I gave a book report on Giants in the Sky, but forgot the book and my illustrations at home. No one had any idea what I was talking about. Worst day of my early school career. I got so much crap at recess, I asked the teacher if I could re do the report, thankfullly she let me!
I'm a fairly new subscriber to your channel and I cannot get enough of it. thank you for your time and work on this channel. I hope that it is successful enough for you to continue your work.
I spoke with retired US Navy Admiral Charles Rosendahl at his Toms River , New Jersey home in 1973 . We talked about the structural engineering of airships . Something I will never forget .
I talk with the Commanding Officer of Moffett Field when the airship USS Macon went down. His children painted a forlorn picture of him, staring off into the sunset.
Great video. I was born in the hospital at NAS Lakehurst. My father flew the Navy Blimps (non ridgid airships) all throughout the cold war. They were used as air borne early warning and for tracking submarines with great success. He was the flight chief of the last Navy Blimp to fly in 1964 out of NAS Lakehurst.
Another fascinating Story from the History Guy!I have read articles about this incident but never knew the whole story.Thanks to the History Guy,I now know the complete story.I love this channel!
@@alm5992 I know. He was sweet enough to reply to my adopting a kitten I found (I replied to his cats in history video). But his number of subscribers has taken off lately. He must be really busy...but I'm sure he remembers those of us that have been around and commenting from early on. His channel is one of my favorites too. 👍🤗
My grandparents lived their entire lives in Eclectic Ala. Years ago, my grandmother mentioned casually, that she and her husband were returning from Church way back in the 1920's (in a horse and buggy). They then saw a huge object in the sky. She laughed and said they thought the world was ending! I researched the airships and found a map showing the trip across the country, referred to in this presentation.
I worked at Goodyear Aerospace in the 80’s and a piece of the Shenandoah’s airframe was hanging in the Goodyear Airdock in Akron, Ohio. Unknown if it’s still there.
Interesting side notes: Helium is the second most abundant element in the universe, but here on earth, it's rather rare. Most people guess that we extract helium from the air, but actually we dig it out of the ground. Helium can be found in certain parts of the world, notably in Texas, as a minor component in some sources of natural gas.
And we're only able to find the little bits left as it filters up through the ground and escapes into the upper atmosphere to be blown away by solar wind. Too bad so much was used up for these ill-fated ships.
@@GrunOne : The bigger issue is that it's now being sold with apparently no particular attempt to meter the uses or usage rate. Consider, for a moment, balloons: recently some party stores had to shut down for at least some time, because of a helium shortage.
Yeah, helium atoms are so lightweight that Earth does not have enough gravity to hold onto it; helium that ends up in our air floats to the top of the atmosphere and gets 'blown away' by solar wind
The fact that the crew was able to wrestle that ship down safely to the ground during a storm that ripped off the nose cone and twisted the tail is a testament to their skills. Beyond impressive.
Especially since it was based on a WW1 "height climber" design in which strength in dense, low altitude air was sacrificed to ability to gain altitude as a defensive tactic Both ZR2/R38 and Dixmude were similarly weak and were lost due to overstressing.
“If you want to get there quickly, take an airplane; if you want to get there comfortably, take an airship.” - Captain of the Hindenburg Max Pruss . I'd love to take a transatlantic journey in an airship. It seems like such a majestic way to travel.
It was a shitty way to travel, cold, nosey, cramped sleeping quarters, little to no privacy. I would much rather take a ship and have my own luxurous cabin.
@@writerconsidered dude.... In 1910s and 20s an airplane crash was so common they didn't even write it as a first article in newspapers. Airships where amazing luxurious beasts,the romance onboard was just amazing. And if they existed today they would be more safe than airplanes because over the past 100 years the technology would change. Search up hybrid air vehicles .
I've been to the crash sites. My father and I came across them by accident on the way to see the Big Muskie bucket, the largest drag line bucket in the world. Love the channel. Keep up the good work.
History Guy should be consulted and utilized on every movie that is based on true events...or better yet..History channel needs to recognize this guy and give him a show..and a just reward!
The History Channel would just ruin what he's best at: simply stating the facts. The jackass producers would try to pump everything up with loud music and flashy graphics. No. Fuck the History Channel. Let RUclipsrs do their thing.
Anyone who loves airships should take a trip to Friedrichshafen where they are still frequently seen in the sky during the summer. I took a ride on a Zeppelin NT a few months back and it was amazing. The Zeppelin museum is great too, they have a mock up of The Hindenburg that you can walk around in.
My family lives less than 2 miles from where the front half of the Shenandoah crashed on SR 78 in Sharon OH. The farmer that charged admission was my aunt's (by marriage) grandfather. (Mr. Nichols). We have a couple pieces of the wreckage in our possession and are very valued family heirlooms. (but that's our little secret). There are tons of more pictures of the crash, and my great grandparents can be seen in several.
I grew up only a few minutes from where it crashed, my school was named Shenandoah Middle School, the only school in the country to be named after a disaster, the whole building was silver and green, like slytherin lol Fascinating story
Interesting to note that the Germans never had a civilian Airship loss until the Hindenburg despite running regularly scheduled airship service for many decades
Steven Grotte DELAG operated scheduled service from 1909 until 1935 when operations were taken over by the state. Except for during World War I when the airships were appropriated for military service. From 1910 to 1914 aloan DELAG carried over 34,000 passengers.
That's not entirely true. In fact, in its earliest days DELAG, the German civilian airship company, lost all three of its first airships between 1910 and 1911; The LZ-7 Deutschland, the company's first, ended up being blown backwards by strong winds on her maiden flight and crash-landed into a forest, though luckily she didn't catch fire. The LZ-6, bought by DELAG after being rejected by the German Army, burned in her hangar in late 1910. Perhaps the most spectacular early loss, the LZ-8 Deutschland II, built to replace her lost sister, was wrecked in 1911 while being walked out of her hangar; a windbreak fence had been built across one side to try and protect the airship during this delicate maneuver, but on this occasion a gust of wind caught her from the other unprotected side. Despite the efforts of some 300 ground crew, the ship was blown up and away, crashing back down with her nose on the hangar roof and her aft end folded almost in half atop the fence. Add to this that even when they did work the first generation of passenger airships could barely be said to have run to any sort of a "schedule"; they were not yet powerful enough to fly against strong winds and didn't fly at all during the winter. Virtually all of the company's early business was short 2-hour pleasure flights around the surrounding countryside. Thankfully, developments just before and especially during the First World War helped to bring passenger airship technology to a commercially viable level as seen with the LZ-120 Bodensee, handed to the Italians as part of the Treaty of Versailles but enjoying a successful civilian career afterward. And of course the legendary LZ-127 Graf Zeppelin, arguably the most successful passenger airship ever built.
sirrliv my point is that the Germans had developed the technology and handling methods necessary to make Airship travel safe. While the Americans and British were more or less Reinventing the wheel. It's an interesting study in contrasts of mindsets.
