USS Shenandoah (ZR-1)

USS Shenandoah was the first of four United States Navy rigid airships. It was constructed during 1922–1923 at Lakehurst Naval Air Station, and first flew in September 1923. It developed the U.S. Navy's experience with rigid airships and made the first crossing of North America by airship. On the 57th flight, Shenandoah was destroyed in a squall line over Ohio in September 1925.

Design and construction

thumb|left|L-49/LZ-96, the airship that would serve as the basis for Shenandoah

Shenandoah was originally designated FA-1, for "Fleet Airship Number One" but this was changed to ZR-1. The airship was long and weighed 36 tons (32,658 kg). It had a range of , and could reach speeds of . Shenandoah was assembled at Naval Air Station Lakehurst, New Jersey in 1922–1923, in Hangar No. 1, the only hangar large enough to accommodate the ship; its parts were fabricated at the Naval Aircraft Factory in Philadelphia. NAS Lakehurst had served as a base for Navy blimps for some time, but Shenandoah was the first rigid airship to join the fleet.

left|thumb|1923 photo of the airship control gondola of USS Shenandoah. Commander McCrary, the ship's commander, is shown at the wheel. Called "Empress of the Clouds"

The design was based on captured Zeppelin bomber L-49 (LZ-96), built in 1917. L-49 was a lightened Type U "height climber", designed for altitude at the expense of other qualities. The design was found insufficient and a number of the features of newer Zeppelins were used, as well as some structural improvements. Whether the changes introduced into the original design of L-49 played a part in Shenandoahs later breakup is a matter of debate. An outer cover of high-quality cotton cloth was sewn, laced or taped to the duralumin frame and painted with aluminum dope. Each gas cell had a spring-loaded relief valve and manual valves operated from the control car.

Shenandoah was designed for fleet reconnaissance work of the type carried out by German naval airships in World War I. Her pre-commissioning trials included long-range flights during September and early October 1923, to test her airworthiness in rain, fog and poor visibility. On 27 October, Shenandoah celebrated Navy Day with a flight down the Shenandoah Valley and returned to Lakehurst that night by way of Washington and Baltimore, where crowds gathered to see the new airship in the beams of searchlights.

At this time, Rear Admiral William A. Moffett, Chief of the Bureau of Aeronautics and staunch advocate of the airship, was discussing the possibility of using Shenandoah to explore the Arctic. He felt such a program would produce valuable weather data as well as experience in cold-weather operations. With its endurance and ability to fly at low speeds, the airship was thought to be well suited to such work and President Calvin Coolidge approved Moffett's proposal. On 16 January 1924, the upper tail fin of the Shenandoah was damaged during a high gale while moored to the mast at Lakehurst. The sudden rolling of the airship tore her away from the mast, ripping out her mooring winches, deflating the first helium cell and puncturing the second. Extensive repairs to the Shenandoah took nearly 4 months, and the Arctic expedition was scrapped.

Shenandoahs repairs were completed in May, and in mid-1924 was working up its engines and radio equipment to prepare for fleet duty. In August 1924, the airship joined the Scouting Fleet and took part in tactical exercises. Shenandoah succeeded in discovering the "enemy" force as planned but lost contact with it in foul weather. Technical difficulties and lack of support facilities in the fleet forced the ship to depart the operating area ahead of time to return to Lakehurst. Although this marred the exercises as far as airship reconnaissance went, it emphasized the need for advanced bases and maintenance ships if lighter-than-air craft were to take any part in operations of this kind.

Flight across North America

thumb|Shenandoah flies over the , the airship's supply tender

In July 1924, the oiler put in at Norfolk Naval Shipyard for extensive modifications to become the Navy's first airship tender. An experimental mooring mast above the water was constructed; additional accommodations both for the crew of Shenandoah and for the men who would handle and supply the airship were added; facilities for the helium, gasoline, and other supplies necessary for Shenandoah were built, as well as handling and stowage facilities for three seaplanes. Shenandoah engaged in a short series of mooring experiments with Patoka to determine the practicality of mobile fleet support of scouting airships. The first successful mooring was made on 8 August.

