USS Los Angeles ZR-3
USS Los Angeles. (click all photos to enlarge)
The USS Los Angeles — by far the most successful of the United States Navy’s rigid airships — was built in Germany by the Zeppelin Company. Designated ZR-3 (Zeppelin Rigid number 3) by the United States Navy, the ship was constructed as the LZ-126 (Luftschiff Zeppelin number 126; the 126th design produced by the Zeppelin Company.)
The Origins of the USS Los Angeles
The LZ-126 at its birthplace in Friedrichshafen
While the Los Angeles achieved its fame as an American naval vessel, the story of its construction is also the story of the rebirth of the German airship industry in the aftermath of World War I.
Appalled by Germany’s use of airships to bomb civilians during the war, the Allies were determined to destroy the German airship industry. Under the leadership of Hugo Eckener, the Zeppelin Company convinced the Allies to allow them to build a large, intercontinental airship — the LZ-126 — to satisfy Germany’s requirement to make reparations for the loss of several German zeppelins which had been destroyed by their own crews to prevent them from being handed over to the Allies.
While the American’s were anxious to receive a new ship built by the experts at the Zeppelin Company (especially after the loss of the British R-38, which would have joined the United States Navy as the ZR-2), the British, who had been bombed by German zeppelins during the war, were opposed to the construction of a new zeppelin. Ultimately, a compromise was reached, under which the Zeppelin Company was allowed to build a new ship for the Ameicans on the condition that it be designed and used solely for civil, and not military, purposes.
German Zeppelin Company crew of LZ-126 / ZR-III. October, 1924.
German Zeppelin Company crew of LZ-126 / ZR-III. October, 1924.
The construction of LZ-126 kept the German airship industry alive, maintaining not only the Zeppelin Company’s plant and equipment, but also its workforce of its highly skilled employees. The construction and operation of the world’s first truly intercontinental airship also provided Eckener and his colleagues with the knowledge that would enable them to build and fly future passenger zeppelins.
Flight Across the Atlantic
Lift Off of LZ-126 / ZR-3
On October 12, 1924, under the command of Dr. Eckener, LZ-126 (already known by its American naval designation ZR-3) lifted off from Friedrichshafen, Germany to begin its flight across the Atlantic for delivery to the United States Navy.
After a successful crossing of the Atlantic ocean, LZ-126 landed at the United States naval base at Lakehurst, New Jersey at 9:56 AM on the morning of October 15, 1924. The Atlantic would not be crossed nonstop by air again until Charles Lindbergh’s flight in the Spirit of St. Louis in May, 1927.
The transatlantic was considered an aviation triumph, and Captain Eckener and his crew were given a parade up Broadway in New York City, and were greeted at the White House by U.S. President Calvin Coolidge.
LZ-126 crossing the Atlantic on its delivery flight to the United States Navy
The USS Los Angeles
USS Los Angeles in the hangar at NAS Lakehurst
The first flight of the ZR-3 under American command had to await the return of USS Shenandoah, which was still on its cross country flight.
The United States did not have a sufficient supply of helium to inflate two large airships, and so the ZR-3 — which had arrived from Germany inflated with hydrogen — could not be flown until the helium in Shenandoah’s gas cells could be transfered to the new ship.
Passenger Cabin of LZ-126
The still un-named ZR-3 made its first American flight on November 25, 1924. The ship was flown to Naval Air Station Anacostia, near Washington, DC, where it was Los Angeles by the wife of President Calvin Coolidge and placed in commission as a vessel of the United States Navy.
Since Los Angeles had been designed under an agreement limiting the ship to civilian use, it had been built with accommodations appropriate to a long-distance commercial airliner, including a large passenger cabin featuring sleeping compartments and a first-class galley for the preparation of hot meals.
Passenger Cabin of USS Los Angeles
Gondola of USS Los Angeles
Consistent with its agreement to use the ship for civilian purposes, the Navy operated Los Angeles as a training ship, but it conducted operations which clearly related to the needs of a naval vessel, including mooring to a seagoing support ship, the USS Patoka (a Navy oil tanker which had been converted to act as an airship tender), for underway replenishment, and experiments with the retrieval and launching of fixed-wing aircraft by means of a trapeze fitted to the the bottom of the airship’s hull.
USS Los Angeles moored to USS Patoka
Like the Shenandoah, the Los Angeles also made frequent goodwill and publicity tours around the United States to promote public interest in the Navy’s airship program, and the ship received a great deal of press and public attention.