Oh, absolutely agreed there. And because of that reverse engineering process the Americans and British made a lot of the same mistakes that the Germans had a decade earlier and had already corrected. For instance, one criticism I've heard about the Shenandoah that I'm inclined to agree with is that her envelop design is too straight, like a giant silver sausage, rather than the later cigar-shaped design of the post-war German airships. With the cigar shape you've effectively turned your entire envelop frame into a giant arch and thus stresses are distributed throughout the ship more evenly, whereas with the straight sausage lines all you have is a tube that can flex differently at the front than at the back and vise versa; enough of that flexing and twisting and the tube can be twisted apart fairly easily. Had the victorious Entente worked out a deal with the Zeppelin Co. after the war to have their experts come teach them how to airship, a bit like a more amicable version of how German rocket scientists were brought back to the US and Soviet Union after WWII to kick start their respective space programs, things might have played out very differently. In fact, the Goodyear Co., which was in charge of the construction of American airships, both rigid and blimps, after the Shenandoah called in Hugo Eckener, the successor to Count von Zeppelin, when designing the Akron and Macon, both of which proved highly successful flyers but marred by human failings rather than design error; in the Akron's case an inexperienced crew and in Macon's an obstinate and disinterested Navy brass that valued publicity over keeping the ship airworthy. Perhaps the biggest proof of this comparison between those who knew what they were doing versus those making it up as they went along is the fact that the one US Navy rigid airship that didn't crash, the USS Los Angeles, was built for the Americans by the Zeppelin Company, the folks that invented rigid airships and knew what they were doing!
When I was 4 years old, my dad was a navy man stationed at Moffet Field, California and we lived in Navy housing that bordered a large field, and hanger. They used the field for landing and taking off airships. they would get about 100 men and used ropes to hold the airship. They would open the hanger and walk the airship out to the field, the airship used to get blown around a lot. I saw a navy man that was slow to let go of the rope, went up about 30 ft and let go. They used to have a ring in the ground to tie up the ship. It was about 1947.
by then there were only blimps. they were antisub patrol and used till the '60s. at San Diego in 1932, the _Akron_ was being roped in by untrained sailors when she caught a gust and reared upward. 3 linemen were pulled way up into the air. 2 fell to their deaths. the 3rd had to hang for 2 hours before he could be pulled up into the ship.
Billy Mitchell’s Court Martial is also a ‘history worth remembering’...he also had a premonition of the Pearl Harbor attack by the Japanese, and even predicted it would happen on a Sunday morning...
It was also predicted by a British writer who almost wrote the plan for it and almost caused an international incident as Japan and America were on friendly terms. As the United States commemorates the 76th anniversary of the Japanese surprise attack against the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 few people know that Japanese war plans were inspired by a 1925 novel titled The Great Pacific War, written by the British author Hector Bywater.
It is more likely that the Japanese were inspired by the raid at Pearl Harbor on 7 February 1932 by ADM Yarnell's aircraft from the carriers USS Saratoga and USS Lexington during a war game exercise. The Army and Navy brass complained that he cheated by attacking on a Sunday morning. The raid was initially declared a success, but the umpires were pressured to change their ruling.
There was also the attack by the British on the Italian fleet at Taranto in I think early 1941 that inspired the Japanese. But, watch "The Court Martial of General Billy Mitchell" with Gary Cooper- a good flick!
Of course. We generally only hear of premonitions that come true. All the rest, are ignored. Add 'em all up, and only a tiny fraction wind up occuring. Try it. Make a thousand predictions. Some will come true, making you a genuine clairvoyant in the minds of those which hear the accurate predictions. Just forget about the rest. Then you can write a book about how you concentrated so hard and came up with those predictions. Oh, and it will help to make your predictions as vague as possible, so you can apply them to as many actual occurances as possible.
Back in the mid 60s, when I was in grade school, my grandfather gave me some photos from 1925 when he was in the U.S. Navy. They were stamped "Top-Secret" on the back of each photo. In those photos, there's about four of them of the USS Shenandoah. One of them is an aerial picture showing the Shenandoah over two cruisers. Probably that same picture at 10:20 here in this video taken from an airplane looking down at those cruisers. Interestingly enough... both the ships my grandfather served on prior to World War II, the U.S.S. Medusa and the U.S.S. Tern were in Pearl Harbor when it was attacked. There's an interesting article/ pictures out there someplace on the U.S.S. Tern... as it was used to rescue sailors in the water after the attack on December 7. Thank you very much Mr. History Guy! Your videos are very informative and I like them a lot.
I’m from near where the Shenandoah crashed. Along I-77 between Cambridge and Marietta, there is a simple memorial made up of white stones in the outline of the airship with a US flag right in the middle. As soon as I was old enough to understand what happened, I read just about every book I could find and have always been fascinated by it.
Remember the Shenandoah truckstop on I-70 ? It was at exit 186. Its design was based on the shape of the airship. It was closed a few years ago and demolished.
heyinway Was that the one with the big diner near Old Washington before you get to Cambridge? If so, I remember it well. We’d always drive past it when we went to Columbus several times a year. Even stopped for gas a couple times before heading across Rt. 287 which dumps you out on Rt. 22 near Antrim. I miss Ohio.
I drove past one of the markers of the crash site as I was headed down Interstate 77 this afternoon, and I thought to myself, “I wonder if the History Guy has done a video about the Shenandoah.” And here we are.
When the Shenandoah crashed in Noble county, Ohio, my grandfather stood guard on two of the three pieces. Also, the grandson of Ernest Nichols, who's farm was where the largest section came down, was a good friend of mine.
History Guy, As always you shared not only the main topic, USS Shanendoah, but information about airships in general. Outstanding format. Thanks, as in other episodes, for listing the fallen, in this case US Navy personnel. Keith
i knew the school but never knew why it was named, ohio usually has some very random school names that make no sense. something else i think is crazy is that SE ohio is home to a lot of amish folk, so imagine being amish and seeing something like that (lowkey idk if amish people were even a think back then but i do think its crazy). it is so amish that there is a place called quaker city
Airships are perhaps the greatest failure of the romantic era of early air travel. Even today they fascinate us and many of us wish there were a way to make them practical, if only so we could treat ourselves to the spectacle of those great vessels gliding over skyscrapers. If only the mooring mast on top of the Empire State Building hadn't proved equally as dangerous to use, we'd be able to take an airship and travel between the tops of buildings in cities. Sometimes reality fails us.
There was a competition in NYC between the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building as to which would be taller. The faux mooring mast was to ensure the ESB would be the tallest. The mast had no function.
Having grown up near the Airdock in Akron I have had a lifelong love of the airship. I have been inside the Airdock here and was amazed at how big it is really is. The new Zepplin style ships are now built at Wingfoot lake outside of Akron.
