680 feet long, nearly 79 feet wide at it’s broadest and standing nearly 100 feet tall, the USS Shenandoah would be an impressive sight by today’s standards, but in the early 1920s it had to have been as unreal to most as seeing a ufo drop out of the clouds just to park on your lawn for a few moments. The rigid airship took on a massive amount of the world’s supply of helium just to float it and, christened “ZR-1”, was the U.S. Navy’s first airship. An aluminum cruise ship in the sky, powered by at least five Packard eight-cylinder engines, Shenandoah was an absolute behemoth and must’ve had everyone’s breath when it took to the skies for the first time ninety-five years ago today. It would be commissioned that October as a fleet reconnaissance unit, but before that ZR-1 would be tested in all sorts of weather conditions on a tour of the United States. At one point in time there was discussion of using Shenandoah as an Arctic exploration craft, but in January 1924 the ship was ripped from it’s mooring mast at Lakehurst, New Jersey and the plan was scrapped due to the extensive repairs needed.
Unfortunately, as was often the case in airships, the story doesn’t have a happy ending. While on a promotional flight, Shenandoah broke up in a thunderstorm near Caldwell, Ohio on September 2nd, 1925. Twenty-nine survived the crash, while fourteen perished, most when the control gondola separated from the hull and plummeted to the ground. It took another decade and more losses (including USS Macon and USS Akron) before the big bell tolled for airship use: the fiery crash of the Hindeburg in 1937 was quickly seared into the public’s memory with Herbert Morrison’s description…the infamous “Oh, the humanity” bit…coupled with the newsreel footage that dramatically showed the entirety of the incident put an end to the public fascination with airships for the most part.
As a kid growing up in Toms River, NJ during the 50’s you couldn’t throw a rock from your porch and not hit someone who was at Lakehurst during the age of airships. ( no, I never threw rocks) Blimps regularly flew over our house, sometimes so low and slow we could plainly see the crews at the windows. What an impression they made . 🙂
My mother in law, who was a child in the 30s often told a story about her first encounter with an airship. One flew low over the rural South Georgia school yard she was playing in with other students. They had never seen or even heard of an airship. Because of the trees, they could not see the skyline, but only heard the terrifying droning of the engines growing louder, when suddenly the airship comes into view, almost right over them, so big it darkened the sky. She said that day was a haunting memory.