Airship Travel
Three Advertising Posters for Airship Travel from the mid-1930s
It wasn’t the airplane that first romanced the public’s imagination at the dawn of the twentieth century but the great airships known as dirigibles, or zeppelins. Championing this leap into the technological future was a visionary German entrepreneur, Dr. Hugo Eckener. For Eckener, the development of the airship represented an opportunity to shrink the world through safe and speedy international travel.
In the years prior to the First World War, and again for a short while into the late 1930s, airships looked to be the aircraft of choice for transatlantic and long-distance air travel.
Germany - The Zeppelins
The German company Luftschiffbau Zeppelin, owned by Count Ferdinand Graf von
Zeppelin, was the world's most successful builder of rigid airships. Zeppelin flew
the world's first untethered rigid airship, the LZ-1, on July 2, 1900, near Lake Constance
in Germany, carrying five passengers.
Zeppelin continued to improve his design and build airships for the German
government. In June 1910, the Deutschland became the world's first commercial
airship. The Sachsen followed in 1913. Between 1910 and the beginning of
World War I in 1914, German zeppelins flew 107,208 (172,535 kilometers) miles and carried
34,028 passengers and crew safely.
After the War, when the various restrictions imposed by the Treaty of Versailles on
Germany were lifted, Germany was once again allowed to construct airships. Under the
leadership of Count Zeppelin's successor, Dr. Hugo Eckener, an avid and enthusiastic
promoter of airship travel, Germany once more began operating airships for commercial
travel.
LZ-120 Bodensee in Hangar
The Bodensee was the first passenger airship to be built by the Zeppelin works in Friedrichshafen. Designed and built in just a few months, this airship, LZ-120 was the shortest of the Zeppelins of the old type. The Bodensee went into service on 24 August 1919, plying passenger service between Berlin and Friedrichshafen. At the end of 1919 the Bodensee was lengthened by 30 feet, and a sister ship, called the Nordstern was also built (to ply the Scandinavian route). In mid-1920, however, according to the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, the two ships were turned over to Italy and France respectively, as the Esperia and Méditerranée.
The Esperia was based at Ciampino (an airfield near Rome), and was used by the military, although it was occasionally flown as a passenger ship. It was broken up for scrap in July, 1928. The Méditerranée was used to establish air routes between France and Algeria. It was used on the route until it was turned over to the French navy in August 1926. It served as a training ship, operating out of Cuers-Pierrefeu (near Toulon), until it was scrapped later that same year.
By the mid-1920s the German were once again building airships. Eckener's vision of German airship service looked promising. Three airships were eventually built -- the LZ-127 Graf Zeppelin, LZ-l29 Hindenburg, and LZ-l30 Graf Zeppelin II.
Graf Zeppelin
The Graf Zeppelin is considered the finest airship ever built. It flew more miles than any airship had done to that time or would in the future. Its first flight was on September 18, 1928. In August 1929, it circled the globe. Its flight began with a trip from Friedrichshafen, Germany, to Lakehurst, New Jersey, allowing William Randolph Hearst (American newspaper magnate), who had financed the trip in exchange for exclusive rights to the story, to claim that the voyage began from American soil. Piloted by Eckener, the craft stopped only at Tokyo, Japan, Los Angeles, California, and Lakehurst. The trip took 12 days—less time than the ocean trip from Tokyo to San Francisco.
After the flight, Dr. Eckener wrote that the Graf Zeppelin:
". . .was to prove that passengers could now be carried across the Atlantic Ocean by air in speed and safety, and with all the comfort and pleasure which the modern traveler demands."
In 1931 the Graf Zeppelin made three scheduled advertised flights carrying passengers and mail to South America, the first scheduled transatlantic air passenger flights in history. In 1932, scheduled passenger flights to South America in the Graf Zeppelin continued and plans were initiated to establish zeppelin travel throughout the world. In 1936, Eckener's dream came true as the Hindenburg made ten scheduled round trips from Germany to America, plus seven round trips to Brazil while the Graf Zeppelin made thirteen round trip flights to Rio. The financial results were impressive with Eckener noting that they were an "agreeable surprise."
During the ten years the Graf Zeppelin flew, it made 590 flights including 144 ocean crossings. It flew more than one million miles (1,609,344 kilometers), visited the United States, the Arctic, the Middle East, and South America, and carried 13,110 passengers.