You are actually doing an amazing job of showing history. If I could only get my kids to watch more of this it would be amazing. If you don't show or teach history in one way or another it is doomed to be lost forever. Thank you, with all my heart thank you for doing what you're doing. Also, please respond to this in one form or another so I know what you say is true that you will respond to individuals who post comments.
As a kid I remember seeing the remnants of the hurricane damaged blimp base at Richmond Heights, Fla. Afterwards, hardly being able to wait to read everything I could find on the blimps that were based there. I always thought that by the time I was an adult the ridged airships would be back as ocean liners of the sky, ready to take me on a airborne voyage.
Learned a lot about airships. Cool. As a retired meteorologist, I endorse this story's theme...don't mess with the weather. I continue to be fascinated at how many early technical aviation innovations happily ignored or played down the weather. Not to mention how weather shaped many of history's turning points. They mostly had no idea what nasty winds were coming next.
I really enjoy "The History Guy" and this one in particular. I have a metal strut and a couple of pieces of covering (canvas?) from the USS Shenandoah. My aunt was near the crash site and somehow managed to get these pieces, which she gave to me in the 1970's. I was going to ask you to cover the story but you beat me to it! Thanks!
My grandmother saw the R-38 crash. It crashed over Hull, where she lived, and she saw it come down. No doubt its arrival attracted a lot of interest with people going outside to see it, .... and they saw it crash. BTW While Hull might appear, geographically speaking, to be "in the north east of England", however in the UK, "the North East" starts (going northwards), when you leave (North) Yorkshire. Yorkshire (which is actually three counties - North, East, and West) is just Yorkshire! :) As always, a great story, and one that deserves to be remembered.
Thank you for recognizing these incredible stories in general but specifically this story. A few years ago I travelled to Greenville, OH. which was Zachary Lansdowne's hometown. Greenville, OH is a town riddled with history. I thank you for these history moments because I am geeky enough to follow along. vc
I read a book back in grade school about dirigibles and airships. The Shenandoah most likely ran into a meso-convective storm complex (MCS or MCC) . These generally happen later in Summer in the Midwest and happen at night during late June through August, which is when the airship hit the storms (overnight). During that part of Summer, the air is generally too "capped" (warm air aloft that stops storms from starting) to allow storms to form during the day. Once the Sun sets and the mixing layer calms down, a low level jet can form that can help erode the cap and fire up storms. They can form into a "deracho" that can have fierce winds and heavy turbulence. A lighter than air craft would be no match. As happened in this crash, a craft like this could be dragged up in an updraft to well above it's safe pressure height and burst, akin to a submarine going below its pressure depth (crush depth) and being crushed.
My grandfather worked for the phone company (back then there was only one) and installed the telephone cables in the USS Shenandoah. The airship has always been an ibjeftbof fascination to me.
Later the Navy began using BLIMPS during WW2. During the 1950''s when my family would drive to San Francisco, I remember seeing some of the US NAVY blimps moored at the Alameda Navy Air Station. Excellent video.
Earl Hoppe blimps have some advantages in an anti-submarine role. But they had their issues too. I will likely have one or more episodes out at some point.
For a time in the 1950's to the early 1960's, Naval blimps were used to supplement our early warning network by filling in the gaps. the Blimps carried huge radar antennas inside their gas envelopes and their endurance ensured they could remain aloft for days. The ZPG-3W was the largest non rigid Airship aloft. After the huge BMEWS radar stations were completed and coastal radars were improved, the last of the Blimps were deflated in 1964.
I've lived in Ohio all my life and just recently stumbled onto a Shenandoah memorial back in May. Didn't know anything about the accident but there was a couple plaques on display there that detailed what occurred. Thank you for this informative video.
Love ALL things flight/aviation related! Another gem. So much attention/recognition given to the Hindenberg, w/ all of the reading I've done on the subject. This was a pleasant surprise for an old flight freak. Maybe a piece on the history of Helium?
Hubris and arrogance were features in the crash of the R101 as well. Fascinating story, and also an epic song by British metalheads Iron Maiden. Lead singer Bruce Dickinson, an aviation buff and pilot who was certified to fly both the 757 and 747 aircraft used by the band for their world tours, wrote the song, called "Empire of the Clouds". Neat stuff.
I've heard of the Airlander 10 but i had no idea Mr. Dickinson was involved with it. I went to their web page and clicked on the "about us" tab, and sure enough his picture is there, in full airliner captain glory under the 'invest in us' subsection. That is too cool! Gotta thank you sir for cluing me in to this!
As so many of your videos do, this one made me think of several different things. I’ll mention two: One of the more interesting experiments in the U.S. in relation to derigibles (hope I spelled that right) was their use as aircraft carriers. I want to say at least one operational prototype was built, but obviously (or at least seemingly obvious) nothing came of it. The other thing is that although Mitchell’s career may have been effectively ended over the matter in your video, he has attained legend status with AirPower enthusiasts because of that backbone which he displayed there. Whether it was worth it only he can say, but nonetheless, he was at the very least honored by having his name attached to the B-25 bomber, perhaps most famous for its participation in the Doolittle raid. Great stuff as always!
An old friend of mine told me he was in the fields on the farm one night after sundown during fall harvest when a dirigible flew over. He described the eerie feeling as it drifted silently across the moon like a thing from another world
Very interesting. My grandmother witnessed the destruction of Schütte-Lanz SL 11 over London on September 3, 1916, the first airship brought down in WW1. She was 11 at the time.
I think that it's been fairly well documented that a height climber was a poor choice for an American Airship. The losses of Airships were spectacular, but not much different than airplanes of the era. We knew little about aeronautical engineering, and not much more about weather.
We didn't know we were building a ship designed for high altitude bomb raids - a danger of reverse engineering. R-38/ZR-2 was built along similar lines, everything lightweight. It too was structurally weak and broke up in the air.
I first learned about the USS Shenandoah when I stopped at exit 186 on Ohio I-70. The Shenandoah Inn (truck stop/travel plaza that no longer exists) was one of the first truck stops built on I-70 in the early 1970s...it was named for the airship. As you drove toward it, it looked like the front of the cockpit and cabin of an airship...it had a large curved area with tall glass windows. Pictures are searchable: Shenandoah Inn/Plaza/Truck stop, Old Washington, OH...also listed as Lore City,OH, Hanks Truck Forum, cardcow.
Air ships seem like a good idea.....on paper. I remember walking to Girl Scouts after school in the 1970s and seeing a Goodyear blimp in the sky. It was having a hard time staying level. It was a little scary. At one point it was at a 45° angle! 😨 Great video, as usual. Thank you! BUNGA! BUNGA!
I served on the last Shenandoah (AD-44). There was a painting, or maybe a sketch of the previous 4 ships of it's name. It was the best ship in the fleet, in my opinion. Captains Sharp, Shepherd, and Shanahan, kept her ship shape and a pleasure to serve aboard. The crash site of the ZR-1 is visible from South bound I-77 in Ohio. Its outlined in concrete blocks painted bright yellow.
