USS Akron
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USS ''Akron'' (ZRS-4) was a
helium Helium (from ) is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol He and atomic number 2. It is a colorless, odorless, non-toxic, inert gas, inert, monatomic gas and the first in the noble gas group in the periodic table. Its boiling point is ...
-filled rigid
airship An airship, dirigible balloon or dirigible is a type of aerostat (lighter-than-air) aircraft that can navigate through the air flying powered aircraft, under its own power. Aerostats use buoyancy from a lifting gas that is less dense than the ...
of the
U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft ...
, the
lead ship The lead ship, name ship, or class leader is the first of a series or class of ships that are all constructed according to the same general design. The term is applicable to naval ships and large civilian vessels. Large ships are very comple ...
of her class, which operated between September 1931 and April 1933. She was the world's first purpose-built flying aircraft carrier, carrying F9C Sparrowhawk
fighter plane Fighter aircraft (early on also ''pursuit aircraft'') are military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat. In military conflict, the role of fighter aircraft is to establish air superiority of the battlespace. Domination of the a ...
s, which could be launched and recovered while in flight. With an overall length of , ''Akron'' and her
sister ship A sister ship is a ship of the same Ship class, class or of virtually identical design to another ship. Such vessels share a nearly identical hull and superstructure layout, similar size, and roughly comparable features and equipment. They o ...
were among the largest flying objects ever built. Although LZ 129 ''Hindenburg'' and LZ 130 '' Graf Zeppelin II'' were some longer and slightly more voluminous, the two German airships were filled with
hydrogen Hydrogen is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol H and atomic number 1. It is the lightest and abundance of the chemical elements, most abundant chemical element in the universe, constituting about 75% of all baryon, normal matter ...
, so the two US Navy craft still hold the world record for the largest helium-filled airships. ''Akron'' was destroyed in a
thunderstorm A thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm or a lightning storm, is a storm characterized by the presence of lightning and its acoustics, acoustic effect on the Earth's atmosphere, known as thunder. Relatively weak thunderstorm ...
off the coast of
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on the morning of 4 April 1933, killing 73 of the 76 crewmen and passengers. The accident involved the greatest loss of life in any airship crash, and was indeed the deadliest aviation disaster of any kind prior to
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
.


