Editing USS Akron (section)

==Loss==
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On the evening of 3 April 1933, ''Akron'' cast off from the [[mooring mast]] to operate along the coast of [[New England]], assisting in the calibration of [[radio direction finder]] stations. Rear Admiral Moffett was again on board, along with his aide, Commander Henry Barton Cecil, Commander Fred T. Berry, the commanding officer of NAS Lakehurst, and Lieutenant Colonel Alfred F. Masury, [[U.S. Army Reserve]], a guest of the admiral, the vice president of [[Mack Trucks]], and a strong proponent of the potential civilian uses of rigid airships.<ref name=rs/>{{rp|77–78}}

After casting off at 19:28, ''Akron'' soon encountered fog and then severe weather, which did not improve when the airship passed over [[Barnegat Light, New Jersey]],<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.nj.com/ocean/index.ssf/2013/03/forgotten_us_airship_crash_recalled_80_years_later.html |title=Forgotten U.S. airship crash recalled 80 years later |publisher=NJ.com |agency=[[Associated Press]] |date=13 March 2013 |access-date=24 March 2014}}</ref> at 22:00. According to Richard K. Smith, "[u]nknown to the men on board the ''Akron'', they were flying ahead of one of the most violent stormfronts to sweep the North Atlantic states in 10 years. It would soon envelop them." Enveloped in fog, increased lightning, and heavy rain, it became extremely turbulent at 00:15. ''Akron'' began a rapid nose-down descent, reaching {{convert|1100|ft|m}} while still falling. Ballast was dumped, which stabilized the ship at {{convert|700|ft|m}}, and climbed back to its {{convert|1600|ft|m}} cruising altitude. Then, a second violent descent sent the ''Akron'' downwards at {{convert|14|ft/s|m/s}}. "Landing stations" alerted the crew, as the ship descended tail-down. The lower fin struck the sea, water entered the fin, and the stern was dragged under. The engines pulled the ship into a nose-high attitude, then the ''Akron'' [[stall (fluid dynamics)|stalled]], and crashed into the sea.<ref name=rs/>{{rp|78–80}}

[[File:Portland (heavy CA33). Aerial, starboard how, underway, 05-31-1934 - NARA - 520826.jpg|thumb|The cruiser {{USS|Portland|CA-33|6}} was one of several ships that searched for survivors from the ''Akron''.]]
''Akron'' broke up rapidly and sank in the stormy Atlantic. The crew of the nearby German [[merchant ship]] ''Phoebus'' saw lights descending toward the ocean around 00:23 and altered course to starboard to investigate, with her captain believing that he was witnessing an [[Aviation accidents and incidents|airplane crash]]. At 00:55, executive officer Lieutenant Commander Herbert V. Wiley was pulled from the water while the ship's boat picked up three more men: Chief Radioman Robert W. Copeland, Boatswain's Mate Second Class Richard E. Deal, and Aviation Metalsmith Second Class Moody E. Erwin. Despite [[artificial respiration]], Copeland never regained consciousness, and he died aboard ''Phoebus''.<ref name=rs/>{{rp|80}}
Although the German sailors spotted four or five other men in the water, they did not know their ship had chanced upon the crash of ''Akron'' until Lt. Commander Wiley regained consciousness half an hour after being rescued. The crew of ''Phoebus'' combed the ocean in boats for over five hours in a fruitless search for more survivors. The Navy [[blimp]] [[J-Class Blimp|''J-3'']]—sent out to join the search—also crashed, with the loss of two men.<ref>{{cite web |title=David E. Cummins, Lieutenant Commander, United States Navy|url= http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/decummins.htm |publisher=[[Arlington National Cemetery]] |quote=<!--Lieutenant Cummins and Bettio were drowned in the wreckage of the non-rigid airship J-3 --> |access-date=20 February 2009}}</ref>