The loss of USE MACON is pretty complicated. The Navy discovered that the structure of the author's find was weak and order them strengthened. But for various reasons they did not strengthen all for together. She was hit by a squall at sea and the top gun broke off, tearing several gas cells. Unfortunately the crew had some communications problems and little damage control training. To compensate for the list gas, water ballast was dumped - too much as it turned out. MACON climbed, out of control, above her pressure height and the automatic valves released helium. By the time the captain had the ship back under control she had lost too much gas to stay in the air. They tried to compensate by using dynamic lift to compensate for lost static lift while the ran for shore. They did not make it, and soft landed in the sea, which is why most of the crew had time to abandon ship. Whether or not better damage control methods would have saved the ship is still debated.
Great content as always. I really enjoy when you release videos on the anniversaries of events. Very cool. Keep up the stellar work my history-loving friend!
If interested, a great book is “Slide Rule” by Nevil Shute. Actually Nevil Shute Norway. It details the aftermath of R 38. The brits decided to have two rigid ships built. The R 100 built by private interest & R101 by the government agency. An absolutely wonderful book I can’t recommend highly enough.
As a child in the late fifties, my parents took me to see the airships at Lakehurst. Although I remember seeing part of one visible around a building near where we had parked, the weather (rain) didn't allow us to see much else. Thanks for the memory though.
My great grandfather cleaned up the wreckage and brought home a amall.poece of the frame. My father now has it displayed in his house. Thanks for the video.
Great tie. I have decided that I'm going to start wearing bow ties when I wear a shirt with a collar. I need to find a tie or two now and learn how to tie them. I'm sure there are "how to" videos on RUclips. Anyway, another interesting and informative video. When the space program wound up helium was in great demand and there were two production facilities here in Kansas whose helium production went entirely to NASA. One was an old natural gas booster station that was 3 miles north and 3 miles west of where I grew up. At the time the booster station, Northern Natural Gas, pumped raw natural gas to various plants around the country. Someone decided that the Bushton plant would be a good location to build an extraction plant or refinery to separate the raw natural gas into various component gases. Of course, there were things in the gas that were non-flammable, and helium was one of those components. The Bushton plant was chosen because there was a railroad line that ran coast to coast and to many other locations and trains ran up and down the line several times a day. Several highways were also nearby with one on the south side of the plant, but at the time most of their gas products were shipped by rail. Natural gas, after all of the high value products were stripped from it, was still pumped all over the central United States. Of course, many other gas products were produced there and Northern Natural became a large enterprise. Northern had a second helium plant in Kansas about 80 miles west at Otis. Northern is also a large underground storage facility for natural gas. Holes are drilled down into the salt formation and fresh water is pumped down into the salt formation creating huge caverns. The salt water can then be pumped out and natural gas pumped in for long or short term storage depending on the need. Northern has grown into quite an operation with other companies that would build adjacent to the plant to produce other gas products such as argon and acetylene. Well, I've probably bent your ear, so to speak, long enough so I'll wish you a very good day. Thanks for another great video. I look forward to your next one.
Thank for the information! The knot for a bow tie is the same one you use for your shoe. Try practicing first by tying one around your leg until you get used to how the knot works.
I was 4 at the time and lived on the navy base at Moffet field, calif. In the field next our house was a huge hanger that held a blimp. Seen about a hundred men walk the blimp out of the hanger to the holding station. About an hour later they took off. I am 76 now.
I lived for many years a few blocks from the Goodyear Air Dock were the U.S.S. Akron was made. One of my uncles was a member of the lighter than air club at Goodyear. There was a McDonalds near the airport that had a drawing of the U.S.S. Akron on is walls. So I have a love for these and other lighter than airships.
I gave a speech about this airship in 9th grade, and bored everyone out of their minds. The History Guy did much better. Good job.
It's tough being a 9th grader. Nobody appreciates a smart studious kid.
I gave a book report on Giants in the Sky, but forgot the book and my illustrations at home. No one had any idea what I was talking about. Worst day of my early school career. I got so much crap at recess, I asked the teacher if I could re do the report, thankfullly she let me!
Its because - you didn't talk - as dramatic as the history guy. Never forget - to always emphasize - every sentence - in the same dramatic way.
I would just love to have heard it. I'm sure it was history worth remembering. LOL
I'm a fairly new subscriber to your channel and I cannot get enough of it. thank you for your time and work on this channel. I hope that it is successful enough for you to continue your work.
I spoke with retired US Navy Admiral Charles Rosendahl at his Toms River , New Jersey home in 1973 . We talked about the structural engineering of airships .
Something I will never forget .
Yea? What did he have to say?
If it goes up...it gotta come down
I talk with the Commanding Officer of Moffett Field when the airship USS Macon went down. His children painted a forlorn picture of him, staring off into the sunset.
Dang.
That is best short story about airships there is. Man that History Guy is good.
It is quite a happy surprise when a new video from the History Guy shows up.
It’s a happy day when you see that
Thanks for all you do, History Guy! Dinner making every night would not be the same without history that deserves to be remembered.
I was in the Hanger for these Airships while attending Navy Weather A School at Lakehurst in the Summer of 1972.
Great video. I was born in the hospital at NAS Lakehurst. My father flew the Navy Blimps (non ridgid airships) all throughout the cold war. They were used as air borne early warning and for tracking submarines with great success. He was the flight chief of the last Navy Blimp to fly in 1964 out of NAS Lakehurst.
Another fascinating Story from the History Guy!I have read articles about this incident but never knew the whole story.Thanks to the History Guy,I now know the complete story.I love this channel!
One of the best channels. I miss when he replied to questions, though :/
@@alm5992 I know. He was sweet enough to reply to my adopting a kitten I found (I replied to his cats in history video). But his number of subscribers has taken off lately. He must be really busy...but I'm sure he remembers those of us that have been around and commenting from early on. His channel is one of my favorites too. 👍🤗
My grandparents lived their entire lives in Eclectic Ala. Years ago, my grandmother mentioned casually, that she and her husband were returning from Church way back in the 1920's (in a horse and buggy). They then saw a huge object in the sky. She laughed and said they thought the world was ending! I researched the airships and found a map showing the trip across the country, referred to in this presentation.
I worked at Goodyear Aerospace in the 80’s and a piece of the Shenandoah’s airframe was hanging in the Goodyear Airdock in Akron, Ohio. Unknown if it’s still there.
Interesting side notes: Helium is the second most abundant element in the universe, but here on earth, it's rather rare. Most people guess that we extract helium from the air, but actually we dig it out of the ground. Helium can be found in certain parts of the world, notably in Texas, as a minor component in some sources of natural gas.
And we're only able to find the little bits left as it filters up through the ground and escapes into the upper atmosphere to be blown away by solar wind. Too bad so much was used up for these ill-fated ships.