Technical description

The airship's skeleton was built of the new lightweight
alloy An alloy is a mixture of chemical elements of which in most cases at least one is a metal, metallic element, although it is also sometimes used for mixtures of elements; herein only metallic alloys are described. Metallic alloys often have prop ...
duralumin Duralumin (also called duraluminum, duraluminium, duralum, dural(l)ium, or dural) is a trade name for one of the earliest types of age hardening, age-hardenable aluminium–copper alloys. The term is a combination of ''Düren'' and ''aluminium'' ...
17-SRT. The frame introduced several novel features compared with traditional Zeppelin designs. Rather than being single-girder diamond trusses with radial wire bracing, the main rings of ''Akron'' were self-supporting deep frames: triangular Warren trusses "curled" around to form a ring. Though much heavier than conventional rings, the deep rings promised to be much stronger, a significant attraction to the navy after the in-flight breakup of the earlier conventional airships R38/ ZR-2 and ZR-1 ''Shenandoah''. The inherent strength of these frames allowed the chief designer, Karl Arnstein, to dispense with the internal cruciform structure used by Zeppelin to support the fins of their ships. Instead, the fins of ''Akron'' were cantilevered:, mounted entirely externally to the main structure. ''Graf Zeppelin'', ''Graf Zeppelin II'', and ''Hindenburg'' used a supplementary axial keel along the hull centerline. However, the ''Akron'' used three keels, one running along the top of the hull and one each side, 45° up from the lower centerline. Each keel provided a walkway running almost the entire length of the ship. The electric and telephone wiring, control cables, 110 fuel tanks, 44 water ballast bags, eight engine rooms, engines, transmissions, and water-recovery devices were placed along the lower keels. The inert gas helium was used instead of flammable hydrogen, which improved streamlining by allowing the engines to be safely placed inside the hull. A generator room, with two Westinghouse direct-current generators powered by a 30 hp internal combustion engine, was forward of the No. 7 engine room. The main rings were spaced at and between each pair were three intermediate rings of lighter construction. In keeping with conventional practice, "station numbers" on the airship were measured in meters from zero at the rudder post, positive forward and negative aft. Thus, the tip of the tail was at station −23.75 and the nose mooring spindle was at station 210.75. Each ring frame formed a polygon with 36 corners, and these (and their associated longitudinal girders) were numbered from 1 (at the bottom center) to 18 (at the top center), port and starboard. Thus, a position on the hull could be referred to, for example, as "6 port at station 102.5" (the number-one engine room). While Germany, France, and Britain used goldbeater's skin to gas-proof their gasbags, ''Akron'' used Goodyear Tire and Rubber's rubberized cotton, heavier but much cheaper and more durable. Half the gas cells used an experimental cotton-based fabric impregnated with a gelatin-latex compound. This was more expensive than the rubberized cotton, but lighter than goldbeater's skin. It was so successful that all the gasbags of ''Macon'' were made from it. The 12 gas cells were numbered 0 to XI, using Roman numerals and starting from the tail. While the "air" volume of the hull was , the total volume of the gas cells at 100% fill was . At a normal 95% fill with helium of standard purity, the of gas would yield a gross lift of . Given a structure deadweight of , this gives a useful lift of available for fuel, lubricants, ballast, crew, supplies, and military load (including the skyhook airplanes) Eight Maybach VL II gasoline engines were mounted inside the hull. Each engine turned a two-bladed, diameter, fixed pitch, wooden propeller via a driveshaft and bevel gearing, which allowed the propeller to swivel from the vertical plane to the horizontal. With the engines' ability to reverse, this allowed thrust to be applied forward, aft, up, or down.Smith (1965). p. 193 From photographs, the four propellers on each side apparently were contrarotating, so it would appear that the designers were aware that running the propellers in the air disturbed by the one ahead was not ideal. While the external engine pods of other airships allowed the thrust lines to be staggered, placing all four engine rooms on each side of the ship along the lower keel resulted in ''Akron''s propellers all being in line. This proved problematic in service, as it induced considerable vibration, which was especially noticeable in the emergency control position in the lower fin. By 1933, ''Akron'' had two of her propellers replaced by more advanced, ground-adjustable, three-bladed, metal propellers. These promised a performance increase and were adopted as standard for ''Macon''. The outer cover was of cotton cloth, treated with four coats of clear and two coats of aluminum-pigmented cellulose dope. The total area of the skin was and it weighed, after doping, .Smith (1965). p. 182 The prominent, dark, vertical bands on the hull were condensers of the system designed to recover water from the engines' exhaust for buoyancy compensation. In-flight fuel consumption continuously reduces an airship's weight and changes in the temperature of the lifting gas can do the same. Normally, expensive helium has to be released to compensate, so any way of avoiding this is desirable. In theory, a water-recovery system such as this can produce a unit by weight of ballast water for every unit of fuel burned, though this is unlikely to be achieved in practice. ''Akron'' could carry up to of gasoline () in 110 separate tanks, which were distributed along the lower keels to preserve the ship's trim, giving her a normal range of at cruising speed. Theoretical maximum ballast water capacity was in 44 bags, again distributed along her length, though normal ballast load at unmasting was . Maximum ballast was never an option, because a full fuel and ballast load would have left only lifting capacity for aircraft, crew, and supplies, and each fully loaded F9C fighter alone weighed . The heart of the ship, and her sole reason for existing, was the airplane hangar and trapeze system. Aft of the control car, in bay VII, between frames 125 and 141.25, was a compartment large enough to accommodate up to five F9C Sparrowhawk airplanes. Two structural girders, though, partially obstructed ''Akron''s aftmost hangar bays, limiting its capacity to three airplanes (one in each forward corner of the hangar and one on the trapeze). A modification to remove this design flaw was pending at the time of the ship's loss.Smith (1965). p. 67 The F9C was not the ideal choice, being designed as a "conventional" carrier-borne fighter. It was heavily built to withstand carrier landings, downward visibility was not very good, and it initially lacked an effective radio, but the primary role of ''Akron''s airplanes was long-range naval scouting. What was actually needed was a stable, fast, lightweight scouting airplane with a long range, but none existed capable of fitting between the structural members and into the airship's hangar, as the F9C could. The trapeze was lowered through the T-shaped door in the bottom of the ship and into the slipstream, with an airplane attached to the crossbar by the skyhook above its top wing, with its pilot on board and its engine running. The pilot tripped the hook, and the airplane fell away from the ship. On his return, he positioned himself beneath the trapeze and climbed up until he could fly his skyhook onto the crossbar, at which point it automatically latched shut. Now, with the engine idling, the trapeze and airplane were raised into the hangar, the pilot cutting his engine as he passed through the door. Once inside, the airplane was transferred from the trapeze to a trolley, running on an overhead monorail system by which it could be shunted into one of the four corners of the hangar to be refueled and rearmed. Having a single trapeze raised two problems; it limited the rate at which airplanes could be launched and recovered, and any fault in the trapeze would leave any airborne scouts with nowhere to land. The solution was a second, fixed trapeze permanently rigged further aft along the bottom of the ship at station 102.5 and known as the "perch". By 1933, a perch was fitted and in use. Three more perches were planned (at stations 57.5, 80.0, and 147.5), but these were never fitted. ''Akron'' revived an idea used, and eventually rejected, by the German Navy
Zeppelin A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship named after the German inventor Ferdinand von Zeppelin () who pioneered rigid airship development at the beginning of the 20th century. Zeppelin's notions were first formulated in 1874Eckener 1938, pp. 155â ...
s during
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, the ''Spähkorb'' or " spy basket".Smith (1965). p. 55 The "angel basket" or "subcloud observation car" allowed the airship to remain hidden in a cloud layer, while still observing the enemy below. The small car, rather like an airplane fuselage without wings, could be lowered on a 1000-foot-long cable. The observer on board communicated with the ship by telephone. In practice, the device was unstable, almost looping over the airship during its only test flight. During the design stage, in 1929, the Navy requested an alteration to the fins. Seeing the bottom of the lower fin from the control car was considered desirable. Charles E. Rosendahl had witnessed, from the control room, '' Graf Zeppelin'' almost snagging her fin on high-tension power lines during her heavy take-off into an unsuspected but very marked temperature inversion from Mines Field, Los Angeles, at the start of the last leg of her round-the-world flight earlier that year. The design change would also allow direct vision between the main control car and the emergency control position in the lower fin. The control car was moved aft and all the fins were shortened and deepened. The leading-edge root of the fins no longer coincided with a main (deep) ring, and instead, the foremost attachment was now to an intermediate ring at frame 28.75. This achieved the required visibility, improved low-speed controllability, due to the increased span of the control surfaces, and simplified stress calculations, by reducing the number of fin attachment points. The designers and the Navy's inspectors, led by the very experienced Charles P. Burgess, were entirely satisfied with the revised stress calculations. However, this alteration has been the subject of much criticism as an "inherent defect" in the design, and is often alleged to have been a major factor in the loss of ''Akron''s sister ship ''Macon''. Construction for both ships amounted to $8,800,000 (in 1931 dollars) with the ''Akron'' accounting $5,538,400 of the total.


