid airships of 6,000,000 cubic feetc a p a c i t y , a n d t h e c o n t i n u i n gdevelopment of the rigid airship program.Appropriations for construction were notapproved until March 2, 1928. Goodyear-Zeppelin Corporation was the winner inthe design competitions and a contractwas signed with the Navy on October 6,1928, to build two rigid airships.

Fabrication of the subassembliesstarted in 1929 and construction of theZRS-4 (Akron) began on November 7,1929, when RAdm. Moffett drove agolden rivet in the ZRS-4’s main ring.

One of the unique features in thedesign of the ZRS-4 and 5 was theircapability to house and carry otheraircraft. Each ship was designed with ahangar within the hull to house five smallaircraft with a trapeze for launching andrecovering the planes. The airship’splanes were equipped with sky hooks thatenabled them to be launched or retrievedaboard the airship by using the trapeze. Itwas planned that the airships would takeoff in stable equilibrium without theplanes aboard and, when airborne, theplanes would be received on board. Onceaboard the airship, the planes’ landinggear would be removed and belly tankssubstituted to augment the fuel supplyfor operations from the airship.

Line handlers help to secure the tail section ofUSS Macon (ZRS-5), the Navy’s last rigidairship. Comparing the tail section with theline handlers gives an idea of Macon’s actualsize.

The airplane-carrying capability of thetwo airships gave great promise for long-range reconnaissance. The airship’sphenomenal range and endurance(compared to aircraft of the day) was fargreater than anything in existence. Usingher own aircraft, the airship could extendh e r p a t r o l a n d r e c o n n a i s s a n c ecapabilities far beyond the horizons andtriple the width of her patrol. The planesa lso p rov ided p i cke t and f i gh te rprotection for the airship, in essence,making her invisible to enemy forces.

The original mission of the hook-onplanes was a dual one to afford fighterprotect ion for the airship and anextended scouting/patrol range. Earlyemphasis was placed on the fightermission. Consequently, the Curtiss F9Cwas a good fighter but a very poor aircraftfor reconnaissance. During various fleetexercises, the rigid airships were used forscouting and their aircraft were relegated

strictly to fighter protection for theairship. Only by mid-1934, after manyfleet exercises in which the airship was“lost,” were the mission requirementschanged. The airship became the carrierand communications center for herplanes and the hook-on planes operatedas her distance eyes and provided fighterprotection.

This concept of the airship as a carrierrather than simply an airship whichcar r ied a i rp lanes rece ived heavyemphasis and was developed aboardMacon in the latter part of 1934.

Beginning in 1935, airship supporterswere viewing this concept as animportant future military development inwhich a rigid airship would become ahigh-speed carrier with dive bombersand be given a designation as an aircraftcarrier lighter-than-air (ZRCV). Thisproposal received a fatal blow with theloss of Macon.

The ZRCV concept floated aroundBuAer between 1935 and 1942 but wasnever able to gain the support necessaryto implement the program. As part oftheir legacy, Akron and Macon were theworld’s first and last flying aircraftcarriers. Both airships were muchstronger than any previous designs but,unfortunately, inadequate provision wasmade for the fins. They were unable tohandle the large loads which developedon the leading portions of the fins duringrough air and rapid maneuvers. Thedes igns a l so made p rov is ion fo rincorporating eight German Maybachengines inside the hull. The propellershad a bevel connection which made itpossible to rotate them for vertical orhorizontal thrust. This was a valuableasset in landing and takeoffs as well asprov id ing a rap id ve r t i ca l ascen tcapability.

Construction on the ZRS-4 progressedrapidly and on August 8, 1931, Mrs.Herbert Hoover christened the airship atAkron, Ohio. Her first trial flight was on

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September 23, 1931, and she wasaccepted by the Navy on October 21. Theairship was flown to NAS Lakehurst andcommissioned USS Akron (ZRS-4) onOctober 27, 1931.

A brief chronology of Akron’s careerfollows:

1 9 3 1 : 8 A u g — Mrs. Hooverchristened ZRS-4 Akron at the Goodyear-Zeppelin Corporation dock at Akron,Ohio.

23 Sep — ZRS-4 made hermaiden flight around the Cleveland areacarrying 112 persons aboard, includingAdm. Moffett and Secretary of the NavyCharles F. Adams. Between September24 and 18 October there were eightdifferent trial flights to test the airship,including an endurance flight fromOctober 16-18.