For a list of crew members who served aboard U.S.S. Los Angeles during 1931-1932, see: U.S.S. Los Angeles: Officers and Crew
This page is under development, and will be updated with additional information about Los Angeles’s technical details and operational history.
For more information, I cannot recommend any resource more highly than William Althoff’s detailed and carefully researched histories:
USS Los Angeles: The Navy’s Venerable Airship and Aviation Technology
Sky Ships: A History of the Airship in the United States Navy
USS Los Angeles over Miami
USS Los Angeles statistics:
- Length: 656.2 feet
- Diameter: 90.68 feet
- Gas capacity: 2,599,110 cubic feet
- Useful lift: 66,970 lbs
- Maximum speed: 79 MPH
- Cruising speed: 50 knotw
- Original Powerplant: 5 Maybach VL-1 12-cylinder engines (400 HP at 1,4000 RPM)
- Flight Crew: 10 officers and 33 men
- First flight: August 27, 1924
- Final flight: June 24-25, 1932
- Total flight hours: 4,181:28
- Total flights: 331
{ 24 comments… read them below or add one }
This is Great!
My grandfather was a Portuguese emigrant in LA. He returned to Portugal in the 20´s. I just found his large suitcase. He used newspapers to cover the bottom. Amazing, the date of the newspaper is 16th Oct. 1924 and the hedline was: “the ZR-3 arrives to USA!
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The artist Howard Cook (1901-1980) created a soft ground/aquatint of the Los Angeles docking at sea in 1931 (Duffy #158) and I keep hoping I’ll be able to buy one of the prints when it comes up for sale. No luck so far, though he did an edition of fifty.
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How did they alter buoyancy on American Zeppelins? Did they vent the helium like German Zeppelins did with hydrogen, or was that too expensive?
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Dan (Airships.net) Reply:
April 18th, 2010 at 10:34 am
To avoid valving helium American airships used water recovery systems which recovered water ballast from engine exhaust to compensate for the weight lost when fuel was burned.
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DOn Reply:
June 15th, 2010 at 3:01 am
I think the only US airships to use that system were the Akron and Macon…pretty sure ‘Los Angeles’, ‘Shenandoah’ etc. had traditional water ballast aboard.
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G W Elderkin Reply:
July 29th, 2010 at 10:08 pm
The exhaust recovery system was first tried aboard Shenandoah under LtCdr Zach Lansdowne command and worked well to help save the venting of helium . Also he and others developed usage of the “Super Heating & Cooling” method to also save on helium loss while saving ballast as well.
My Grandfather was Shenandoah’s watch officer.
Regards,
Wick – NAVAL AIRSHIP ASSOCIATION
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An Austrian journalist described the arrival of the Los Angeles in New York City after its maiden voyage. You can read the original article in German (titled “ZR3″) at the following website:
http://sophie.byu.edu/journalists/index.php?p=text.php&textid=823
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Fantastic site just found it.I have a pop bottle shaped like a zeppelin,it is from the Graf beverage company and the name on the bottle is Graf’s Zep.I think it was made to commemorate the visit of the Graf Zeppelin to the Chicago World’s Fair in 1933 but i don’t have any more info on it.Love those dirigibles.
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david helms Reply:
May 14th, 2010 at 8:46 pm
hi thomas. can you tell me where i can get one of those bottles for a keepsake.thanks for a reply.
david
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Thomas C Hecht Reply:
May 16th, 2010 at 6:14 pm
I found mine in an antique store about 10 years ago.I live in the midwest so it seems that you would have more luck there,also try E-Bay.Thats all i can tell you ,hope it helped.Also from what i have learned they are not that rare.
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The Ford Airport in Dearborn, Mich. had a dirigible mast and IIRC, the Los Angeles docked there once. And (again, IIRC) the Shendoah was headed there on its last voyage in order to do a fly-by of the Michigan State Fair.
The Ford Airport today. (It is at the bottom of the webpage – the big building in the lower right is the Henry Ford Museum. At the upper right, left and up of the intersection is Stout Middle School. The Dearborn Inn would be at extreme right, about a third of the way up the picture, and it is still open – and a darned fine place it is.)
http://members.tripod.com/airfields_freeman/MI/Airfields_MI_Detroit_NW.html
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I have told my kids about the spire of the Empire State Building as a mooring for the great dirigibles. I have read that they actually did attempt to bring a dirigible to connect with the mooring on the spire but that the wind currents were too great. I wonder whether there are any photos of this attempt.