Construction and commissioning

Construction of ZRS-4 was begun on 31 October 1929 at the
Goodyear Airdock The Goodyear Airdock is a construction and storage airship hangar in Akron, Ohio. At its completion in 1929, it was the largest building in the world without interior supports. Description The building has a unique shape which has been descr ...
in
Akron, Ohio Akron () is a city in Summit County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Ohio, fifth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 190,469 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Akron metr ...
, by the Goodyear-Zeppelin Corporation. Because it was larger than any airship previously built in the US, a special hangar was constructed. Chief Designer Karl Arnstein and a team of experienced German airship engineers instructed and supported design and construction of both
U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft ...
airships USS ''Akron'' and USS ''Macon''. On 7 November 1929,
Rear Admiral Rear admiral is a flag officer rank used by English-speaking navies. In most European navies, the equivalent rank is called counter admiral. Rear admiral is usually immediately senior to commodore and immediately below vice admiral. It is ...
William A. Moffett, the chief of the U.S. Navy's
Bureau of Aeronautics The Bureau of Aeronautics (BuAer) was the U.S. Navy's material-support organization for naval aviation from 1921 to 1959. The bureau had "cognizance" (''i.e.'', responsibility) for the design, procurement, and support of naval aircraft and rela ...
, drove the "golden rivet" into the main ring of ZRS-4. Erection of the hull sections began in March 1930.
Secretary of the Navy The Secretary of the Navy (SECNAV) is a statutory officer () and the head (chief executive officer) of the Department of the Navy, a military department within the United States Department of Defense. On March 25, 2025, John Phelan was confirm ...
Charles Francis Adams chose the name ''Akron'' (for the city near where it was being built), and
Assistant Secretary of the Navy Assistant Secretary of the Navy (ASN) is the title given to certain civilian senior officials in the United States Department of the Navy. From 1861 to 1954, the Assistant Secretary of the Navy was the second-highest civilian office in the Depart ...
Ernest Lee Jahncke announced it in May 1930. On 8 August 1931, ''Akron'' was launched (floated free of the hangar floor) and christened by First Lady
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, the
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of the President of the United States, Herbert Clark Hoover. The maiden flight of ''Akron'' took place around
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on the afternoon of 23 September with Secretary of the Navy Adams and Rear Admiral Moffett on board. The airship made 10 trial flights, including a journey over a period of 48 hours to
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,
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, and
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. On 21 October, ''Akron'' left the Goodyear Zeppelin Air Dock for the Lakehurst Naval Air Station (NAS), with Lieutenant Commander Charles E. Rosendahl in command, arriving the next day. On
Navy Day Several nations observe or have observed a Navy Day to recognize their navy. By country Argentina The Argentine Navy day is celebrated on May 17, anniversary of the victory achieved in 1814 against the Spanish fleet in the action of 14 ...
, 27 October 1931, ''Akron'' was commissioned as a Navy vessel.