21 Oct — ZRS-4 was flownfrom Akron to NAS Lakehurst for deliveryto the Navy.

27 Oct — Captain Harry E.Shoemaker commissioned USS Akronand Lieutenant Charles E. Rosendahl

formally accepted command of theairship.

2 Nov — A special press flightfor aviation editors and writers, and aremote broadcast by NBC. There were109 persons aboard during the flight,including Adm. Moffett. Numerousf l ights were conducted betweenNovember 3, 1931, and January 5, 1932,ranging from New England to Alabamaand New Orleans.

1932: 9 Jan — Operated with theScouting Fleet off the coast of theCarolinas and northeast of the Bahamas.There were no aircraft aboard during thisexercise because the trapeze had not yetbeen installed and aircraft storagefacilities were not completed.

16 Jan — USS Akron made herfirst mooring to USS Patoka’s mooringmast.

22 Feb — Akron was damagedwhile being towed out of her hangar. Theextended repairs caused her to miss the1932 annual fleet problem held in thePacific.

USS Macon at NASSunnyvale, Calif.

Below, a close-up of anF9C Sparrowhawk onMacon’s trapeze.

Left, the crew’s sleeping quartersaboard Macon.

Below left, Macon approaching themooring mast at NAS Sunnyvale.Below, an interior view of the portcatwalk on Macon.

3 May — Airship’s formala c c e p t a n c e t r i a l s w i t h N a v yDepartment’s Board of Inspection andSurvey on board. During this flight,Lieutenants D. Howard Harrigan andHoward L. Young flew the N2Y trainerand the XFSC-1 to Akron’s trapeze for thefirst time.

8-11 May — Transcontinentalflight from NAS Lakehurst to CampKearny (San Diego). During the flight, shecarried two aircraft aboard, the XFSC-1

and an N2Y-1.12-13 May — Flew from Camp

Kearny to Sunnyvale (later namedMoffett Field).

17 May — Moored to USSPatoka in San Francisco Bay.

1-4 Jun — USS A k r o nparticipated in her second (and last)exercise wi th the Scout ing Fleet .Operations were held off the coast oflower California. Akron was successfultwice in locating and tracking the enemy.However, elements of the cruiser forcelaunched their seaplanes against herand were evaluated assuccessful in theirattack. Akron did not carry any of herplanes aboard during the exercise. TheCommander Scouting Force, judgingfrom Akron’s performance in the twoexercises with the Scouting Fleet, felt he

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could not recommend to the CNO anyfurther expenditures for rigid airships inthe immediate future.

11-13 Jun. — Transcontinentalflight from Sunnyvale, Calif., to ParrisIsland, S.C.

22 Jun — Commander Alger H.Dresel became the second commandingofficer of the Akron, relieving Lt.Cdr.Rosendahl.

29 Jun — Local flight testing ofthe new three-bladed propeller andexercise of hook-on planes.

17 Nov — Local flight down thecoast of New Jersey to test the use ofhook-on planes as scouting pickets toextend the airship’s field of vision.

1933: 3 Jan — Commander Frank C.McCord relieved Cdr. Dresel as C.O. ofAkron.

3-4 Mar — Akron flew overinauguration ceremonies for Franklin D.Roosevelt.

3-4 Apr — Akron left NASLakehurst at 1830 on April 3 en route toNew England to assist in calibrating radiodirection finders. She was caught in astorm off the coast of New Jersey and at0030 crashed into the sea. Seventy-threepeople were lost, including RAdm.Mof fe t t , Ch ie f o f t he Bu reau o fAeronautics.

30 Apr — USS Akron w a sformally stricken from the Navy register.

USS Macon (ZRS-5) was the last of thegreat rigid airships constructed for theNavy. Construction began in October1931, immediately after Akron left thehangar at the Goodyear facility and wasturned over to the Navy. Macon embodiedseveral minor improvements in design

over Akron. These modifications shavedfour tons off the dead weight of theairship. The three-bladed propellersincreased the fuel efficiency of the shipand provided an increased speed of twoto three knots.

A detailed chronology of USS Macon(ZRS-5) follows:

11 Mar — At the Goodyear-Zeppelin airship dock in Akron, Ohio,Mrs. William A. Moffett christened theZRS-5.

21 Apr — Macon made her firstflight, executing preliminary turning andclimbing trials, and a speed run in whichshe made 70 knots. Test flights continueduntil her commissioning.

