Editing USS Akron

{{Short description|U.S. Navy airship destroyed in 1933}}
{{For|the 1911 airship also constructed by Goodyear|Akron (1911 airship)}}
{{DISPLAYTITLE:USS ''Akron''}}
{{Use American English|date=July 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2021}}
{{Infobox aircraft
|name                 = USS ''Akron'' (ZRS-4)
|image                = File:ZRS-4 landing h42156.jpg
|alt                  = USS Akron (ZRS-4)
|caption              = <small>''Akron'' approaching the mooring mast at [[Moffett Federal Airfield|NAS Sunnyvale]]</small>
|type                 = <!--Type of aircraft-->
|other_names          = <!--Other names (nicknames, nose art names) this aircraft is known by-->
|manufacturer         = [[Goodyear Aerospace|Goodyear-Zeppelin Corporation]], [[Akron, Ohio]]
|construction_number  = <!-- manufacturer's construction number -->
|construction_date    = 31 October 1929 (commenced)<br />8 August 1931 (launched)
|civil_registration   = <!-- any civil registrations carried by this aircraft -->
|military_serial      = ZRS-4
|radio_code           = <!-- military radio codes where this is a commonly-used way of identifying this aircraft (eg. US, British, and German military aircraft of WWII -->
|owners               = United States Navy
|in_service           = 27 October 1931 (commissioned)
|first_flight         = 23 September 1931
|last_flight          = 4 April 1933
|flights              = 73
|total_hours          = 1695.8
|total_distance       = <!-- total distance flown by this aircraft, usually only relevant for an aircraft no longer flying -->
|status               = <!-- status for an aircraft still in service -->
|aircraft_carried     = 5 × Curtiss F9C 'Sparrowhawk',<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.airships.net/us-navy-rigid-airships/uss-akron-macon/|title=U.S. Navy Airships U.S.S. Akron (ZRS-4) and U.S.S. Macon (ZRS-5)|website=airships.net}}</ref> Consolidated N2Y-1, Waco XJW-1
|fate                 = Crashed off coast of [[New Jersey]], 4 April 1933
|preservation         = <!-- where this aircraft is currently preserved (if it is) -->
}}

'''USS ''Akron'' (ZRS-4)''' was a [[helium]]-filled rigid [[airship]] of the [[U.S. Navy]], the [[lead ship]] of [[Akron-class airship|her class]], which operated between September 1931 and April 1933. She was the world's first purpose-built [[airborne aircraft carrier|flying aircraft carrier]], carrying [[Curtiss F9C Sparrowhawk|F9C Sparrowhawk]] [[fighter plane]]s, which could be launched and recovered while in flight. With an overall length of {{convert|785|ft|m|abbr=on}}, ''Akron'' and her [[sister ship]] {{USS|Macon|ZRS-5|2}} were among the largest flying objects ever built. Although [[LZ 129 Hindenburg|LZ 129 ''Hindenburg'']] and LZ 130 ''[[Graf Zeppelin II]]'' were some {{convert|18|ft|m|abbr=on}} longer and slightly more voluminous, the two German airships were filled with [[hydrogen]], so the two US Navy craft still hold the world record for the largest helium-filled airships.<ref name="Smith (1965)">{{cite book|last1=Smith|first1=Richard K|title=The Airships Akron & Macon: Flying Aircraft Carriers of the United States Navy|date=1965|publisher=United States Naval Institute|location=Annapolis, Maryland|isbn=0-87021-065-3|page=210}}</ref>

''Akron'' was destroyed in a [[thunderstorm]] off the coast of [[New Jersey]] on the morning of 4 April 1933, killing 73 of the 76 crewmen and passengers. The accident involved the greatest loss of life in any airship crash, and was indeed the deadliest aviation disaster of any kind prior to [[World War II]].

==Technical description==
[[File:USS Akron under construction, nov 1930.jpg|thumb|left|''Akron'' under construction in the [[Goodyear Airdock]] at Akron, Ohio, in November 1930: Note the three-dimensional, deep rings.]]