@@GrunOne : The bigger issue is that it's now being sold with apparently no particular attempt to meter the uses or usage rate.
Consider, for a moment, balloons: recently some party stores had to shut down for at least some time, because of a helium shortage.
@@GrunOne How dare you!
Yeah, helium atoms are so lightweight that Earth does not have enough gravity to hold onto it; helium that ends up in our air floats to the top of the atmosphere and gets 'blown away' by solar wind
Not a surprise that Texas is full of hot air. 🤣
The fact that the crew was able to wrestle that ship down safely to the ground during a storm that ripped off the nose cone and twisted the tail is a testament to their skills. Beyond impressive.
Especially since it was based on a WW1 "height climber" design in which strength in dense, low altitude air was sacrificed to ability to gain altitude as a defensive tactic Both ZR2/R38 and Dixmude were similarly weak and were lost due to overstressing.
“If you want to get there quickly, take an airplane; if you want to get there comfortably, take an airship.” - Captain of the Hindenburg Max Pruss .
I'd love to take a transatlantic journey in an airship. It seems like such a majestic way to travel.
It was a shitty way to travel, cold, nosey, cramped sleeping quarters, little to no privacy.
I would much rather take a ship and have my own luxurous cabin.
If you want to get there safely take a plane. -me
@@writerconsidered Not so in 1924.
Good thing its 100 years later then...
@@writerconsidered dude.... In 1910s and 20s an airplane crash was so common they didn't even write it as a first article in newspapers. Airships where amazing luxurious beasts,the romance onboard was just amazing. And if they existed today they would be more safe than airplanes because over the past 100 years the technology would change.
Search up hybrid air vehicles .
This is, without a doubt, one of the 5 best channels on youtube.
Couldn't agree more. In fact, I have 5 favorite RUclips channels that I'm subscribed to and The History Guy is one of them.
My Great Uncle Henry L. Boswell survived this crash on the U.S.S. Shenandoah to lose his life on the wreck of the U.S.S. Akron
That's incredible. Thanks for sharing that.
May God bless his soul.
He's an American hero.
I have a photograph of the Akron.
:(
Wow that is grimly interesting as the Akron is one of the most under looked air disasters in U.S. history...perhaps the U.S. version of the R101
I've been to the crash sites. My father and I came across them by accident on the way to see the Big Muskie bucket, the largest drag line bucket in the world. Love the channel. Keep up the good work.
History Guy should be consulted and utilized on every movie that is based on true events...or better yet..History channel needs to recognize this guy and give him a show..and a just reward!
The History Channel would just ruin what he's best at: simply stating the facts. The jackass producers would try to pump everything up with loud music and flashy graphics.
No. Fuck the History Channel. Let RUclipsrs do their thing.
I'm hooked on your channel, sir! Thank you again for yet another masterpiece!
Anyone who loves airships should take a trip to Friedrichshafen where they are still frequently seen in the sky during the summer. I took a ride on a Zeppelin NT a few months back and it was amazing. The Zeppelin museum is great too, they have a mock up of The Hindenburg that you can walk around in.
My family lives less than 2 miles from where the front half of the Shenandoah crashed on SR 78 in Sharon OH. The farmer that charged admission was my aunt's (by marriage) grandfather. (Mr. Nichols). We have a couple pieces of the wreckage in our possession and are very valued family heirlooms. (but that's our little secret). There are tons of more pictures of the crash, and my great grandparents can be seen in several.
Wow! A real piece of history. That's amazing. Thank you for sharing!
I grew up only a few minutes from where it crashed, my school was named Shenandoah Middle School, the only school in the country to be named after a disaster, the whole building was silver and green, like slytherin lol
Fascinating story
...Blimpin' ain't easy.
the submarines of the sky lol
it gives me gas.
Jim's videos - # ‘Hey there blimpy boy’
It's hard out there for a blimp.
A rigid airship is hardly a blimp, turkey.
Interesting to note that the Germans never had a civilian Airship loss until the Hindenburg despite running regularly scheduled airship service for many decades
Several years, not decades.
Steven Grotte DELAG operated scheduled service from 1909 until 1935 when operations were taken over by the state. Except for during World War I when the airships were appropriated for military service. From 1910 to 1914 aloan DELAG carried over 34,000 passengers.
That's not entirely true. In fact, in its earliest days DELAG, the German civilian airship company, lost all three of its first airships between 1910 and 1911; The LZ-7 Deutschland, the company's first, ended up being blown backwards by strong winds on her maiden flight and crash-landed into a forest, though luckily she didn't catch fire. The LZ-6, bought by DELAG after being rejected by the German Army, burned in her hangar in late 1910. Perhaps the most spectacular early loss, the LZ-8 Deutschland II, built to replace her lost sister, was wrecked in 1911 while being walked out of her hangar; a windbreak fence had been built across one side to try and protect the airship during this delicate maneuver, but on this occasion a gust of wind caught her from the other unprotected side. Despite the efforts of some 300 ground crew, the ship was blown up and away, crashing back down with her nose on the hangar roof and her aft end folded almost in half atop the fence. Add to this that even when they did work the first generation of passenger airships could barely be said to have run to any sort of a "schedule"; they were not yet powerful enough to fly against strong winds and didn't fly at all during the winter. Virtually all of the company's early business was short 2-hour pleasure flights around the surrounding countryside.
Thankfully, developments just before and especially during the First World War helped to bring passenger airship technology to a commercially viable level as seen with the LZ-120 Bodensee, handed to the Italians as part of the Treaty of Versailles but enjoying a successful civilian career afterward. And of course the legendary LZ-127 Graf Zeppelin, arguably the most successful passenger airship ever built.
sirrliv my point is that the Germans had developed the technology and handling methods necessary to make Airship travel safe. While the Americans and British were more or less Reinventing the wheel. It's an interesting study in contrasts of mindsets.
Oh, absolutely agreed there. And because of that reverse engineering process the Americans and British made a lot of the same mistakes that the Germans had a decade earlier and had already corrected. For instance, one criticism I've heard about the Shenandoah that I'm inclined to agree with is that her envelop design is too straight, like a giant silver sausage, rather than the later cigar-shaped design of the post-war German airships. With the cigar shape you've effectively turned your entire envelop frame into a giant arch and thus stresses are distributed throughout the ship more evenly, whereas with the straight sausage lines all you have is a tube that can flex differently at the front than at the back and vise versa; enough of that flexing and twisting and the tube can be twisted apart fairly easily. Had the victorious Entente worked out a deal with the Zeppelin Co. after the war to have their experts come teach them how to airship, a bit like a more amicable version of how German rocket scientists were brought back to the US and Soviet Union after WWII to kick start their respective space programs, things might have played out very differently. In fact, the Goodyear Co., which was in charge of the construction of American airships, both rigid and blimps, after the Shenandoah called in Hugo Eckener, the successor to Count von Zeppelin, when designing the Akron and Macon, both of which proved highly successful flyers but marred by human failings rather than design error; in the Akron's case an inexperienced crew and in Macon's an obstinate and disinterested Navy brass that valued publicity over keeping the ship airworthy.