History of service


Maiden voyage

On 2 November 1931, ''Akron'' departed on her first cruise down the eastern seaboard to
Washington, DC Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...
. On 3 November, she took to the air with 207 persons on board. This demonstration was to prove that in an emergency, airships could provide limited but high-speed airlift of troops to outlying possessions. Over the weeks that followed, some 300 hours aloft were logged in a series of flights, including a 46-hour endurance flight to
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, and back. The return leg of the trip was made via the valleys of the
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and
Ohio River The Ohio River () is a river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing in a southwesterly direction from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to its river mouth, mouth on the Mississippi Riv ...
s.


Participation in a search exercise (January 1932)

On the morning of 9 January 1932, ''Akron'' departed from Lakehurst to work with the
Scouting Fleet The Scouting Fleet is an important part of the U.S. Navy, established in 1922 as part of the reorganization of the Navy after World War I. It is one of the four core units of the newly formed "American Fleet", which together with the battle Fleet ...
on a search exercise. Proceeding to the coast of
North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...
, ''Akron'' headed out over the Atlantic, where she was assigned to find a group of
destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, maneuverable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy, or carrier battle group and defend them against a wide range of general threats. They were conceived i ...
s bound for
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. Once these were located, the airship was to shadow them and report their movements. Leaving the coast of North Carolina around 07:21 on 10 January, the airship proceeded south, but bad weather prevented sighting the destroyers (contact with them was missed at 12:40 EST, although their crews had sighted ''Akron'') and eventually shaped a course toward the Bahamas by late afternoon. Heading northwesterly into the night, ''Akron'' then changed course shortly before midnight and proceeded to the southeast. Ultimately, at 09:08 on 11 January, the airship succeeded in spotting the
light cruiser A light cruiser is a type of small or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck. Prior to thi ...
and 12 destroyers, positively identifying them on the eastern horizon two minutes later. Sighting a second group of destroyers shortly thereafter, ''Akron'' was released from the evaluation about 10:00, having achieved a "qualified success" in the initial test with the Scouting Fleet, but the performance could have been better with radio detection-finding equipment, and scout planes. As U.S. naval aviation historian Richard K. Smith wrote in his definitive study, ''The Airships Akron & Macon: Flying Aircraft Carriers of the United States Navy'', with "consideration given to the weather, duration of flight, a track of more than flown, her material deficiencies, and the rudimentary character of aerial navigation at that date, the ''Akron'' performance was remarkable. There was not a military airplane in the world in 1932 which could have given the same performance, operating from the same base."


First accident (February 1932)

''Akron'' was to have taken part in Fleet Problem XIII, but an accident at Lakehurst on 22 February 1932 prevented her participation. While the airship was being taken from her hangar, the tail came loose from her moorings, was caught by the wind, and struck the ground. The heaviest damage was confined to the lower fin area, which required repair. Also, ground-handling fittings had been torn from the main frame, necessitating further repairs. ''Akron'' was not certified as airworthy again until later in the spring. Her next operation took place on 28 April, when she made a nine-hour flight with Rear Admiral Moffett and Secretary of the Navy Adams aboard. As a result of this accident, a turntable with a walking beam on tracks powered by electric mine locomotives was developed to secure the tail and turn the ship even in high winds, so she could be pulled into the massive hangar at Lakehurst.


Testing of the "spy basket"

Soon after returning to Lakehurst to disembark her distinguished passengers, ''Akron'' took off again to conduct a test of the " spy basket"—something like a small airplane fuselage suspended beneath the airship that would enable an observer to serve as the ship's "eyes" below the clouds while the ship herself remained out of sight above them. The first time the basket was tried (with sandbags aboard instead of a man), it oscillated so violently that it put the whole ship in danger. The basket proved "frighteningly unstable", swooping from one side of the airship to the other before the startled gaze of ''Akron''s officers and men, and reaching as high as the ship's equator. Though it was later improved by adding a ventral stabilizing fin, the spybasket was never used again.