The airship's skeleton was built of the new lightweight [[alloy]] [[duralumin]] 17-SRT.<ref>Smith (1965). p. 181</ref> The frame introduced several novel features compared with traditional Zeppelin designs. Rather than being single-girder diamond trusses with radial wire bracing, the main rings of ''Akron'' were self-supporting deep frames: triangular Warren trusses "curled" around to form a ring. Though much heavier than conventional rings, the deep rings promised to be much stronger, a significant attraction to the navy after the in-flight breakup of the earlier conventional airships [[R38]]/[[ZR-2]] and [[ZR-1]] ''Shenandoah''.<ref>Smith (1965). p. 187</ref> The inherent strength of these frames allowed the chief designer, [[Karl Arnstein]], to dispense with the internal cruciform structure used by Zeppelin to support the fins of their ships. Instead, the fins of ''Akron'' were cantilevered:, mounted entirely externally to the main structure.<ref>Smith (1965). pp. 161 & 189</ref> [[LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin|''Graf Zeppelin'']], [[LZ 130 Graf Zeppelin II|''Graf Zeppelin II'']], and [[LZ 129 Hindenburg|''Hindenburg'']] used a supplementary axial keel along the hull centerline. However, the ''Akron'' used three keels, one running along the top of the hull and one each side, 45° up from the lower centerline. Each keel provided a walkway running almost the entire length of the ship.  The electric and telephone wiring, control cables, 110 fuel tanks, 44 water ballast bags, eight engine rooms, engines, transmissions, and water-recovery devices were placed along the lower keels. The inert gas helium was used instead of flammable hydrogen, which improved streamlining by allowing the engines to be safely placed inside the hull. A generator room, with two Westinghouse direct-current generators powered by a 30 hp internal combustion engine, was forward of the No. 7 engine room.<ref name=rs/>{{rp|36,187–197}}

The main rings were spaced at {{convert|22.5|m|ft|abbr=on}} and between each pair were three intermediate rings of lighter construction. In keeping with conventional practice, "station numbers" on the airship were measured in meters from zero at the rudder post, positive forward and negative aft. Thus, the tip of the tail was at station −23.75 and the nose mooring spindle was at station 210.75. Each ring frame formed a polygon with 36 corners, and these (and their associated longitudinal girders) were numbered from 1 (at the bottom center) to 18 (at the top center), port and starboard.<ref>Smith (1965). p. 191</ref> Thus, a position on the hull could be referred to, for example, as "6 port at station 102.5" (the number-one engine room).

While Germany, France, and Britain used [[goldbeater's skin]] to gas-proof their gasbags, ''Akron'' used Goodyear Tire and Rubber's rubberized cotton, heavier but much cheaper and more durable. Half the gas cells used an experimental cotton-based fabric impregnated with a gelatin-latex compound. This was more expensive than the rubberized cotton, but lighter than goldbeater's skin. It was so successful that all the gasbags of ''Macon'' were made from it.<ref>Smith (1965). p. 196</ref> The 12 gas cells were numbered 0 to XI, using Roman numerals and starting from the tail.<ref>Smith (1965). pp. 182 & 191</ref> While the "air" volume of the hull was {{convert|7401260|cufoot|m3|abbr=on}}, the total volume of the gas cells at 100% fill was {{convert|6850000|cufoot|m3|abbr=on}}. At a normal 95% fill with helium of standard purity, the {{convert|6500000|cufoot|m3|abbr=on}} of gas would yield a gross lift of {{convert|403000|lb|kg|abbr=on}}. Given a structure deadweight of {{convert|242356|lb|kg|abbr=on}},<ref>Smith (1965). pp. 181 & 183</ref> this gives a useful lift of {{convert|160644|lb|kg|abbr=on}} available for fuel, lubricants, ballast, crew, supplies, and military load (including the skyhook airplanes)