12-14 Jun — An endurancef l ight was made across Michigan,Wisconsin, Illinois and Ohio.

23 Jun — Inside the Goodyear-Zeppelin airship dock, Rear AdmiralErnest J. King, Chief BuAer, placed USSMacon in commission with Cdr. Alger H.Dresel assuming command.

23-24 Jun — Macon’s deliveryflight to Lakehurst, N.J. Passengers wereRear Admira l E.J. King; Paul W.Li tchf ie ld, president of Goodyear-Zeppelin Corp.; and Dr. Karl Arnstein, thecompany’s chief engineer.

6-7 July — Macon made a flightup Long Island Sound and returned to theLakehurst area where, on July 7 shereceived her planes aboard for the firsttime. After Lieutenant D. Ward Harrigantested the trapeze with an N2Y trainer, heand Lieutenant Junior Grade Frederick N.Kivette tested it with the heavier F9C-2fighters.

30-31 Aug — On a local flightfor Board of Inspection and Survey, the

first hook-plane landing was made onMacon’s “perch.”

31 Aug — On another localflight for Board of Inspection and Survey,hook-on planes exercised, and on speedruns Macon reached 75.6 knots, whichwas 3.2 knots more than the 72.4required by contract. (Akron’s best speedwas 69 knots.) Macon’s improvedperformance was due to a cleanup of herhull protuberances and, even more, toher three-bladed propeller of adjustablepitch. Admiral William V. Standley, CNO,and RADM E.J. King, Chief BuAer, wereon board for this flight.

12-15 Oct — Macon made atranscontinental flight from Lakehurst toher new home at Moffett Field, Calif.,with one N2Y training plane embarked.After she unmoored at Lakehurst, the airstation n e v e r a g a i n s e r v i c e d acommissioned airship of the Navy.

14-17 Nov. — Participated infleet exercises. In Exercise D, November15, she was “shot down” by antiaircraftfire from enemy cruisers and later was“shot down” by 36 enemy fighters.

1934: 3-6 Jan — Participated in fleetexercises. On the 4th she flew over theenemy fleet at night with all her lights onand was promptly shot down. On the 5thshe was hit by enemy fighters and wasagain ruled shot down.

20 Mar — On a local flight,hook-on planes practiced gunnery drills.The new Waco XJW-1 utility planes wereflown to her trapeze for the first time.

Below left, a squadron of F9C Sparrowhawksassigned to Macon. Below, Macon preparingto take its aircraft aboard.

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9-12 Apr — Participated in fleetexercises and was ruled shot down twiceby enemy planes.

20-22 April — Made atranscontinental flight from Moffett Fieldto Opa-Locka, Fla. During the flight,severe turbulence was encounteredcausing the buckling of diagonal andinter-ring girders. Temporary repairswere made and she continued on toFlorida.

5-7 May — Participated in FleetProblem XIV in the Caribbean. On May 6,she was jumped by six Grumman FF-1fighters from USS Lexington and shotdown, but not before she got off animportant report of the carrier’s position.

11-13 May — Participated inFleet Problem XIV, off the southern coastof Puerto Rico. She came throughunscathed and in these operations triedsome novel methods of using her hook-on planes navigating from the airship.

16-18 May — Transcontinentalflight from Opa-Locka to Moffett Field. Noplanes were carried; on both east andwest flights the planes were sent cross-country independently.

19-20 Jun — Flight up the coastto Coos Bay, Ore. No planes were carried,but some hook-on tests were conductedwith the XJW-1’s upon her return to theSan Francisco Bay area.

11 Jul — Lieutenant Com-mander Herbert V. Wiley relieved Cdr.Dresel as commanding officer of Macon.

18-21 July — Training flight tointercept the cruisers Houston and NewOrleans, which were en route fromPanama to Hawaii via Clipperton Island,with the vacationing President Rooseveltembarked in Houston. On the 19th herplanes made contact with the CAs; laterLieutenant Harold B. Miller and Ltjg.Kivette flew down in their F9Cs anddropped bags of the latest newspapersand magazines for the President.

26-27 Jul — On a local flight onJuly 21, the F9Cs had been flown fromthe trapeze without their wheel landinggear for the first time. The maneuver wasrepeated during this f l ight, andthereafter became standard procedure.Upon return to the Bay area on the 27th,Macon made the first test of the airship’srescue gear for retrieving a pilot downedat sea; it was simply a raft and bosun’schair at the end of a wire winched outfrom her hangar.