Experimental use as a "flying aircraft carrier"

''Akron'' and ''Macon'' (which was still under construction) were regarded as potential "flying aircraft carriers", carrying parasite fighters for reconnaissance. On 3 May 1932, ''Akron'' cruised over the coast of
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with Rear Admiral
George C. Day George Calvin Day (November 8, 1871 – November 3, 1940) was a rear admiral of the United States Navy, whose career lasted from the 1890s until the mid-1930s. Biography Born in Bradford, Vermont, the son of Hezron George Day, on 8 November 1871 ...
, and the
Board of Inspection and Survey The Board of Inspection and Survey (INSURV) is a United States Navy organization whose purpose is to inspect and assess the material condition of U.S. Navy vessels. The Board is currently headquartered at Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek, Virg ...
, on board, and for the first time tested the "trapeze" installation for in-flight handling of aircraft. The
aviator An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators because they a ...
s who carried out those historic "landings"—first with a Consolidated N2Y trainer and then with the prototype Curtiss XF9C-1 Sparrowhawk—were Lieutenant D. Ward Harrigan and Lieutenant Howard L. Young. The following day, ''Akron'' carried out another demonstration flight, this time with members of the House Committee on Naval Affairs on board; this time, Lieutenants Harrigan and Young gave the lawmakers a demonstration of ''Akron''s aircraft hook-on ability.


"Coast-to-coast" flight and second accident (May 1932)

Following the conclusion of those trial flights, ''Akron'' departed from Lakehurst, New Jersey, on 8 May 1932, for the American West Coast. The airship proceeded down the eastern seaboard to
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, and then across the southern Gulf Coast states, continuing over Texas and
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. En route to
Sunnyvale, California Sunnyvale () is a city located in the Santa Clara Valley in northwestern Santa Clara County, California, United States. Sunnyvale lies along the historic El Camino Real (California), El Camino Real and U.S. Route 101 in California, Highway 1 ...
, ''Akron'' reached Camp Kearny in San Diego on the morning of 11 May and attempted to moor. Since neither trained ground handlers nor specialized
mooring A mooring is any permanent structure to which a seaborne vessel (such as a boat, ship, or amphibious aircraft) may be secured. Examples include quays, wharfs, jetties, piers, anchor buoys, and mooring buoys. A ship is secured to a mooring to ...
equipment were present, the landing at Camp Kearny was fraught with danger. By the time the crew started the evaluation, the helium gas had been warmed by sunlight, increasing lift. Lightened by , the amount of fuel spent during the transcontinental trip, ''Akron'' was now uncontrollably light. The mooring cable was cut to avert a catastrophic nose-stand by the errant airship, which floated upwards. Most of the mooring crew—predominantly "boot" seamen from the Naval Training Station San Diego—released their lines, although four did not. One let go at about and suffered a broken arm, while the three others were carried further aloft. Of these, Aviation Carpenter's Mate 3rd Class Robert H. Edsall and Apprentice Seaman Nigel M. Henton soon plunged to their deaths while Apprentice Seaman C. M. "Bud" Cowart held on to his line and then secured himself to it before being hoisted on board the airship an hour later. ''Akron'' moored at Camp Kearny later that day before proceeding to
Sunnyvale, California Sunnyvale () is a city located in the Santa Clara Valley in northwestern Santa Clara County, California, United States. Sunnyvale lies along the historic El Camino Real (California), El Camino Real and U.S. Route 101 in California, Highway 1 ...
. Footage from the accident appears in the film ''Encounters with Disaster'', released in 1979 and produced by Sun Classic Pictures.


West Coast flights

Over the weeks that followed, ''Akron'' "showed the flag" on the
West Coast of the United States The West Coast of the United States, also known as the Pacific Coast and the Western Seaboard, is the coastline along which the Western United States meets the North Pacific Ocean. The term typically refers to the Contiguous United States, contig ...
, ranging as far north as the Canada–US border before returning south in time to exercise once more with the Scouting Fleet. Serving as part of the "Green Force", the ''Akron'' attempted to locate the "White Force". Although opposed by
Vought O2U Corsair The Vought O2U Corsair is a 1920s biplane scout and observation aircraft. Developed by Vought Corporation, the O2U was ordered by the United States Navy (USN) in 1927. Powered by a 400 hp (298 kW) Pratt & Whitney R-1340 engine, it inco ...
floatplane A floatplane is a type of seaplane with one or more slender floats mounted under the fuselage to provide buoyancy. By contrast, a flying boat uses its fuselage for buoyancy. Either type of seaplane may also have landing gear suitable for land, ...
s from "enemy"
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s, the airship located the opposing forces in just 22 hours, a fact not lost upon some of the participants in the exercise in subsequent critiques. In need of repairs, ''Akron'' departed from Sunnyvale on 11 June 1932 bound for Lakehurst, on a return trip that was sprinkled with difficulties, mostly because of unfavorable weather, and having to fly at pressure height while crossing the mountains. ''Akron'' arrived on 15 June after a "long and sometimes harrowing" aerial voyage. ''Akron'' next underwent a period of voyage repairs before taking part in July in a search for ''Curlew'', a yacht that had failed to reach port at the end of a race to the island of
Bermuda Bermuda is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. The closest land outside the territory is in the American state of North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. Bermuda is an ...
. The yacht was later discovered safe off
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. She then resumed operations capturing aircraft on the "trapeze" equipment. Admiral Moffett again boarded ''Akron'' on 20 July, but the next day left the airship in one of her N2Y-1s, which took him back to Lakehurst after a severe storm had delayed the airship's own return to base.