Eight [[Maybach VL II]] {{convert|560|hp|kW|abbr=on}} gasoline engines were mounted inside the hull.<ref>Hook 1976. p. 47</ref> Each engine turned a two-bladed, {{convert|16|ft|4|in|m|abbr=on}} diameter, fixed pitch, wooden propeller via a driveshaft and bevel gearing, which allowed the propeller to swivel from the vertical plane to the horizontal.<ref>Summit Memory. [http://www.summitmemory.org/u?/photos,216 U.S.S. Akron – Propeller]. Retrieved 2008-07-22</ref> With the engines' ability to reverse, this allowed thrust to be applied forward, aft, up, or down.<ref name="Smith 193">Smith (1965). p. 193</ref> From photographs, the four propellers on each side apparently were contrarotating, so it would appear that the designers were aware that running the propellers in the air disturbed by the one ahead was not ideal. While the external engine pods of other airships allowed the thrust lines to be staggered, placing all four engine rooms on each side of the ship along the lower keel resulted in ''Akron''{{'}}s propellers all being in line. This proved problematic in service, as it induced considerable vibration, which was especially noticeable in the emergency control position in the lower fin. By 1933, ''Akron'' had two of her propellers replaced by more advanced, ground-adjustable, three-bladed, metal propellers.<ref>Smith (1965). p. 75</ref> These promised a performance increase and were adopted as standard for ''Macon''.

The outer cover was of cotton cloth, treated with four coats of clear and two coats of aluminum-pigmented cellulose dope. The total area of the skin was {{convert|330000|sqft|m2|abbr=on}} and it weighed, after doping, {{convert|113000|lb|kg|abbr=on}}.<ref name="Smith 182">Smith (1965). p. 182</ref>

The prominent, dark, vertical bands on the hull were condensers of the system designed to recover water from the engines' exhaust for [[Buoyancy compensator (aviation)|buoyancy compensation]]. In-flight fuel consumption continuously reduces an airship's weight and changes in the temperature of the lifting gas can do the same. Normally, expensive helium has to be released to compensate, so any way of avoiding this is desirable. In theory, a water-recovery system such as this can produce a unit by weight of ballast water for every unit of fuel burned, though this is unlikely to be achieved in practice.<ref name="Smith 193"/>

''Akron'' could carry up to {{convert|20700|USgal|L|abbr=on}} of gasoline ({{convert|126000|lb|kg|abbr=on}}) in 110 separate tanks, which were distributed along the lower keels to preserve the ship's trim, giving her a normal range of {{convert|5940|nmi|mi km|lk=on|abbr=on}} at cruising speed.<ref>Smith (1965). pp. 180–183</ref> Theoretical maximum ballast water capacity was {{convert|223000|lb|kg|abbr=on}} in 44 bags, again distributed along her length, though normal ballast load at unmasting was {{convert|20000|lb|kg|abbr=on}}.<ref name="Smith 182"/> Maximum ballast was never an option, because a full fuel and ballast load would have left only {{convert|4600|lb|kg|abbr=on}} lifting capacity for aircraft, crew, and supplies, and each fully loaded F9C fighter alone weighed {{convert|2800|lb|kg|abbr=on}}.

The heart of the ship, and her sole reason for existing, was the airplane hangar and trapeze system. Aft of the control car, in bay VII, between frames 125 and 141.25, was a compartment large enough to accommodate up to five [[Curtiss F9C Sparrowhawk|F9C Sparrowhawk]] airplanes. Two structural girders, though, partially obstructed ''Akron''{{'}}s aftmost hangar bays, limiting its capacity to three airplanes (one in each forward corner of the hangar and one on the trapeze). A modification to remove this design flaw was pending at the time of the ship's loss.<ref name="Smith 1965. p 67">Smith (1965). p. 67</ref>

The F9C was not the ideal choice, being designed as a "conventional" carrier-borne fighter. It was heavily built to withstand carrier landings, downward visibility was not very good, and it initially lacked an effective radio, but the primary role of ''Akron''{{'}}s airplanes was long-range naval scouting. What was actually needed was a stable, fast, lightweight scouting airplane with a long range,<ref>Smith (1965). pp. 27 & 201</ref> but none existed capable of fitting between the structural members and into the airship's hangar, as the F9C could.

