A list of the officers and crew aboard USS Shenandoah when the ship crashed in Ohio on September 3, 1925. The names of the 14 officers and sailors killed in the crash are in red.
Six survivors of the Shenandoah were lost in the wreck of USS Akron in 1933; two survived the crash of USS Macon in 1935.
[22 April 2013: My deep appreciation to Eric Brothers for offering corrections regarding sailors Louis Allely, G. W. Armour, and George C. Schnitzer.]
OFFICERS
Zachary Lansdowne in control car of USS Shenandoah
Lt. Cdr. Zachary Lansdowne, Commanding
Lt. Cdr. Louis Hancock
Lt. Cdr. Charles E. Rosendahl [biography] Lt. J. B. Lawrence
Lt. Arthur R. Houghton
Lt. Roland G. Mayer
Lt. Edgar W. Sheppard
Lieutenant Charles E. Bauch
Lt. Thomas C. Henley
Lt. J. Bruce Anderson
WO Raymond Cole, Radio Officer
Chief Machinist Shine Spottswood Halliburton
Col. Chalmers G. Hall, U.S. Army Air Service
Walter Richardson (Lt. USNR, Civilian Photographer)
ENLISTED
William H. Spratley
Louis E. Allely (Aviation Chief Rigger)
Everett P. Allen (Aviation Chief Rigger)
G. W. Armour (Radioman)
Henry A. Ballard (AMM2c | Avn. Mach. Mate 2d) [Died aboard USS Akron]
Henry L. Boswell (Rigger, First Class) [Died aboard USS Akron]
Charles H. Broome (AMM1c | Avn. Mach. Mate 1st)
James W. Cullinan (Aviation Pilot)
Arthur E. Carlson (Aviation Chief Rigger) [Died aboard USS Akron]
Lester Coleman (ACMM | Avn. Chf. Mach. Mate)
James H. Collier (Aviation Chief Rigger)
Mark Donovan (CBM | Chief Boatswain’s Mate)
John J. Hahn (SC1c | Ships Cook 1st)
Benjamin O. Hereth (AMM1c | Avn. Mach. Mate 1st)
Ralph T. Joffray, St. Louis, Aviation Rigger, First Class.
Walter Johnson (ACMM | Avn. Chf. Mach. Mate)
Ralph Jones (AMM1c | Avn. Mach. Mate 1st)
Julius Eugene Malak (AMM2c | Avn. Mach. Mate 2d) [USS Macon survivor]
Franklyn E. Masters (Airship Pilot)
Celestino P. Mazzucco (AMM1c | Avn. Mach. Mate 1st)
John F. Mccarthy (Aviation Chief Rigger)
James A. Moore, Jr. (AMM1c | Avn. Mach. Mate 1st)
Bartholomew H. O’Sullivan (AMM1c | Avn. Mach. Mate 1st)
Frank L. Peckham (Aviation Chief Rigger)
August C. Quernheim (AMM1c | Avn. Mach. Mate 1st) [Died aboard USS Akron]
William A. Russell (ACMM | Avn. Chf. Mach. Mate) [Died aboard USS Akron] George C. Schnitzer (CRM | Chief Radioman)
Joseph Shevlowitz (AMM1c | Avn. Mach. Mate 1st) [Died aboard USS Akron]
Charles Solar (AMM1c | Avn. Mach. Mate 1st) [USS Macon survivor]
William H. Spratley (AMM1c | Avn. Mach. Mate 1st)
Frederick J. Tobin (CBM, Airship Pilot)
Richardson Wilson (Sea2c | Seaman Second Class)
USS Shenandoah, with (l to r) Zachary Lansdowne, William Moffett, Maurice Pierce, J. H. Deem, Chalmers Hall
As a stamp collector, my husband often comes across letters still in their original envelopes. Today we found a thankyou note from one Alice Baily Lawrence to a Mrs Abbie Campbell. Miss Baily writes that she had recently married a Lieut. Lawrence. She enclosed a newspaper announcement about her upcoming… Read more »
My great uncle was James Cullinan, who died in this crash. My uncle (the keeper of all family histories) was telling me the story this week. It was an ill-conceived mission and a terrible loss for all the families on board.
James Cullinan was my grandfather. My mother was Margaret( Mullins) an only child.would love to hear from your historian and you.
I have many letters of correspondence between James and his Irish Aunts.
When my father was a very young man, he joined the Navy in 1952 and trained as an aerographer’s Mate (weatherman?). Part of his time in A-school was in Lakehurst. He told me once he spent Christmas eve on duty with one of the enlisted men who survived in the… Read more »
Beautiful photo of the “Daughter of the Stars”. Thank you.
My great uncle was Chief Boatswain’s Mate Mark Donovan, USN, a survivor of the ZR1 SHENANDOAH crash. As a young child, I did not know of his harrowing experience through that late summer storm and resulting crash. I often stayed with him while my mother was shopping, and my only… Read more »
My great uncle was Col. Chalmers G. Hall who survived the crash and is shown in the picture of the 5 men standing in front of the Shenandoah. Thanks for the information.
Came across a curious letter with a sketch of the zr-1 airship and support boat. It was an original letter fixed to a old wooden board and hung on the wall of a hotel in Columbia, Latin America. I can make out the name H.C.Preston and the sketch of the… Read more »
My Grandfather was supposed to be on the crew but was hurt the day before the flight – he left me a number of pictures of the blimp and its crew
I, David helms, live near Charlotte NC. Been an avid airship researcher for years. Would you be willing to share some of the Shenandoah photos and in return, I can share some of my airship photos with you. Please contact me: coachdhelms@yahoo.com Thanks and hope to hear from you Feel… Read more »
My uncle Frank Peckham was a crew member who survived the crash also. And later had to give an account of what happen which did not sit well with the public as to what caused it to happen. He was a great man soft spoken but he could only tell… Read more »
Cathy,
Was your grandfather’s account published?
I have often visited his grave in Arlington National Cemetery, and wondered what kind of person he was.
My great grandfather, Walter L. Richardson, was a surviving member of this crash, and also a Naval aerial photographer (the first!). Are the photos on this page his work? As a photographer myself (the land bound kind), I am curious!
My father ACMM Thomas D Dickerson USN, worked with your Great Grandfather. I might have some photos of him from my father’s extensive albums. He served from 1917-1946 retiring as an Aviation Machinist Mate 1939, then in 1946 as a CWO5 during WW 2.