Perhaps the biggest proof of this comparison between those who knew what they were doing versus those making it up as they went along is the fact that the one US Navy rigid airship that didn't crash, the USS Los Angeles, was built for the Americans by the Zeppelin Company, the folks that invented rigid airships and knew what they were doing!
When I was 4 years old, my dad was a navy man stationed at Moffet Field, California and we lived in Navy housing that bordered a large field, and hanger. They used the field for landing and taking off airships. they would get about 100 men and used ropes to hold the airship. They would open the hanger and walk the airship out to the field, the airship used to get blown around a lot. I saw a navy man that was slow to let go of the rope, went up about 30 ft and let go. They used to have a ring in the ground to tie up the ship. It was about 1947.
by then there were only blimps. they were antisub patrol and used till the '60s.
at San Diego in 1932, the _Akron_ was being roped in by untrained sailors when she caught a gust and reared upward. 3 linemen were pulled way up into the air. 2 fell to their deaths. the 3rd had to hang for 2 hours before he could be pulled up into the ship.
I still would want one if I was a supervillain.
With a likeliness of you evil face at the front of course
I am bout to retire from the supervillain business. Mine will be on Craigslist soon.
I just want one so I can throw coins to everyone
Nothing like getting shot down in one of those...
No one suspects a zeppelin!
Billy Mitchell’s Court Martial is also a ‘history worth remembering’...he also had a premonition of the Pearl Harbor attack by the Japanese, and even predicted it would happen on a Sunday morning...
It is, and I might do an episode on it some day.
It was also predicted by a British writer who almost wrote the plan for it and almost caused an international incident as Japan and America were on friendly terms.
As the United States commemorates the 76th anniversary of the Japanese surprise attack against the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 few people know that Japanese war plans were inspired by a 1925 novel titled The Great Pacific War, written by the British author Hector Bywater.
It is more likely that the Japanese were inspired by the raid at Pearl Harbor on 7 February 1932 by ADM Yarnell's aircraft from the carriers USS Saratoga and USS Lexington during a war game exercise. The Army and Navy brass complained that he cheated by attacking on a Sunday morning. The raid was initially declared a success, but the umpires were pressured to change their ruling.
There was also the attack by the British on the Italian fleet at Taranto in I think early 1941 that inspired the Japanese. But, watch "The Court Martial of General Billy Mitchell" with Gary Cooper- a good flick!
Of course. We generally only hear of premonitions that come true. All the rest, are ignored. Add 'em all up, and only a tiny fraction wind up occuring. Try it. Make a thousand predictions. Some will come true, making you a genuine clairvoyant in the minds of those which hear the accurate predictions. Just forget about the rest. Then you can write a book about how you concentrated so hard and came up with those predictions. Oh, and it will help to make your predictions as vague as possible, so you can apply them to as many actual occurances as possible.
Love your videos man!
Another captivating account detailing a snippet of history. Many thanks.
Back in the mid 60s, when I was in grade school, my grandfather gave me some photos from 1925 when he was in the U.S. Navy. They were stamped "Top-Secret" on the back of each photo. In those photos, there's about four of them of the USS Shenandoah. One of them is an aerial picture showing the Shenandoah over two cruisers. Probably that same picture at 10:20 here in this video taken from an airplane looking down at those cruisers.
Interestingly enough... both the ships my grandfather served on prior to World War II, the U.S.S. Medusa and the U.S.S. Tern were in Pearl Harbor when it was attacked. There's an interesting article/ pictures out there someplace on the U.S.S. Tern... as it was used to rescue sailors in the water after the attack on December 7.
Thank you very much Mr. History Guy! Your videos are very informative and I like them a lot.
I’m from near where the Shenandoah crashed. Along I-77 between Cambridge and Marietta, there is a simple memorial made up of white stones in the outline of the airship with a US flag right in the middle. As soon as I was old enough to understand what happened, I read just about every book I could find and have always been fascinated by it.
Remember the Shenandoah truckstop on I-70 ? It was at exit 186. Its design was based on the shape of the airship. It was closed a few years ago and demolished.
heyinway Was that the one with the big diner near Old Washington before you get to Cambridge? If so, I remember it well. We’d always drive past it when we went to Columbus several times a year. Even stopped for gas a couple times before heading across Rt. 287 which dumps you out on Rt. 22 near Antrim. I miss Ohio.
I drove past one of the markers of the crash site as I was headed down Interstate 77 this afternoon, and I thought to myself, “I wonder if the History Guy has done a video about the Shenandoah.” And here we are.
When the Shenandoah crashed in Noble county, Ohio, my grandfather stood guard on two of the three pieces. Also, the grandson of Ernest Nichols, who's farm was where the largest section came down, was a good friend of mine.
History Guy, As always you shared not only the main topic, USS Shanendoah, but information about airships in general. Outstanding format. Thanks, as in other episodes, for listing the fallen, in this case US Navy personnel. Keith
My fiance' graduated from Shenandoah High School in SE Ohio, very near the crash site. Their nickname is the Zeps.
That's funny.
I grew up there, went to that school too! My great great grandmother actually had a piece of wreckage land in her front yard
i knew the school but never knew why it was named, ohio usually has some very random school names that make no sense. something else i think is crazy is that SE ohio is home to a lot of amish folk, so imagine being amish and seeing something like that (lowkey idk if amish people were even a think back then but i do think its crazy). it is so amish that there is a place called quaker city
Stumbles onto you videos because was searching air crash investigation and love how you tell the story's of history thankfully for you awesome content
Thanks for mentioning the beautiful Shenandoah Valley I am blessed to call home.
This is a fascinating retelling of a story that really deserves to be known. Thank you!
this is best episode yet! Great job!
Airships are perhaps the greatest failure of the romantic era of early air travel. Even today they fascinate us and many of us wish there were a way to make them practical, if only so we could treat ourselves to the spectacle of those great vessels gliding over skyscrapers. If only the mooring mast on top of the Empire State Building hadn't proved equally as dangerous to use, we'd be able to take an airship and travel between the tops of buildings in cities. Sometimes reality fails us.
I saw one this past weekend! So cool.
Well written! I feel the same way. I think it'd be amazing to take tours on one! : )
Carbon fibre airships. Anti gravity atom motor.
Call me an uber airship please! I need to go uptown.
There was a competition in NYC between the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building as to which would be taller. The faux mooring mast was to ensure the ESB would be the tallest. The mast had no function.
Just when you think you have seen all that RUclips has to offer.... This little gem of a channel comes around 10/10
Having grown up near the Airdock in Akron I have had a lifelong love of the airship. I have been inside the Airdock here and was amazed at how big it is really is.