The [[U.S. Coast Guard]] cutter {{USS|Tucker|CG-23|2}}—the first American vessel on the scene—arrived at 06:00, taking the airship's survivors and the body of Copeland on board. Among the other ships combing the area for survivors were the [[heavy cruiser]] {{USS|Portland|CA-33|2}}, the destroyer {{USS|Cole|DD-155|2}}, the Coast Guard cutter {{USCGC|Mojave||2}}, and the Coast Guard destroyers {{ship|USCGD|McDougal||2}} and {{ship|USCGD|Hunt||2}}, as well as two Coast Guard aircraft. The fishing vessel ''Grace F'' from [[Gloucester, Massachusetts]], also assisted in the search, using her [[seine fishing|seining gear]] in an effort to recover bodies.<ref>''Gloucester Times''. April 1933</ref>
Most casualties had been caused by drowning and hypothermia, since the crew had not been issued life jackets, and time had not been available to deploy the single life raft. The accident left 73 dead, and only three survivors. Wiley, standing next to the two other survivors, gave a brief account on 6 April.<ref>{{citation |title=Commander Describes Akron Tragedy While Navy Search Goes On 1933/04/06 |date=1933|url=https://archive.org/details/1933-04-06_Commander_Describes_Akron_Tragedy |publisher=[[Universal Newsreel|Universal Newspaper Newsreel]] |access-date= 20 February 2009}}</ref>

===Aftermath of loss===
{{See also|Cathedral of the Air}}

[[File:ZRS-4 USS Akron Memorial Cover 1933.jpg|thumb|upright|Franked USS ''Akron'' penalty cover with 1933 Memorial Day cachet autographed by its only three survivors, and postmarked at Lakehurst on 24 June 1933, the day ''Macon'' first arrived there]]''Akron''{{'}}s loss spelled the beginning of the end for the rigid airship in the U.S. Navy, especially since one of her leading proponents, Rear Admiral William A. Moffett, was among the dead. President Roosevelt said, "The loss of the ''Akron'' with her crew of gallant officers and men is a national disaster. I grieve with the Nation and especially with the wives and families of the men who were lost. Ships can be replaced, but the Nation can ill afford to lose such men as Rear Admiral William A. Moffett and his shipmates who died with him upholding to the end the finest traditions of the United States Navy." The loss of the ''Akron'' was the largest loss of life in any airship crash.<ref name="worstairshipdisasters">{{cite web | title = 10 Worst Airship Disasters in History | date= 7 November 2012 | url= http://alizul2.blogspot.com/2012/11/10-worst-airship-disasters-in-history.html | access-date = 2013-03-03}}</ref>

''Macon'' and other airships received life jackets to avert a repetition of this tragedy. When ''Macon'' was damaged in a storm in 1935 and subsequently sank after landing in the sea, 70 of the 72 crew were saved.

Songwriter Bob Miller wrote and recorded a song, "The Crash of the Akron", within one day of the disaster.<ref name="newsweek-song">{{cite web|url=http://www.newsweek.com/id/67642|work=Newsweek |title=Come All You True People, a Story to Hear|date=November 2007 |access-date=2008-01-25}}</ref>

In 2003, the U.S. submarine {{ship|American submarine|NR-1||2}} surveyed the wreck site and performed sonar imaging of the ''Akron'''s girders.<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=Undersea Warfare|publisher=United States Navy|first=JO1 (SW / AW) Mark A. |last=Savage, USN|title=NR-1's Summer of Military Missions and Scientific Exploration|number=2, ''Winter 2003''|quote=The first stop for NR-1 and its crew was off the coast of New Jersey at the site where the Navy dirigible USS ''Akron'' (ZRS-4) crashed shortly after midnight on 4 April 1933. [...] NR-1 made a single pass along the wreckage of the airship at a depth of approximately {{convert|120|ft|m}}, while the crew obtained imagery of the hulk using the submarine's side-looking sonars. "It was neat to see something of historical significance like that," McKelvey said. "Akron was really a very technologically advanced weapon system for the Navy at the time. We were able to get some very good images of the wreck," McKelvey continued, "but the visibility was too poor to do very extensive surveys. We saw that the actual ship itself was built of an aluminum alloy called duraluminum and we were able to see some of the girders. They looked like I-beams with holes drilled out of them to make them lighter and still retain their strength."}}</ref>