In World War I, airships were widely used by the belligerents (mainly Germany) as heavy bombers and aerial reconnaissance aircraft. At that time, aircraft could not yet climb to a significant height and carry a large bomb load. These tasks were performed by airships.
Combat use has shown both the advantages and disadvantages of airships. They turned out to be completely ineffective for combat operations during the day, since, due to their huge size and slow speed, they became an easy target for the anti-aircraft artillery that appeared then. Airships could not at all conduct air combat with maneuverable fighters. Therefore, their combat use was ultimately reduced mainly to night bombing, reconnaissance, and also to the fight against submarines.
At the same time, the stability of the airships to weather conditions was no worse, and the speed was not lower than that of the then “whatnot” planes. The peace that came in 1918 seemed to open up wide opportunities for airships in the civilian field. As an air vehicle, they were much more efficient than aircraft. The airships could fly without refueling for more than a day, crossing continents and oceans, carrying tens of passengers and tons of cargo over great distances.
After the end of the First World War, the victorious countries, using German captured vehicles and developments, began to build large airships. However, soon enough, many of them suffered catastrophe.
French and British crashes
On December 21, 1923, the French airship "Dixmüde" (reparation German L-72), on board of which there were 49 crew members and passengers (including high-ranking military personnel), disappeared over the Mediterranean Sea. The commission that investigated the incident concluded that the cause of the disaster was a lightning strike during a storm that was then raging over North Africa and the Sicilian Strait.
Large airships continued to be built. In 1929, the giant airships R100 and R101 took off in England. The latter was the largest airship in the world at that time. Its length was 237 meters, and the volume of the gondola was 156 thousand cubic meters. On October 4, 1930, R101 departed for its maiden and last passenger voyage.
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All who subsequently wrote about his death unanimously noted that the airship was not tested in difficult conditions. In addition, the British could not find a normal material for the hull plating. But the quickest flight was insisted on by the Air Ministry, eager to demonstrate Britain's air power. The flight route was to India with one refueling in Egypt.
Soon after takeoff, one of the five engines failed. Then the airship fell into the rain, and its fabric covering immediately became heavier, according to calculations, by three tons. R101 could not rise above 200 meters, and it had to fly over terrain of greater altitude. On the night of October 5, R101 crashed into the ground near the town of Beauvais in northern France, exploded and burned up. Of the 54 crew members and passengers, 48 were killed.
It is believed that the cause of the crash was the aerodynamic instability of the airship in congested conditions. Formed a strong roll of the airship to the bow. At some point, the airship "struck" with its nose along an elevation on the soil surface (possibly a building or a tree), a hydrogen leak appeared in the shell, and an explosion occurred from its combination with oxygen. The British were so alarmed by this disaster that they immediately mothballed a similar (slightly smaller) airship R100 that had recently taken off.
USA crashes
The Americans believed that such dangers did not threaten them - after all, they filled their aircrafts with inert helium. At that time, the United States had an almost world monopoly on the production of helium on an industrial scale and imposed an embargo on its export, as an important strategic material, to any country.
On August 8, 1931, the US Navy's Ekron superdirigible was launched. Unlike its counterparts in other countries, it was built immediately as a specialized military vessel. "Ekron" was intended for long-range naval reconnaissance, and also carried on board up to five reconnaissance fighters. Ekron broke the size record among aircraft: length - 239 meters, volume - 184 thousand cubic meters.
Already during its operation, two accidents occurred with it, fortunately, which did not lead to casualties. But on the night of April 3-4, 1933, Ekron was caught in a storm that turned out to be fatal for him. Due to the release of ballast, the alignment was disturbed, the airship touched the water with its tail unit, which immediately fell off, after which it collapsed into parts. The German sailors who were nearby picked up four crew members (one of them died soon after), 73 were missing.
Despite the Ekron disaster, in the same 1933 the United States put into operation an airship of the same class, Macon. His catastrophe happened on February 2, 1935 for a similar reason. True, this time only two of the 85 crew members were killed.
Hindenburg disaster
Germany, which was banned from having an air force, was the first to appreciate the importance of airships as an intercontinental passenger transport. In 1928, the "Graf Zeppelin" began flights (length 237 meters, volume 105 thousand cubic meters). In 1929, it made the world's first round-the-world flight with just three refuelings.
In 1936, the Hindenburg began regular flights across the Atlantic and remains the largest aircraft in history to this day. The giant with a length of 245 meters and a volume of 195 thousand cubic meters took on board up to 72 passengers in cabins of three classes and transported them from Europe to New York (or vice versa) in less than three days. He made over sixty successful flights. However, on April 6, 1937, this symbol of the air power of the Third Reich suddenly caught fire, completing another flight, at the mooring mast at Lakehurst airfield in New Jersey. Of the 97 people on board, 36 were killed.
Aircraft diversions?
Giant airships had many disadvantages: they, being lighter than air, were unstable to strong winds, easily losing controllability; their bulky design was difficult to maintain. But these "childhood illnesses", according to most experts, could eventually be overcome, and most importantly, the then airplanes had no advantages over airships in this regard. The use of helium as a filler would also reduce the fire hazard of these liners.
The version that the sabotage caused the death of "Hindenburg" was played up in a number of films and publications. The motive, as it is assumed, in addition to politics (the desire to strike a blow to the prestige of the Third Reich), could be the competition of aircraft manufacturing companies with airship manufacturing. This applies not only to this accident, but to all similar ones. At the time of the rejection of airships as a promising air transport, they remained incomparably more economical than aircraft.
Yaroslav Butakov