The new Zepplin style ships are now built at Wingfoot lake outside of Akron.
You are actually doing an amazing job of showing history. If I could only get my kids to watch more of this it would be amazing. If you don't show or teach history in one way or another it is doomed to be lost forever. Thank you, with all my heart thank you for doing what you're doing. Also, please respond to this in one form or another so I know what you say is true that you will respond to individuals who post comments.
As a kid I remember seeing the remnants of the hurricane damaged blimp base at Richmond Heights, Fla. Afterwards, hardly being able to wait to read everything I could find on the blimps that were based there. I always thought that by the time I was an adult the ridged airships would be back as ocean liners of the sky, ready to take me on a airborne voyage.
Learned a lot about airships. Cool. As a retired meteorologist, I endorse this story's theme...don't mess with the weather. I continue to be fascinated at how many early technical aviation innovations happily ignored or played down the weather. Not to mention how weather shaped many of history's turning points. They mostly had no idea what nasty winds were coming next.
Yet Again, fascinating Film.Guy really has an excellent manner in the way he puts the subject over.Brilliant . 10/10
I really enjoy "The History Guy" and this one in particular. I have a metal strut and a couple of pieces of covering (canvas?) from the USS Shenandoah. My aunt was near the crash site and somehow managed to get these pieces, which she gave to me in the 1970's. I was going to ask you to cover the story but you beat me to it! Thanks!
My grandmother saw the R-38 crash. It crashed over Hull, where she lived, and she saw it come down. No doubt its arrival attracted a lot of interest with people going outside to see it, .... and they saw it crash.
BTW While Hull might appear, geographically speaking, to be "in the north east of England", however in the UK, "the North East" starts (going northwards), when you leave (North) Yorkshire. Yorkshire (which is actually three counties - North, East, and West) is just Yorkshire! :)
As always, a great story, and one that deserves to be remembered.
"In the UK" the North East is Aberdeenshire.
@ Gizmo Madug - No its not, "the North East" is the bit between Yorkshire and the Scottish border. Aberdeenshire is in Scotland.
Soo, you think the UK is England, do you?
@Gizmo Madug - No, I think Scotland is Scotland, which seems to be the position of most Scots.
That wasn't answering the question. Is Scotland part of the UK, or not?
Another superb video, The History Guy: History Deserves to Be Remembered !! Much gratitude and appreciation !!!
Thank you for recognizing these incredible stories in general but specifically this story. A few years ago I travelled to Greenville, OH. which was Zachary Lansdowne's hometown. Greenville, OH is a town riddled with history. I thank you for these history moments because I am geeky enough to follow along. vc
I read a book back in grade school about dirigibles and airships. The Shenandoah most likely ran into a meso-convective storm complex (MCS or MCC) . These generally happen later in Summer in the Midwest and happen at night during late June through August, which is when the airship hit the storms (overnight).
During that part of Summer, the air is generally too "capped" (warm air aloft that stops storms from starting) to allow storms to form during the day. Once the Sun sets and the mixing layer calms down, a low level jet can form that can help erode the cap and fire up storms. They can form into a "deracho" that can have fierce winds and heavy turbulence. A lighter than air craft would be no match. As happened in this crash, a craft like this could be dragged up in an updraft to well above it's safe pressure height and burst, akin to a submarine going below its pressure depth (crush depth) and being crushed.
Your work should get a hell of a lot more views
My grandfather worked for the phone company (back then there was only one) and installed the telephone cables in the USS Shenandoah. The airship has always been an ibjeftbof fascination to me.
And yet another fantastic episode. Keep them coming please. I wait with baited breath!
Thank you for always honoring the fallen in your history segments.
Another great video. Thanks. :)
Thank you for the tribute to those lost.
Great work, Guy! Keep it up!
I love how you present the histories to be remembered! I think the story of the NR-1 would be of interest to many viewers.
A great story. Thanks for sharing this.
Later the Navy began using BLIMPS during WW2. During the 1950''s when my family would drive to San Francisco, I remember seeing some of the US NAVY blimps moored at the Alameda Navy Air Station. Excellent video.
Earl Hoppe blimps have some advantages in an anti-submarine role. But they had their issues too. I will likely have one or more episodes out at some point.
Blimps were very useful for ASW work as well the Destroyer Escort ships and baby flat-tops.
For a time in the 1950's to the early 1960's, Naval blimps were used to supplement our early warning network by filling in the gaps. the Blimps carried huge radar antennas inside their gas envelopes and their endurance ensured they could remain aloft for days. The ZPG-3W was the largest non rigid Airship aloft. After the huge BMEWS radar stations were completed and coastal radars were improved, the last of the Blimps were deflated in 1964.
I've lived in Ohio all my life and just recently stumbled onto a Shenandoah memorial back in May. Didn't know anything about the accident but there was a couple plaques on display there that detailed what occurred. Thank you for this informative video.
Love ALL things flight/aviation related! Another gem. So much attention/recognition given to the Hindenberg, w/ all of the reading I've done on the subject. This was a pleasant surprise for an old flight freak. Maybe a piece on the history of Helium?
A fantastic video, I love the series and listen to it at work all the time. I'd love to hear more on airships
Hubris and arrogance were features in the crash of the R101 as well. Fascinating story, and also an epic song by British metalheads Iron Maiden. Lead singer Bruce Dickinson, an aviation buff and pilot who was certified to fly both the 757 and 747 aircraft used by the band for their world tours, wrote the song, called "Empire of the Clouds". Neat stuff.
You forgot to mention Bruce is part owner of a modern attempt to build an airship...
Only because I didn't know this! I'll have to look up the project because it sounds very interesting!
The company is "Hybrid Air Vehicles", and the first prototype is the "Airlander 10", which is bigger than an A380 by 60meters.
I've heard of the Airlander 10 but i had no idea Mr. Dickinson was involved with it. I went to their web page and clicked on the "about us" tab, and sure enough his picture is there, in full airliner captain glory under the 'invest in us' subsection. That is too cool! Gotta thank you sir for cluing me in to this!
As so many of your videos do, this one made me think of several different things. I’ll mention two: One of the more interesting experiments in the U.S. in relation to derigibles (hope I spelled that right) was their use as aircraft carriers. I want to say at least one operational prototype was built, but obviously (or at least seemingly obvious) nothing came of it. The other thing is that although Mitchell’s career may have been effectively ended over the matter in your video, he has attained legend status with AirPower enthusiasts because of that backbone which he displayed there. Whether it was worth it only he can say, but nonetheless, he was at the very least honored by having his name attached to the B-25 bomber, perhaps most famous for its participation in the Doolittle raid.
Great stuff as always!
absoulty love airship storys deff a piece of history worth remebering
An old friend of mine told me he was in the fields on the farm one night after sundown during fall harvest when a dirigible flew over. He described the eerie feeling as it drifted silently across the moon like a thing from another world
Nice touch adding the names of the fallen Shenandoah crew. Thumbs up, History Guy!