Further tests as "flying aircraft carrier"

''Akron'' entered a new phase of her career that summer of 1932, engaging in intense experimentation with the revolutionary "trapeze" and a full complement of F9C-2s. A key element of the entrance into that new phase was a new commanding officer, Commander Alger Dresel.


Third accident (August 1932)

Another accident hampered training on 22 August, when ''Akron''s tail fin became fouled by a beam in Lakehurst's massive Hangar No 1 after a premature order to commence towing the ship out of the mooring circle. Nevertheless, rapid repairs enabled eight more flights over the Atlantic during the last three months of 1932. These operations involved intensive work with the trapeze and the F9C-2s, as well as the drilling of lookouts and gun crews. Among the tasks undertaken were the maintenance of two aircraft patrolling and scouting on ''Akron''s flanks. During a seven-hour period on 18 November 1932, the airship and a trio of planes searched a sector 100 mi wide.


Return to the fleet

After local operations out of Lakehurst for the remainder of 1932, ''Akron'' was ready to resume operations with the fleet. On the afternoon of 3 January 1933, Commander Frank C. McCord relieved Commander Dresel as commanding officer, the latter becoming the first commanding officer of ''Akron''s sister ship ''Macon'', whose construction was almost complete. Within hours, ''Akron'' headed south down the eastern seaboard toward Florida, where after refueling at the Naval Reserve Aviation Base,
Opa-locka, Florida Opa-locka () is a Municipality, city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. Spanning roughly , it is part of the Miami metropolitan area of South Florida. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 Census, the population was 16,463, up fro ...
, near Miami, the next day proceeded to Guantánamo Bay for an inspection of base sites. At this time, the N2Y-1s were used to provide aerial "taxi" service to ferry members of the inspection party back and forth. Soon thereafter, ''Akron'' returned to Lakehurst for local operations, which were interrupted by a two-week overhaul and poor weather. In March, she carried out intensive training with an aviation unit of F9C-2s, honing hook-on skills. During the course of these operations, an overfly of Washington, DC, was made 4 March 1933, the day
Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...
first took the oath of office as President of the United States. On 11 March, ''Akron'' departed Lakehurst bound for
Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...
, stopping briefly ''en route'' at Opa-locka before proceeding on to Balboa, where an inspection party looked over a potential air base site. While returning northward, the airship paused at Opa-locka again for local operations exercising gun crews, with the N2Y-1s serving as targets, before getting underway for Lakehurst on 22 March.


