nPostednon May 6, 2014
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nTheynwere called airships…
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n…dirigibles…
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n…Zeppelins…
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n…evennblimps!
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nThesenairships have giant envelopes (or balloons) filled with hydrogen ornhelium, which are lighter than air and which cause the entire ship tonrise into the sky. Unlike hot air balloons, the airships have enginesnthat propel them through the sky.
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Airshipsntraveled majestically across the sky and over the Atlantic Ocean fornmore than 30 years. By the 1930s, they were making regular runsnacross the Atlantic, traveling round trip from Germany to the U.S.nand Brazil. Airships could carry far more passengers than could thenairplanes of the day, and although they were slow by modern airnflight standards, they were faster than ships traveling on the water.nn
Airshipsntraveled majestically across the sky and over the Atlantic Ocean fornmore than 30 years. By the 1930s, they were making regular runsnacross the Atlantic, traveling round trip from Germany to the U.S.nand Brazil. Airships could carry far more passengers than could thenairplanes of the day, and although they were slow by modern airnflight standards, they were faster than ships traveling on the water.nnn
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| This is an actual photo of the dining car of the Hindenburg. |
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nTheynwere posh, too. By the 1930s, Zeppelins featured private cabins andnobservation decks. Of course there were dining rooms, but there werenalso passenger lounges, writing rooms, and smoking lounges.
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nCrossingnthe ocean via the Hindenburg, “Queen of the Airships,” wasnTHE most elegant way to travel of its time.
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nCrossingnthe ocean via the Hindenburg, “Queen of the Airships,” wasnTHE most elegant way to travel of its time.
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n(Ofncourse, they said that about the Titanic, too, didn’t they?)
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nThenGolden Age of Airships is considered to be from July 2, 1900, untilnthis date in 1937. Of course there have been blimps and Zeppelinsnsince May 6, 1937—there are some still! But the popularity of thisnform of travel came crashing down…
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n…whennthe Hindenburg came crashingndown.
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nWhatnhappened?
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nOnnMay 6, 1937, the Hindenburg had made it safely across thenAtlantic and was about to dock with its mooring mast at an airnstation in New Jersey. n
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Butnthen a spark of static electricity started a small fire on thenHindenburg—and hydrogen is VERY flammable!— and there weren16 huge bags full of hydrogen filling the “envelope” of thenairship. In little more than a second, the small fire became a big fire, and in less than a minute, the ship was destroyed.
Butnthen a spark of static electricity started a small fire on thenHindenburg—and hydrogen is VERY flammable!— and there weren16 huge bags full of hydrogen filling the “envelope” of thenairship. In little more than a second, the small fire became a big fire, and in less than a minute, the ship was destroyed.n
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nThenworst air disaster of its time, the fiery crash killed 13 passengers,n22 crew members, and 1 person on the ground. Still, more than half ofnthe people aboard the Hindenburg somehow survived – and that seemsnmore surprising to me than the death toll!
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nBut,njust like that, the industry airship travel was pretty much over!
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nDoesnthat seem strange to you? n
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nTherenhad been a few other airship accidents before the Hindenburg. Andnthere have been and continue to be accidents with airplanes andnautomobiles—including the recent tragic disappearance of anMalaysian airplane and the 239 people aboard—and we still fly onnplanes and ride in cars. Why would this one accident and 36 deathsnspell the end of the entire industry?
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nInthink it may be because people were not used to seeing disasters onnfilm yet. The Hindenburg was flown during the first halfncentury of motion-picture history, and television broadcasting hadnnot yet begun. People hadn’t seen the sorts of things I’ve seen overnand over: the Kennedy assassination, the Challenger spacenshuttle disaster, the collapse of the World Trade Center on 9/11.
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nItnjust so happened that this journey of the Hindenburg was thenfirst of the season, and quite a few journalists were on hand toncover the event. There were five newsreel cameras with theirnoperators and at least one spectator with a movie camera, all readynto film what they assumed would be the safe landing of the airshipnand the happy debarkation of the passengers. When the Hindenburgnburst into flames, none of the cameras happened to be running—butnthe camera operators hurriedly turned them on and captured thenhorrifying event. Soon the newsreel of the disaster was being viewednin movie theaters all over the world. Also, radio broadcaster HerbertnMorrison’s horrified reaction to the disaster was aired and listenednto by equally horror-struck citizens.
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nIt’snapparently one thing to hear that there had been an accident and thatnpeople had died – and it’s an entirely different thing to actuallynsee what the disaster looked like!
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nWhynon earth did the Hindenburg use hydrogen?
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nSomenpeople think that scientists of the early 1900s just didn’t know thatn hydrogen was so flammable, and that it would be much safer to usenhelium, which is incredibly stable and doesn’t burn. n
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nButnscientists did know all of that. The engineers who were crafting thenairships wanted to use helium, and they designed the Hindenburgnto use helium.
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nHowever, helium is rare and very expensive to produce, whereas hydrogen is extremelyncommon and therefore much cheaper. The U.S. was one of the few placesnin the world that had quite a bit of helium—and the Americans refused tonsell it to Germany, probably because the two nations had so recentlynfought against each other in World War I. So the engineers had tonredesign the airship to use hyrdrogen.
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nTonlearn more about airships in general, check out this earlier post. n
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nAlsonon this date:
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nTeachernAppreciation Week
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nBuddha Day
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nBuddha Day
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nBenKind to Animals Week
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nBenKind to Animals Week
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nNationalnNurses Day
nNationalnNurses Day
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nAnniversarynof the world’s first postage stamp
nAnniversarynof the world’s first postage stamp
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nPlannahead:
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Checknout my Pinterest boards for:
Checknout my Pinterest boards for:
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nMayn holidays
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nMayn birthdays
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nHistoricaln anniversaries in May
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nAndnhere are my Pinterest boards for:
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nJunen holidays
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nHistoricaln anniversaries in June
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