Very interesting. My grandmother witnessed the destruction of Schütte-Lanz SL 11 over London on September 3, 1916, the first airship brought down in WW1. She was 11 at the time.
Something about airships I find wildly fascinating. THG did a wonderful job as usual
Good timing, I was just going on a binge of airship documentaries!
Yet again you've outdone yourself, excellent work!
Proudly watching this video from the heart of the Shenandoah Valley, Staunton, Virginia.
Outstanding! I long loved the history of the airship, so this was really great!
I think that it's been fairly well documented that a height climber was a poor choice for an American Airship. The losses of Airships were spectacular, but not much different than airplanes of the era. We knew little about aeronautical engineering, and not much more about weather.
We didn't know we were building a ship designed for high altitude bomb raids - a danger of reverse engineering. R-38/ZR-2 was built along similar lines, everything lightweight. It too was structurally weak and broke up in the air.
I first learned about the USS Shenandoah when I stopped at exit 186 on Ohio I-70. The Shenandoah Inn (truck stop/travel plaza that no longer exists) was one of the first truck stops built on I-70 in the early 1970s...it was named for the airship. As you drove toward it, it looked like the front of the cockpit and cabin of an airship...it had a large curved area with tall glass windows.
Pictures are searchable: Shenandoah Inn/Plaza/Truck stop, Old Washington, OH...also listed as Lore City,OH, Hanks Truck Forum, cardcow.
Excellent story. Great narration and visuals. Thanks.
Air ships seem like a good idea.....on paper. I remember walking to Girl Scouts after school in the 1970s and seeing a Goodyear blimp in the sky. It was having a hard time staying level. It was a little scary. At one point it was at a 45° angle! 😨 Great video, as usual. Thank you! BUNGA! BUNGA!
I served on the last Shenandoah (AD-44). There was a painting, or maybe a sketch of the previous 4 ships of it's name. It was the best ship in the fleet, in my opinion. Captains Sharp, Shepherd, and Shanahan, kept her ship shape and a pleasure to serve aboard. The crash site of the ZR-1 is visible from South bound I-77 in Ohio. Its outlined in concrete blocks painted bright yellow.
The Memorial to the Shenandoah is visible from I-77 in SE Ohio, we drive past it all the time.
The loss of USE MACON is pretty complicated. The Navy discovered that the structure of the author's find was weak and order them strengthened. But for various reasons they did not strengthen all for together. She was hit by a squall at sea and the top gun broke off, tearing several gas cells. Unfortunately the crew had some communications problems and little damage control training. To compensate for the list gas, water ballast was dumped - too much as it turned out. MACON climbed, out of control, above her pressure height and the automatic valves released helium. By the time the captain had the ship back under control she had lost too much gas to stay in the air. They tried to compensate by using dynamic lift to compensate for lost static lift while the ran for shore. They did not make it, and soft landed in the sea, which is why most of the crew had time to abandon ship. Whether or not better damage control methods would have saved the ship is still debated.
Great episode, I loved it!!!
Great content as always. I really enjoy when you release videos on the anniversaries of events. Very cool. Keep up the stellar work my history-loving friend!
This is one of my new favorite channels! Great presentation!
If interested, a great book is “Slide Rule” by Nevil Shute. Actually Nevil Shute Norway. It details the aftermath of R 38. The brits decided to have two rigid ships built. The R 100 built by private interest & R101 by the government agency. An absolutely wonderful book I can’t recommend highly enough.
This was one of the most interesting episodes from a technology point of view - construction of rigid airships.
Thanks! Yet another great episode!!
As a child in the late fifties, my parents took me to see the airships at Lakehurst. Although I remember seeing part of one visible around a building near where we had parked, the weather (rain) didn't allow us to see much else. Thanks for the memory though.
I have always love the age of rigid airships... this was very well done. Kudos!
Thank you for this! I've been interested in airships for over forty years.
My great grandfather cleaned up the wreckage and brought home a amall.poece of the frame. My father now has it displayed in his house. Thanks for the video.
I did enjoy this episode, very much as always.
I lived in Southern Ohio and have seen a memorial sign along one of the Interstates. I always wanted to know more. Thank you.
Dear history guy, your videos are absolutely fantastic!
Hello, it's 1 33 am in Ireland, i look forward to watching this one, thanks
GO TO BED, history will still be the same tomorrow morning.
It’s 11:30 here in Exton Pa!😀. Enjoy your day!
Hello from California
Hello from Iowa.
Greetings from Tucson, Arizona
Great tie. I have decided that I'm going to start wearing bow ties when I wear a shirt with a collar. I need to find a tie or two now and learn how to tie them. I'm sure there are "how to" videos on RUclips.
Anyway, another interesting and informative video. When the space program wound up helium was in great demand and there were two production facilities here in Kansas whose helium production went entirely to NASA. One was an old natural gas booster station that was 3 miles north and 3 miles west of where I grew up. At the time the booster station, Northern Natural Gas, pumped raw natural gas to various plants around the country. Someone decided that the Bushton plant would be a good location to build an extraction plant or refinery to separate the raw natural gas into various component gases. Of course, there were things in the gas that were non-flammable, and helium was one of those components. The Bushton plant was chosen because there was a railroad line that ran coast to coast and to many other locations and trains ran up and down the line several times a day. Several highways were also nearby with one on the south side of the plant, but at the time most of their gas products were shipped by rail. Natural gas, after all of the high value products were stripped from it, was still pumped all over the central United States. Of course, many other gas products were produced there and Northern Natural became a large enterprise. Northern had a second helium plant in Kansas about 80 miles west at Otis. Northern is also a large underground storage facility for natural gas. Holes are drilled down into the salt formation and fresh water is pumped down into the salt formation creating huge caverns. The salt water can then be pumped out and natural gas pumped in for long or short term storage depending on the need. Northern has grown into quite an operation with other companies that would build adjacent to the plant to produce other gas products such as argon and acetylene.
Well, I've probably bent your ear, so to speak, long enough so I'll wish you a very good day. Thanks for another great video. I look forward to your next one.
Thank for the information! The knot for a bow tie is the same one you use for your shoe. Try practicing first by tying one around your leg until you get used to how the knot works.
Once again a million questions were answered. I always wondered why these great ships never made it. Thank you for this fine video.
I was 4 at the time and lived on the navy base at Moffet field, calif. In the field next our house was a huge hanger that held a blimp. Seen about a hundred men walk the blimp out of the hanger to the holding station. About an hour later they took off. I am 76 now.
I lived for many years a few blocks from the Goodyear Air Dock were the U.S.S. Akron was made. One of my uncles was a member of the lighter than air club at Goodyear. There was a McDonalds near the airport that had a drawing of the U.S.S. Akron on is walls. So I have a love for these and other lighter than airships.
Right off I77 in Ohio. They used to have blocks outlining the crash.