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Kevin Olson Reply:
February 27th, 2010 at 10:21 pm
I once saw a short film of a small blimp seemingly attempting a mooring to what the announcer said was the mast atop the Empire State building. It didn’t work. I’ve flown hot air balloons for several years and know what wind can do to a large aircraft. I can’t imagine trying to moor a lighter than air craft in the conditions you’d find at the top of a New York skyscraper, but those were different times and I think they were willing to try anything.
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I am a school teacher in Louisiana. We are discussing the great airships of the twenties and thirties, especially the Hindenburg. Great site, great photos.
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I saw the artist renderings of the passenger accomodations on the Los Angeles, but I thought she was a military vessel. Did she ever carry paying passengers?
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Dan (Airships.net) Reply:
September 26th, 2009 at 7:53 am
Los Angeles never carried paying commercial passengers, but she did carry civilian VIPs, including congressmen, government officials, and the King and Queen of Siam.
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Does anyone know why this ship was named “Los Angeles”?
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Dan (Airships.net) Reply:
September 5th, 2009 at 10:38 am
The story is told that Navy Secretary Curtis Dwight Wilbur announced: “I’m going to name our new airship the Los Angeles because it has come to us from overseas like an angel of peace.” (See, Gordon Vaeth, Graf Zeppelin: The Adventures of an Aerial Globetrotter (1958) p. 42.)
Of course, before becoming Secretary of the Navy, Curtis Wilbur was Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court and had served as Los Angeles Deputy Assistant District Attorney, so that may have influenced the name as well.
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I have seen some pictures of the Los Angeles doing “handstands” in a heavy wind. Those pics would be an interesting addition to this site.
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John Leclerc Reply:
August 28th, 2010 at 5:00 pm
Pretty sure that was the Shenandoah. I think some of the pictures here of the Los Angeles might actually be of the Shenandoah? Is there some confusion?
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Dan (Airships.net) Reply:
August 28th, 2010 at 6:34 pm
It was the Los Angeles that did the “handstand.”
Every photo on this page, BTW, is USS Los Angeles. (Which photo do you have in mind, that you thought was Shenandoah?)
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Great website! I was looking for more information about the Navy LTA fleet and the “Los Angeles” for a book I’m writing. I collect WWII memorabilia and at one time had a pillow cover from NAS Lakehurst with the likeness of the Los Angeles
on it. You have some great pictures as well of the LTA in Gemany. Very interesting.
Thank you for your commitment. Fred
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Tall mooring masts were the fad in the twenties with Lakehurst and Cardington leading the way. There was even some attempts at the Empire State Building in NYC with a blimp, but I am not sure about the details. The problem with the high masts is that the ship had to be “flown” at the mast, meaning that the trim and pitch of the ship had to be tended to by a man at the elevator wheel. Winds, rain, changes in temperature and people moving on and off the ship changed her static trim constantly, so someone had to always be in the control car to make adjustments to keep the ship’s tail end from touching the ground, or in the case of the Los Angeles, flying way up in the air! The powers to be did not relish the thought of flying a zeppelin from the needle of the Empire State Building with all that turbulence and high rooftops in close proximity. Someone later hatched an idea to land helicopters on the Pan American Building regularly, but that too ended for the same reasons that ended the idea of airships mooring to the Empire State Building.
The US Navy led the way with the ground mooring short mast system with the Akron which allowed the ship to remain under control without need of internal control using a short mast, yaw lines and a tail beam tether. The system was very successful save for one spectacular moment when the Akron broke loose in front of some political dignitaries. Such was the luck of ZRS-4.
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Mikey NTH Reply:
January 5th, 2010 at 7:01 pm
The tail-cart was a great improvement, along with the short mast. It made it easy to move a dirigible into line for the hangar, and keep it in line through the doors.
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wow, i’m surprised it didn’t crash completely.
if you had a moving balast system, that could move back and forth along the inner cat walk couldn’t you potentially be able to balance the ship and prevent it from doing something like this?
I heard that the empire state building was built to be used as a tall mooring station for LTA’s, same thing with the eiffel tower, like in the book “Airborn” the Eiffel tower is used as a docking station for the high class luxury airships.
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Dan (Airships.net) Reply:
May 18th, 2009 at 7:58 am
Of course, if you just avoid using a high mast, you can prevent this, too.
(And a high mast had other disadvantages; the ship had to be “flown” the entire time it was at the mast.)
