Remembering USS Akron

Hello all,

Today marks the 80th anniversary of the USS Akron disaster. The first of America's two flying carriers, the ZRS-4 had been plagued by accident and misfortune for the majority of it's career. For all of that, Akron did prove the feasibility of the flying carrier concept. Like her sister the Macon, the ship proved it's usefulness several times as a fleet scout and potential combat vessel.

Tragically, the Akron encountered severe weather off the New Jersey coast on April 4th, 1933. While we may never entirely know, it is commonly accepted that Commander McCord made several errors trying to navigate the storm which resulted in the ship's loss. The massive airship's tail hit the ocean around 12:30 AM, and the ship shortly sank into the Atlantic. Seventy three of the seventy six aboard died, including Rear Admiral Moffett (the "Air Admiral"), his aid Commander Cecil, Commander Berry (LNAS commanding officer), and Lieutenant Colonel Masury (USAR and VP of Mack Truck Company).

With the death of Moffett, the Naval airship program suffered a serious blow. With it's main advocate dead, many correctly guessed that the program was headed for cancellation. USS Akron, for it's short and troubled career, was a technological marvel of it's day. Chiefly designed by Karl Arnstein and constructed by the joint Goodyear-Zeppelin Company, the ZRS-4 was on the cutting edge of rigid airship development.

Statistics on the Akron:

Type: Airship
Tonnage: 221,000 lb (100 t)
Length: 785 ft (239 m)
Beam: 132 ft 6 in (40.4 m) (diameter)
Height: 152 ft 6 in (46.5 m)
Propulsion: 8 × internally mounted 560 hp (420 kW) gasoline engines
Speed: 50 kn (58 mph; 93 km/h) cruising, 72 kn (83 mph; 133 km/h) (maximum)
Range: 10,580 nmi (12,180 mi; 19,590 km)
Capacity: Useful load: 182,000 lb (83,000 kg)
Volume: 6,500,000 cu ft (180,000 m3)
Complement: 89 officers and men
Armament: 7 × machine guns
Aircraft carried: 4 × F9C Sparrowhawk biplane fighters

Shortly after the accident, a song devoted to the tragedy was released by Bob Miller entitled "The Crash of the Akron". The demise of the ZRS-4 was the worst accident in Lighter Than Air flight. Upon entering service, Akron's sister Macon was equipped with life jackets and rafts to prevent the staggering loss of crew, an addition that served well when the ZRS-5 itself crashed into the Pacific approximately two years later.

Until next time everyone.