Hindenburg over New York City
When the Hindenburg was built in 1936, the revived Zeppelin company was at the height of its success. Zeppelins had been accepted as a quicker and less expensive way to travel long distances than ocean liners provided. The Hindenburg was 804 feet long (245 meters), had a maximum diameter of 135 feet (41 meters), and contained seven million cubic feet (200,000 cubic meters) of hydrogen in 16 cells. Four 1,050-horsepower (783-kilowatt) Daimler-Benz diesel engines provided a top speed of 82 miles per hour (132 kilometers per hour). The airship could hold more than 70 passengers in luxurious comfort and had a dining room, library, lounge with a grand piano, and large windows.
The Hindenburg's May 1936 launch inaugurated the first scheduled air service across the North Atlantic between Frankfurt am Main, Germany, and Lakehurst, New Jersey. Its first trip to the United States took 60 hours, and the return trip took only a quick 50. In 1936, it carried more than 1,300 passengers and several thousand pounds of mail and cargo on its flights. It had made 10 successful roundtrips between Germany and the United States.
But that was soon forgotten. On May 6, 1937, as the Hindenburg was preparing to land at Lakehurst, New Jersey, after a successful transatlantic flight, its hydrogen ignited and the airship exploded and burned, killing 35 of the 97 people on board and one member of the ground crew. Its destruction, seen by horrified spectators in New Jersey, marked the end of the commercial use of airships.
Germany had constructed one more large airship, the Graf Zeppelin II, which first flew on September 14, 1938. However, the start of World War II, coupled with the disaster that had befallen the Hindenburg earlier, kept this airship out of commercial service. It was scrapped in May 1940.
Britain - Imperial Airship Program
The Germans were not the only ones to experiment with airship passenger
service. In the 1920s Britain, fearful of the technological lead Germany was
developing in airships, decided to acquire expertise in airship construction. There
was political agreement that Britain should build an airship, but there was disagreement
as to whether the airship should be built by private industry or a government
agency. The issue was resolved by having two airships built, one by private industry
and one by a special government research and development facility in the Air
Ministry. It was to be somewhat of a contest to see how future airships should be
built. Upon completion, the private industry airship was to fly from Britain to
Montreal, Canada and back. The government model was to fly to India (and later to extend
service to Australia), then still part of the British Empire, and back. The original
specification lead to a plan for 6 airships to cover this service and a series of airship
bases along the way. The push to establish airship service to Canada and India was
the work, predominantly, of Secretary of State for Air, Lord Thompson, who pushed
the project through in his aims for political ambitions.
The Airship Guarantee Company, a subsidiary of Vickers, won the
contract to design and build one of the airships, while a government consortium would
design and build the other. The two design teams decided to move away from the
conventional, much copied Zeppelin designs, and come up with two completely new prototype
ships. It was agreed that the best features from both ships would be used in the next
generation of airship. The Airship Guarantee Company designed and constructed the R.100 at
Howden, Yorkshire, and the government-sponsored team built the R.101 at Cardington. Hopes
were high for both new ships and enthusiasm was high for the entire project, so much so
that specifications and plans were already being drawn up for two more airships -- R.102
and R.103.
R.100 riding mast at Montreal
R.100
The R.100, designed by Barnes Wallis (who later gained fame as the inventor of the
bouncing bomb), when completed, was the size of an ocean liner and could carry 100
passengers in comfort at a speed of 81 miles per hour.
By June 1930, the R.100 was ready, and was flown from Howden to her
new home at the Royal Airship Works, Cardington. After the trial flights and the flights,
the ship was tasked with a trip to the Canada, successfully crossing the Atlantic to
Montreal to the newly erected mast waiting there. The airship departed Cardington on
29 July and arrived over Montreal on 1 August, after traveling 3,364 miles in 78hrs and
49mins. While flying towards the Canadian coast, the ship encountered a rough storm
causing some of the outer covering to tear. Temporary repairs were made in flight, and the
cover was replaced at the mast at Montreal.
The crews enjoyed banquets and receptions in their honor. It was seen that this trip
would be the start of many crossings and the start of commercial operations. On 13
August, the R.100 flew on a public relations flight over numerous Canadian towns where it
received adulating crowds and cheers. On 16 August, the ship made her return flight to
Cardington making use of the gulf stream, which reduced the length of the return flight by
21 hours (from the outward-bound flight). The ship arrived on 16 August, after 2,995
miles and a trip of 57hours 56 minutes.