I will defer to my more qualified engineering friends about the “moving ballast system” you describe, but I imagine one problem would be its weight. And of course, since the system itself could not be jettisoned, it would not really be “ballast.” I suppose there would have been an advantage in being able to shift actual ballast fore and aft (for example, by pumping water ballast through pipes, the way an Airbus can shift its CG by repositioning fuel); this would also have preserved ballast, so it would not have been necessary to drop ballast completely to lighten the bow or tail, for example, but it could simply have been shifted. I imagine the weight of the pumps and pipes would have been one consideration, as well as the complexity and likelihood of failure; weight shifting did not work so well in LZ-1.
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Wow, August 25th, my B-day.
Thanks for the reply!
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On August 25, 1927, Los Angeles was moored to the west, into the prevailing wind, at Lakehurst’s 167′ high mast, when it was hit with an sea breeze from the opposite direction. The air coming from the water to the east was also colder and denser than the ambient air, creating additional lift in the tail, and the combination of the gust itself and the increased lift raised the ship’s tail high into the air.
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What cause the Los Angeles to go vertical like that?
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Stu Reply:
April 19th, 2010 at 10:46 pm
Alex;
According to historical books on the event that day, an ocean breeze came inland. Lakehurst Naval Air Station where the “flip” occurred is located near the New Jersey coastline. Those sea breezes came with a wind shift that caught the L.A. from behind, and instead of the ship swinging in the wind, the wind pressure lifted the elevator surfaces aft and up she went. No amount of down elevator from the ship’s bridge could stop the lift as there was airflow happening in a reverse direction. As she inclined upwards, she peaked practically vertical, then rotated on her longitudinal axis, and came back downward nicely, in the new windstream. Her rotation at the back end of the “flip” was her dead weights simply responding to gravity as she was momentarily upside down in the flip. The L.A. suffered minor damage from falling objects in the ship punching through the outer cover near the bow. The other “minor” damage was a few shattered nerves I’m sure. That event started the Navy seriously considering the shorter, stub masts.
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just wanted to add a last comment, Like they wanted to do with the Hindenburg use high buildings as the mooring stations. So going on your week Cruz, you drive your car to the parking garage of the building, take the elevator to the boarding gate and inter the craft via a covered and temp controlled cat walk. I would love to see this beautiful behemoths flying again
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Dan (Airships.net) Reply:
May 3rd, 2009 at 9:24 am
@ Tim:
I agree; the cruises you describe sound wonderful.
But in reality, of course, tall buildings were never used to moor large airships, and even tall masts presented problems, as this photo of the USS Los Angeles demonstrates:
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Mikey NTH Reply:
January 5th, 2010 at 7:03 pm
Imagine being crew on the Los Angeles at that time. Everything that is not secured is going forward and so are you.
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I have often wondered why dirigibles weren’t made commercially and sold as “Cruise Ships of the Sky” I.E. 1.Continental class, for world cruising 2.Atlantic Class, for dedicated ocean cruises. 3. Inner-continual class, for cruises with in a country, like a trip to the grand canyon and Yellowstone . With the modern equipment we have now, it would be a safe venture, you could line the upper outside of the frame with solar panels. Imagine an African Cruz that would take you to nearly tree top level and see the Amazon in a nearly human free environment. You would be high enough to out of the mesquite’s and such, and if the observation deck becomes to hot and stuff, you could simply step inside to the bar, and watch in an air-conditioned environment. Heck all the radar technology we now have and communications, it would be one very pleasant Cruz. From NY to Mt Rushmore to The grand canyon in a week, going no faster than 30 MPH. I would love to spend a vacation on that
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My father and one of my uncles were crew members of the Los Angeles. Would like to hear from any other crew members or decendants of crew members. My uncle Monty Rowe was also a survivor of the Macon crash.
Lee Stone 561-964-3201
Greenacres, Florida
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George Brown Reply:
November 6th, 2009 at 5:13 pm
HI
I was 5 or 6 when I saw what I remembered to be the USS Los Angeles fly over Los Angeles, this was either 1928 or 1929. The Graf Zeppilin was in Los Angeles on its way home from a round the world flight in the same year. I may have actually seen the Graf Zeppilin but I don’t remember it that way. Do you know if the USS Los Angeles ever visited its namesake city?