Loss

On the evening of 3 April 1933, ''Akron'' cast off from the
mooring mast A mooring mast, or mooring tower, is a structure designed to allow for the docking of an airship outside of an airship hangar or similar structure. More specifically, a mooring mast is a mast or tower that contains a fitting on its top that allo ...
to operate along the coast of
New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...
, assisting in the calibration of
radio direction finder Direction finding (DF), radio direction finding (RDF), or radiogoniometry is the use of radio waves to determine the direction to a radio source. The source may be a cooperating radio transmitter or may be an inadvertent source, a natural ...
stations. Rear Admiral Moffett was again on board, along with his aide, Commander Henry Barton Cecil, Commander Fred T. Berry, the commanding officer of NAS Lakehurst, and Lieutenant Colonel Alfred F. Masury, U.S. Army Reserve, a guest of the admiral, the vice president of
Mack Trucks Mack Trucks, Inc. is an American truck manufacturing company (law), company and a former manufacturer of buses and Trolleybus, trolley buses. Founded in 1900 as the Mack Brothers Company, it manufactured its first truck in 1905 and adopted its pr ...
, and a strong proponent of the potential civilian uses of rigid airships. After casting off at 19:28, ''Akron'' soon encountered fog and then severe weather, which did not improve when the airship passed over
Barnegat Light, New Jersey Barnegat Light (pronounced "BAR-nuh-git") is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in Ocean County, New Jersey, Ocean County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 640, an increase of 66 ( ...
, at 22:00. According to Richard K. Smith, " known to the men on board the ''Akron'', they were flying ahead of one of the most violent stormfronts to sweep the North Atlantic states in 10 years. It would soon envelop them." Enveloped in fog, increased lightning, and heavy rain, it became extremely turbulent at 00:15. ''Akron'' began a rapid nose-down descent, reaching while still falling. Ballast was dumped, which stabilized the ship at , and climbed back to its cruising altitude. Then, a second violent descent sent the ''Akron'' downwards at . "Landing stations" alerted the crew, as the ship descended tail-down. The lower fin struck the sea, water entered the fin, and the stern was dragged under. The engines pulled the ship into a nose-high attitude, then the ''Akron'' stalled, and crashed into the sea. ''Akron'' broke up rapidly and sank in the stormy Atlantic. The crew of the nearby German
merchant ship A merchant ship, merchant vessel, trading vessel, or merchantman is a watercraft that transports cargo or carries passengers for hire. This is in contrast to pleasure craft, which are used for personal recreation, and naval ships, which are ...
''Phoebus'' saw lights descending toward the ocean around 00:23 and altered course to starboard to investigate, with her captain believing that he was witnessing an airplane crash. At 00:55, executive officer Lieutenant Commander Herbert V. Wiley was pulled from the water while the ship's boat picked up three more men: Chief Radioman Robert W. Copeland, Boatswain's Mate Second Class Richard E. Deal, and Aviation Metalsmith Second Class Moody E. Erwin. Despite
artificial respiration Artificial ventilation or respiration is when a machine assists in a metabolic process to exchange gases in the body by pulmonary ventilation, external respiration, and internal respiration. A machine called a ventilator provides the person air ...
, Copeland never regained consciousness, and he died aboard ''Phoebus''. Although the German sailors spotted four or five other men in the water, they did not know their ship had chanced upon the crash of ''Akron'' until Lt. Commander Wiley regained consciousness half an hour after being rescued. The crew of ''Phoebus'' combed the ocean in boats for over five hours in a fruitless search for more survivors. The Navy
blimp A non-rigid airship, commonly called a blimp (Help:IPA/English, /blɪmp/), is an airship (dirigible) without an internal structural framework or a keel. Unlike semi-rigid airship, semi-rigid and rigid airships (e.g. Zeppelins), blimps rely on th ...
''J-3''—sent out to join the search—also crashed, with the loss of two men. The U.S. Coast Guard cutter —the first American vessel on the scene—arrived at 06:00, taking the airship's survivors and the body of Copeland on board. Among the other ships combing the area for survivors were the
heavy cruiser A heavy cruiser was a type of cruiser, a naval warship designed for long range and high speed, armed generally with naval guns of roughly 203 mm (8 inches) in calibre, whose design parameters were dictated by the Washington Naval Treat ...
, the destroyer , the Coast Guard cutter , and the Coast Guard destroyers and , as well as two Coast Guard aircraft. The fishing vessel ''Grace F'' from
Gloucester, Massachusetts Gloucester ( ) is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. It sits on Cape Ann and is a part of North Shore (Massachusetts), Massachusetts's North Shore. The population was 29,729 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. Census. ...
, also assisted in the search, using her seining gear in an effort to recover bodies. Most casualties had been caused by drowning and hypothermia, since the crew had not been issued life jackets, and time had not been available to deploy the single life raft. The accident left 73 dead, and only three survivors. Wiley, standing next to the two other survivors, gave a brief account on 6 April.


Aftermath of loss

''Akron''s loss spelled the beginning of the end for the rigid airship in the U.S. Navy, especially since one of her leading proponents, Rear Admiral William A. Moffett, was among the dead. President Roosevelt said, "The loss of the ''Akron'' with her crew of gallant officers and men is a national disaster. I grieve with the Nation and especially with the wives and families of the men who were lost. Ships can be replaced, but the Nation can ill afford to lose such men as Rear Admiral William A. Moffett and his shipmates who died with him upholding to the end the finest traditions of the United States Navy." The loss of the ''Akron'' was the largest loss of life in any airship crash. ''Macon'' and other airships received life jackets to avert a repetition of this tragedy. When ''Macon'' was damaged in a storm in 1935 and subsequently sank after landing in the sea, 70 of the 72 crew were saved. Songwriter Bob Miller wrote and recorded a song, "The Crash of the Akron", within one day of the disaster. In 2003, the U.S. submarine surveyed the wreck site and performed sonar imaging of the ''Akrons girders.