Following her return to Cardington the R.100 was put into the shed for inspections.
Because many of the crew members were actually operating on both ships, the majority of
the crew were transferred over to the R.101 which was preparing in earnest for the flight
to India, which was anticipated at the end of the year.
R.100 riding the mast at Cardington
R.101
The R.101, after various changes and initial setbacks, was finally completed on 26
September, 1930. With her lavish interiors, sleeping berths, lounge, smoking room and
promenade decks, her comfort was comparable to that of an ocean liner. After her
initial test flights, by October, she was deemed ready to leave for an inaugural flight to
India where the Imperial Conference was being held. With the Secretary of State for
Air, Lord Thompson of Cardington and most of the design team, she left on the night of 4
October 1930.
At 2:09-am, on the morning of 5 October, the R.101 struck a hillside near Beauvais, France. After the impact, fire broke out. The fire immediately consumed the ship. Of the crew and passengers, only eight were able to escape from the wreck.
The crash of R.101 with heavy loss of life spelled the end of the Imperial Airship Scheme. Any serious consideration for continuing the program were hampered by the fact that most of the design team, including the leading government sponsor, Lord Thompson of Cardington, and some of the most experienced airship crews died in the crash.
In 1931, the government grounded and scrapped the R.100 effectively ending all development of lighter than air service in Britain.
-- Traveling by Airship --
Traveling by airship was the last word in luxury and elegant travel. Airships such as the Graf Zeppelin with a top speed of 129 km/h (80 mph) could easily compete with transatlantic liners. As early as 1909, the airline DELAG, had been established in Germany to operate airships. Certainly the most elegant of the airships was the Hindenburg.
The only major difficulty airships had was that they relied on hydrogen, a very flammable and highly dangerous gas, for lift. The United States had the only viable supply of helium, a much safer non-flammable gas, but for political and commercial reasons the nation's leaders were unwilling to supply helium to other countries.
To overcome the dangers of hydrogen airships, passengers had to take precautions. Shoes with nails in the soles, which could produce a spark, were forbidden and passengers had to wear felt slippers.
Luggage was examined and anything that could be regarded as a fire risk was removed and stored carefully until arrival at the destination. Cooking was done on special electric stoves to avoid the use of naked flames, and smoking was forbidden except in a special smoking room. So important was the need to guard against sparks or fire that the air pressure in the smoking room could be regulated so that when the door was opened air naturally flowed into the smoking area.
Weight was of crucial importance in operating an airship so only lightweight materials were used. Still, on the Hindenburg allowances were made for a 397-pound aluminum baby grand piano!
The one thing, which airships alone could provide, was spectacular views. An airship could fly slowly at low altitude so the passengers could see shipping or observe whales, but the real spectacle was the approach to New York. Passengers had unrivalled views of well-known landmarks such as the Statue of Liberty and the Manhattan skyline.
Accounts of travel onboard airships always make the same observations, the ride was smooth, quite, and luxuriously relaxed. The service was crisp, as were the linens. The furnishings, while simple, were still somehow elegant. The dining rooms offered all the refinement of a small restaurant. The tables were laid with white linen, freshly cut flowers, fine silver, and the china service created for the Hindenburg featured the gold Zeppelin crest.
One never knew who one was likely to meet on the voyage. The wealthy and famous were the most abundant travelers. The newspapers and magazines were usually evident everywhere when the airship landed. There was no doubt, air travel by airship was definitely the way to go.
Are these picture on an airship or an ocean liner?
Four views of the interior of LZ-129 Hindenburg
(top left) kitchen, (top right) lounge, (bottom left) promenade, (bottom right) cabin
Five views of the interior of R.101
(top left) kitchen, (top right) lounge, (bottom left) dining room, (bottom center) hallway
(bottom right) crew berth
Five views of the interior of R.100
(top left) dining room, (top center) cabin, (top right) promenade, (bottom left) grand
stair (bottom right) promenade
In less than ten years, the Graf Zeppelin had made 590 flights traveling 1,060,000 miles safely carrying 13,000 passengers; a record not exceeded by an airplane for many years. When the Hindenburg's successful passenger flights are factored in, this may be seen as a remarkable accomplishment -- especially as transatlantic airplane passenger flights didn't even begin until 1939 (with large flying boats making numerous en-route refueling stops).
Not until 1957, twenty years after the Hindenburg's nonstop passenger flights to North America, did scheduled direct nonstop service begin with DC-7s from New York to London.