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Wendy Smith Reply:
December 28th, 2009 at 12:56 am
I think your memory is probably correct. I have a pink hand-blown glass Christmas ornament that is shaped like a Zepplin and has Los Angeles printed in relief on one side and ZR3 on the other. It belonged to my aunt and was given to me as a memento when she passed away. My father had a blue or green one (it was always my favorite ornament on the tree) but it disappeared when I was in my teens. I have a vauge memory of my aunt saying that they got them as children as souveniers and even that they actually saw the Zepplin. My father was born in 1918 and his sister in 1920 and they grew up in Los Angeles so that would fit in with the timing that you remember. I’ve been wanting to research the names on the side of the ornament for about ten years now and finally got around to it. I didn’t realize that Los Angeles was the name of the Zepplin, I just thought that it was there to commemorate that it flew over or landed here. I can only imagine what a wonderous sight that must have been for them at eight and ten years old and you at five or six.
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George Brown Reply:
January 3rd, 2010 at 12:47 am
Thank you for your response. I have a book that covers the history of the Los Angeles including its log for its operating years. There is no mention of such a trip west but the navy is funny about unofficial uses of equipment and may simply have omitted reference to the trip since it was not an official naval exercise.
It was exciting to see, it was low heading for what is now LAX, and seemed to fill the entire sky.
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John Glascock Reply:
January 6th, 2010 at 11:32 am
to George Brown et all,
Can anyone help me find evidence of rigid airships flying over St. Louis MO. I believe I saw a zepplin type airship there in the late 1920s.
Thanks for any help. John Glascock
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w.r. schilling Reply:
July 18th, 2010 at 12:27 pm
Did you ever get a response to your inquiry about airship flights over St. Louis?
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david helms Reply:
February 5th, 2010 at 7:12 pm
what can you tell me about the uss los angeles? are there any survivors left of the los angeles, macon, or akron? thanks for a reply.
david
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david helms Reply:
May 14th, 2010 at 8:50 pm
hi lee/ amazing you had relatives who were crewmen on airships. i would be indebted to you for sharing anything you can about their airship experiences. i am an avid airship researcher. hope to hear from you soon and many thanks.
david
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There’s a movie of the Los Angeles trying a landing on the aircraft carrier Lexington at sea. The scene was awkward as the LA landed aft of the Lexington’s bridge structure on her fantail. As the stern of the Lexington pitched up and down in the sea, the LA would remain in place and bounce up and down on the deck of the Lexington. I recall reading that Rosendahl (who I believe commended the LA then) did not stay very long on the deck and had the LA off the ship after a very brief try.
Also, on the high mast mentioned previously, I forgot to add that the ship had to be “flown” while at the mast as it was still subject to air gusts, downdrafts, and changes in static conditions.
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Kate;
The passengers for the Hindenburg boarded the airship via retractable stairways that descended from the hull. The boarding occurred in the landing field and there’s a photo in a book showing a lady carefully descending the last step while the airship moved about in the wind. They used a rolling set of steps to bridge the gap between the bottom of the stairs and the ground, and as the ship moved in the wind, so the rolling stairs would follow. The stairs led to a landing inside on the lower “B” deck with a set of stairs leading there to the “A” deck. At the stair landing was a bust of “Hindenburg”.
The US airships all had bow hatches that allowed crew to enter and depart the ship from the high mast used early in the program. After the unintended breakaway flight of the Shenandoah and the flip of the Los Angeles at the very same mast, the Navy decided to use the innovative short mast and ground tackle. The Patoka had a high mast so the crew had to board via the bow hatch – a pain considering all the gear, food and bulk goods had to be carried by hand down the length of the ship to the holds inside.
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As a builder of flying scale model LTA’s, I found this site full of useful information and pictures. Thanks, for taking the time, effort and resources required to make such a fine site.
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Thank you for sharing your pictures. I have often wondered where the passenger accomodations were located on the Hindenburg. Can you tell me how one gained access to the passenger decks from outside?
I am also curious about the USS Los Angeles. How did the crew enter and exit while moored to the USS Patoka?
Your pictures are fascinating! Thanks again for sharing your knowledge and this piece of history.
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Kjell Nylund Reply:
November 22nd, 2009 at 5:09 pm
Hi Kate,
i have an answer of your question about the Hindenburg Airship.
The passengers accomodations where located in the middle of the
passengers Gondol, between the dining room and the saloon.
And therefore without any visual contact to the outer world.
As i can see, your question is dated february 8, I therefore I
presume, you have already got many informative answers.
If you want to get more inormations about the “Hindenburg” there ist a
wonderfull book called “Luftschiff Hindenburg und die grosse Zeit der Zeppeline”.
Autors:Rick Archbold and Ken Marschall, bei Bassermann Verlag.
The original title: Hindenburg: An Illustrated History, 1994 The Madison
Press Limited.
Best regards
Kjell Nylund
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