Crash of Shenandoah

On 2 September 1925, Shenandoah departed Lakehurst on a promotional flight to the Midwest that would include flyovers of 40 cities and visits to state fairs. Testing of a new mooring mast at Dearborn, Michigan, was included in the schedule. While passing through an area of thunderstorms and turbulence over Ohio early in the morning of 3 September, during its 57th flight,

Among the survivors was Frederick J. Tobin, who later commanded the Navy landing party for the arrival of the zeppelin Hindenburg on May 6, 1937, when the airship exploded into flames, and led rescue operations in response.

Aftermath

Looting

The crash site attracted thousands of visitors in its first few days. Within five hours of the crash, more than a thousand people had arrived to strip the hulk of anything they could carry. On Saturday, 5 September 1925, the St. Petersburg Times of Florida reported the crash site had quickly been looted by locals, describing the frame as being "[laid] carrion to the whims of souvenir seekers". Among the items believed to have been taken were the vessel's logbook and its barograph, both of which were considered critical to understanding how the crash had happened. Also looted were many of the ship's 20 deflated silken gas cells, worth several thousand dollars each, most of them unbroken but ripped from the framework before the arrival of armed military personnel. Looting was so extensive it was initially believed that even the bodies of the dead had been stripped of their personal effects. That such looting was happening was denied by those publicly involved in the incident, however. Still, a local farmer on whose property part of the vessel's wreckage lay began charging the throngs of visitors $1 (equivalent to about $ in ) for each automobile and 25¢ per pedestrian to enter the crash site, as well as 10¢ for a drink of water. Lansdowne's Annapolis class ring had also been thought to have been taken from his hand by looters, but it was found by chance in June 1937 near crash site #1. No one was charged with any crime.

Inquiry

thumb|United States Navy board investigating the Shenandoah airship crash

The official inquiry brought to light the fact that the fatal flight had been made under protest by Commander Lansdowne (a native of Greenville, Ohio), who had warned the Navy Department of the violent weather conditions that were common to that area of Ohio in late summer. His pleas for a cancellation of the flight only caused a temporary postponement: his superiors were keen to publicize airship technology and justify the huge cost of the airship to the taxpayers. So, as Lansdowne's widow consistently maintained at the inquiry, publicity rather than prudence won the day. This event was the trigger for Army Colonel Billy Mitchell to heavily criticize the leadership of both the Army and the Navy, leading directly to his court-martial for insubordination and the end of his military career. Heinen, according to the Daily Telegraph, placed the mechanical fault for the disaster on the removal of eight of the craft's 18 safety valves, saying that without them he would not have flown on her "for a million dollars". These valves had been removed in order to better preserve the vessel's helium, which at that time was considered a limited global resource of great rarity and strategic military importance; without these valves, the helium contained in the rising gas bags had expanded too quickly for the bags' valves' design capacity, causing the bags to tear apart the hull as they ruptured (the helium which had been contained in these bags became lost into the upper atmosphere).

After the disaster, airship hulls were strengthened, control cabins were built into the keels rather than suspended from cables, and engine power was increased. More attention was also paid to weather forecasting.

Memorials

Several memorials remain near the crash site. There is another memorial at Moffett Field, California, a plaque at the Cathedral of the Air near Lakehurst Naval Air Station, and a small private museum in Ava, Ohio.

The Noble Local School District—which serves the area where Shenandoah crashed—has named its elementary, junior high, and high school after Shenandoah. Their sports teams are named "The Zeps," an abbreviation of "Zeppelin." A truck stop located about away in Old Washington, Ohio was named Shenandoah Plaza after the airship. The truck stop has since closed and has been torn down.

In popular culture

The crash of the Shenandoah was popularized by the songs The Hand of Fate, written in 1925 by Eugene Spencer and Don Drew, and The Wreck of the Shenandoah which was written by Vernon Dalhart and Carson Robison. The latter song was also issued as a record with Vernon Dalhart performing it. Also, the Shenandoah disaster is referenced in a line of dialogue from the 1930 film Madam Satan, the plot of which also concerns a zeppelin crash.

References

External links

USS Shenandoah at Airships.net: Photos and History
history.navy.mil: USS Shenandoah (ZR-1)
Naval Historical Center Article and Images of Construction
Article and Images during Service
Aviation: From Sand Dunes to Sonic Booms, a National Park Service Discover Our Shared Heritage Travel Itinerary
'The Wreck of the Shenandoah, 1925 song by Vernon Dalhart
Noble County Ohio page on the USS Shenandoah disaster
America's Forgotten Airship Disaster: The Crash of the USS Shenandoah