8 Aug — Local flight operations,Camp Kearny to Moffett Field; hook-onplanes exercised and, upon return to theBay area, the airship’s spy-basket was

streamed for the first time since theinitial abortive test aboard the Akron in1932. No one was aboard the basketwhich was fortunate since it was stillunstable and performed badly.

26-28 Sep — Extended flightoperations at sea, including training forthe F9Cs in navigation problems, battlelookout and night hook-on. On the 27th,the spy-basket, modified with a ventralstabilizer, had a 17-minute “flight” withL i e u t e n a n t C o m m a n d e r J e s s eKenworthy, its first “pilot.”

1934: 7-9 Nov — Flight from CampK e a r n y t o M o f f e t t F i e l d w h i l eparticipating in a fleet exercise. In thisoperation, the airship acted as a carrierfor her planes and let the latter do most ofthe searching. Her planes located the“enemy” carrier Saratoga and managedto keep her under constant surveillancefor several hours.

5-8 Dec — Camp Kearny toMoffett Field, participated in minortactical exercises with the fleet. On the7th, while her planes were tracking theLexington, the carrier’s dive bombersfound her and “shot her down.” On the8th, the day’s exercise was suspendedwhen two p lanes f rom C i n c i n n a t ibecame lost and went down at sea.Macon found them and hovered overthem until surface vessels arrived torescue the pilots.

1935: 2-3 Jan — Visibility tests wereconducted with Lexington in order todetermine how easily the airship wassighted, and who saw whom first, airshipor surface ship. It was a draw.

11-12 Feb — Participated in aminor fleet tactical exercise off the SantaBarbara Islands, in which Macon madeimaginative use of her four planes, to theextent of sending them on sorties 225mi les distant . But at 1705, whi lereturning to base, her upper fin wascarried away (reinforcements not yetinstalled). The damage worsened andloss of gas from the after gas cells placedher at an extreme angle of trim, bow up.Too much ballast was dropped and sheshot over pressure height where herautomatic gas valves opened, blowingaway the small margin of lift whichremained. Twenty-four minutes after thecasualty, Macon was brought to a forcedlanding in the Pacific, and sank within 30minutes of hitting the water. Eighty-oneof the 83 persons on board were saved.When she sank to the bottom of thePacific, she took with her two of herpersonnel, four of her hook-on airplanes,and the best hopes of the flying aircraft

carrier.26 Feb — SecNav informed all

bureaus and divisions of CNO that USSMacon was formally stricken from theNavy register.

During the period of rigid airshipoperations, non-rigid development took ab a c k s e a t t o t h e g i a n t a i r s h i p s .Experimentation continued in the non-rigid field but on a very limited basis.Most of the non-rigids in the mid-1920sto mid-1930s were used as trainingvehicles or for limited experiments. Thecrews necessary to operate the giantrigids were trained in the non-rigids. In1922, Mr. Upson, the Goodyear engineerwho flew the first successful B-classairship, formed his own corporation topromote development of a new airshipdesign. The design had an outer coveringthat was metal vice the traditional fabriccovering on the rigid and non-rigidairships. This metal-clad airship operatedon the same principle as the non-rigid,whereby the internal gas pressure keptthe sides of the airship rigid. The use ofthe pressure principle led the Navy toclassify the metal-clad as a non-rigidairship.

This practical development of a metal-clad airship became a reality when anautomatic riveter was perfected thatcould make strong gas-tight jointsbetween thin aluminum alloy sheets, andwhen a special type of seam sealingcompound was invented. Mr. Upson’scompany, the Aircraft DevelopmentCorporation, submitted a proposal to theBureau of Aeronautics for construction ofan experimental 200,000-cubic-foot,metal-clad airship in September 1925.

Congress authorized money for themetal clad airship in 1926. Contractnumber 447 was signed on August 18,1926 fo r t he a i r sh ip wh i ch wasdesignated ZMC-2, and assigned bureaunumber A-8282 after she was acceptedby the Navy. The ZMC-2 made her firstflight at Detroit’s Grosse Ile airport onAugust 19, 1929. She was delivered tothe Navy on September 12,1929, at NASLakehurst which was to be her homebase for operations. The ZMC-2 was usedmainly for experimental work, however,it also provided support for varioushumanitarian missions, rescue/disasterwork and training. Her main mission waspointed out by Adm. Moffett in his 1926annual report, “purely an experimentalcraft, intended to test the practicability ofthe novel type of construction used in it.”