Assessment

For numerous reasons, in the opinion of Richard K. Smith,Smith (1965). p 171 ''Akron'' never got the chance to show what she was capable of. Initially, the idea had been to use her as a scout for the fleet, just as the German Navy Zeppelins had been used during World War I] with her airplanes being simply useful auxiliaries capable of extending her range of vision or of defending her against attacking enemy aircraft. Gradually, in the minds of the more forward-thinking officers familiar with airship and scouting fleet operations, that was reversed, ''Macon'' and ''Akron'' came to be regarded as aircraft carriers, whose sole job was to get the scouting airplanes to the search area and then to support them in their flights.Report by Senior Aviator, HTA Unit to CO, Akron ZRS4/A4-3, 15 December 1932, Record Group 72, BuAer General Correspondence (1925–1942), Box 5592, US National Archives The mothership herself should stay in the background, out of sight of enemy surface units, and act merely as a mobile advanced base for the airplanes, which should do all of the actual searching. Any aircraft carrier could do that, but only an airship could do it so quickly, since her speed was at least twice that of a surface ship, enabling her to get to the scene or be switched from flank to flank quickly. However, she was an experimental ship, a prototype, and time was needed for the doctrine and suitable tactics to evolve, as well as for developing the techniques of navigating, controlling, and coordinating the scouts. At first, developments were hampered by inadequate radio equipment, and the difficulties encountered by the scout pilots in navigating, scouting, and communicating from their cramped, open cockpits. Some politicians, some senior officers, and some sections of the press seemed predisposed to judge the airship experiment a failure without regard to the evidence. Even within the Navy's Bureau of Aeronautics, many opposed spending so much on a single asset. Smith also asserts that political pressure inside and outside the Navy led to the ship being pushed too early to attempt too much. Little allowance seems to have been made for the fact that this was a prototype, an experimental system, and that tactics for her use were being developed "on the hoof". As a result, the airship's performance in fleet exercises was not all that some had hoped, and gave an exaggerated impression of the ship's vulnerability and failed to demonstrate her strengths.


Specifications (as built)

These data are based on the book ''The Story of the Airship'' by Hugh Allen:The Story of the Airship, Hugh Allen, p. 76, viewable on Google Books
/ref>


See also

*
List of airship accidents The following is a partial list of airship accidents. It includes both rigid airships and blimps, which operated differently from one another. Not included on this list are airships shot down or otherwise lost to military action. See also * ...
*
List of airships of the United States Navy List of airships of the United States Navy identifies the airships of the United States Navy by type, identification, and class. __TOC__ Rigid airships (ZR) Fabric-clad rigid airships The fabric-clad rigid airships were given Ship commissio ...
*
Rigid airship A rigid airship is a type of airship (or dirigible) in which the Aerostat, envelope is supported by an internal framework rather than by being kept in shape by the pressure of the lifting gas within the envelope, as in blimps (also called pres ...


Notes


References

*Hook, Thomas, ''Sky Ship: the Akron Era.'' Annapolis, Md: Airshow Publishers, 1976. *Robinson, Douglas H, and Charles L. Keller. ''"Up Ship!": U.S. Navy Rigid Airships 1919–1935.'' Annapolis, Maryland: United States Naval Institute, 1982. *Shock, James R, ''U.S. Navy Airships 1915–1962'', Edgewater, Florida: Atlantis Productions, 2001. *Smith, Richard K, ''The Airships Akron & Macon: Flying Aircraft Carriers of the United States Navy.'', Annapolis, Maryland: United States Naval Institute, 1965. *Rosendahl, C E, ''Up Ship!'' New York, NY: Dodd, Mead and Company,1932. *Department of the Navy, Naval Historical Center
USS ''Akron''
. Retrieved 5 May 2005.


External links

* *
USS ''Akron'' and USS ''Macon''
at Airships.net

from the
Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships The ''Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships'' (''DANFS'') is the official reference work for the basic facts about ships used by the United States Navy. When the writing project was developed the parameters for this series were designed to ...

USS ''Akron'' and ''Macon''

Images of the U.S.S. ''Akron''
from the Summit Memory Project
Herbert V. Wiley Captain USN USS ''West Virginia'' 1944–1945
*
"Navy Air Giant Handles Easy As A Yacht", December 1931, ''Popular Mechanics''"World's Biggest Airship To Fly In May", February 1931, ''Popular Science''
large detailed article with cutaway drawing of ''Akron'' * * Watch ''Encounters with Disaster (1979)'' on the Internet Archive {{DEFAULTSORT:Akron (Zrs-4) Accidents and incidents involving balloons and airships Airborne aircraft carriers Aviation accidents and incidents in New Jersey Aviation accidents and incidents in the United States in 1933 1930s United States aircraft Filmed deaths from falls Filmed deaths in the United States Goodyear aircraft Akron-class airships 1933 in New Jersey Articles containing video clips Moffett Field