Film of the U.S.S. Akron’s accident at Lakehurst in front of a congressional delegation on February 22, 1932. The cables connecting the ship’s tail to the stern beam failed in a 14 kt wind that also caused the ship to list.
Film of the U.S.S. Akron’s accident at Lakehurst in front of a congressional delegation on February 22, 1932. The cables connecting the ship’s tail to the stern beam failed in a 14 kt wind that also caused the ship to list.
I just researched an Akron Beacon Journal report from March 1930 of a communist’s plot to weaken fins and other parts of the zeppelin by a lone mechanic named Kassay. The sabotage was dismissed by officials then. I was watching this to see if I might note any visible flaw here or in its ocean crash. Excellent video, by the way. I used part of the Beacon Journal report in a manuscript I have been working on. Any insights would be appreciated.
Look’s like the tail was damaged before, can see the wrinkle it the lower fin, love your site Dan….
Fascinating – had never seen this footage before, although I had seen photos. Boy, that Dirigible was BIG!
Dan looks like the tail was dented already, can see it when its moving to the side. Dodn’t they have a crew, or a machine to hold onto the tail? What are those lines dragging people or equioment? Like to see the report the officers had to fill out on that . It’s cool how they drop the water to lift the ships tail, but loks like the damsge was alrady done. Good sharing this, thats a hard film to come by. I look forward turning on my computor and seeing what new Airship news you have! Rick
They began attaching the tail to a small railway car on tracks. I will try to post a photo.
I think they had the tail connected up to the big stern beam, and it broke away from that first – hence the visible damage to the fin as the ship begins to weathervane to starboard.
The things dragging from the ropes are weights, which were supposed to help keep the tail down while the ship was moored. The Los Angeles had similar weights attached to it when it did its infamous nose-stand on the high mast in 1927… clearly they had limited effect in that case!
I keep forgetting how huge those things were. The rudder alone is the size of a building…