The ZMC-2 was unsatisfactory in

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directional control during rough airconditions and at low speeds. However, itwas felt this was because of its small sizeand not due to the design of the airship.On the sixth anniversary of the ZMC-2’sfirst flight, she had flown more than57,000 miles and had been in the air over1,400 hours. The ZMC-2 remained inservice for 12 years until she wasscrapped in 1941. When she wasstr icken, her total t ime in the airexceeded 2,200 hours, a testimony to theexperimental/operational capabilitiesand durability of this prototype airship. Acontract was awarded by the Bureau ofAeronautics in 1932 to the MetalcladAirships Corporation (successor to theAircraft Development Corp.) for a designand engineering analysis of metal-cladairships. However, none were built forthe Navy.

Xl. Pre-WW II Blimps and theEvolution of the K-class

With the economic depression in 1929,plans for the development of anexperimental non-rigid airship werescaled back. Congress would notauthorize specific funds for the newairship, but the Navy was able toappropriate funds from several differentsources for construction of the airship.

The envelope was built by Goodyear andthe control car by the Naval AircraftFactory. The airship was the first in aseries of K-types, the K-1, and its designhad several new features. The enginesburned a fuel gas (similar to propane)instead of the traditional liquid fuel. Thisgas could be contained in cells within theairship envelope and, since it was ofapproximately the same density as air, itsconsump t i on d i d no t change t hebuoyancy of the airship. In addition, thegas proved to be a more efficient fuel thanliquid gasoline, and eliminated thenecessity of valving l i f t ing gas orcondensing water from the exhaust tocompensate for the weight of fuel burnedin flight. The K-1 had a special ballonet of51,700 cubic feet for carrying the fuelgas. She was also the first Navy non-rigidto employ an internally-suspendedcontrol car.

The components of the K-1 were matedin 1931 and the airship was delivered toN A S L a k e h u r s t b y L i e u t e n a n tCommander T. G. W. Settle on August10, 1931. Evaluation of the experimentalK-1 began on October 7, 1931. She wasthe largest non-rigid airship the Navy hadoperated up to that time. The K-1 wasreasonably successful, although at thattime it was believed she was too large fora non-rigid (less than three-quarters ofthe size of K-types used during WW II).

The K-1 made her last flight inSeptember 1940. She was dismantledand surveyed in the fall of 1941 to makespace for new airships in the defensebuildup. The K-1 was an experimentalprototype and no other airships of thistype were built.

A f t e r t h e a c q u i s i t i o n o f t h eexperimental K-1, the Navy changed itsapproach and procured its next non-rigidoff the shelf. Under contract 44308 ofS e p t e m b e r 2 3 , 1 9 3 5 , t h e N a v ypurchased Goodyear’s airship Defender,the largest of the Goodyear fleet ofadvertising and passenger airships. Shewas delivered to NAS Lakehurst onOctober 5, 1935, and put into service as atraining and general utility ship with thedesignation G-1. The G-1 was lost in amidair collision with another airship onJune 8, 1942. The two airships were on anight fl ight, conducting visual andpho tog raph ic obse rva t i ons o f anexperimental nature. Twelve peoplewere killed in the crash, including fivecivilian scientists. The G-1 prototype haddemonstrated her capabilities as atraining and utility airship.

The Navy’s need for training and utilityairships in WW II led to the acquisition ofseven more G-type airships. Undercontract number 151 of December 24,1942, seven more G-type airships wereordered, wi th a 13,700-cubic- footincrease in volume over the G-1. Theywere used for advanced training andutility purposes. The first group of G-types (G-2 through 5) was received in thelatter part of 1943 and the next group (G-6 through 8) was received in mid to late1944. During WW II, the G-type airshipsoperated primarily at NAS Moffett Fieldand Lakehurst for training and withAirship Utility Squadron One and itsdetachments on the East Coast.

In 1937, the Navy contracted for twodifferent types of airships on the samecontract, the L-1 and K-2. The L-1 design

The ZMC-2, shown here on aflight over Washington, D.C.,was the only metal-cladairship.

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