The trapeze was lowered through the T-shaped door in the bottom of the ship and into the slipstream, with an airplane attached to the crossbar by the skyhook above its top wing, with its pilot on board and its engine running. The pilot tripped the hook, and the airplane fell away from the ship. On his return, he positioned himself beneath the trapeze and climbed up until he could fly his skyhook onto the crossbar, at which point it automatically latched shut. Now, with the engine idling, the trapeze and airplane were raised into the hangar, the pilot cutting his engine as he passed through the door. Once inside, the airplane was transferred from the trapeze to a trolley, running on an overhead monorail system by which it could be shunted into one of the four corners of the hangar to be refueled and rearmed. Having a single trapeze raised two problems; it limited the rate at which airplanes could be launched and recovered, and any fault in the trapeze would leave any airborne scouts with nowhere to land. The solution was a second, fixed trapeze permanently rigged further aft along the bottom of the ship at station 102.5 and known as the "perch". By 1933, a perch was fitted and in use. Three more perches were planned (at stations 57.5, 80.0, and 147.5), but these were never fitted.<ref name="Smith 1965. p 67"/>

''Akron'' revived an idea used, and eventually rejected, by the German Navy [[Zeppelin]]s during [[World War I]], the ''Spähkorb'' or "[[spy basket]]".<ref name="Smith 1965. p 55">Smith (1965). p. 55</ref> The "angel basket" or "subcloud observation car" allowed the airship to remain hidden in a cloud layer, while still observing the enemy below. The small car, rather like an airplane fuselage without wings, could be lowered on a 1000-foot-long cable. The observer on board communicated with the ship by telephone. In practice, the device was unstable, almost looping over the airship during its only test flight.<ref name=rs>{{cite book |last1=Smith |first1=Richard |title=The Airships Akron & Macon, The Flying Aircraft Carriers of the United States Navy |date=1965 |publisher=Naval Institute Press |location=Annapolis, Maryland |isbn=0870210653 |page=55}}</ref>

During the design stage, in 1929, the Navy requested an alteration to the fins. Seeing the bottom of the lower fin from the control car was considered desirable. [[Charles E. Rosendahl]] had witnessed, from the control room, ''[[LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin|Graf Zeppelin]]'' almost snagging her fin on high-tension power lines during her heavy take-off into an unsuspected but very marked temperature inversion from [[Mines Field]], Los Angeles, at the start of the last leg of her round-the-world flight earlier that year.<ref>Rosendahl (1932). pp. 194 et al</ref> The design change would also allow direct vision between the main control car and the emergency control position in the lower fin. The control car was moved {{convert|8|ft|m|abbr=on}} aft and all the fins were shortened and deepened. The leading-edge root of the fins no longer coincided with a main (deep) ring, and instead, the foremost attachment was now to an intermediate ring at frame 28.75. This achieved the required visibility, improved low-speed controllability, due to the increased span of the control surfaces, and simplified stress calculations, by reducing the number of fin attachment points. The designers and the Navy's inspectors, led by the very experienced Charles P. Burgess, were entirely satisfied with the revised stress calculations. However, this alteration has been the subject of much criticism as an "inherent defect" in the design, and is often alleged to have been a major factor in the loss of ''Akron''{{'}}s sister ship ''Macon''.<ref>Smith (1965). p. 197</ref> Construction for both ships amounted to $8,800,000 (in 1931 dollars) with the ''Akron'' accounting $5,538,400 of the total.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Southeast Missourian - Google News Archive Search|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=Oc-rVwKPngoC&dat=19330404&printsec=frontpage&hl=en|access-date=2021-11-13|website=news.google.com}}</ref>

==Construction and commissioning==
Construction of ZRS-4 was begun on 31 October 1929 at the [[Goodyear Airdock]] in [[Akron, Ohio]], by the [[Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company|Goodyear-Zeppelin Corporation]].<ref>{{cite web | publisher =via [[Akron-Summit County Public Library]] | title = Goodyear-Zeppelin Corporation, Facts About the World's Largest Airship Factory & Dock | url=http://www.summitmemory.org/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/fulton&CISOPTR=97&CISOSHOW=93 | access-date = 2008-11-15}}</ref> Because it was larger than any airship previously built in the US, a special hangar was constructed.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=FigDAAAAMBAJ&dq=Popular+Science+1932+plane&pg=PA20 "A Nine Acre Nest For Dirigibles"] ''Popular Science Monthly'', September 1929</ref> Chief Designer Karl Arnstein and a team of experienced German airship engineers instructed and supported design and construction of both [[United States Navy|U.S. Navy]] airships USS ''Akron'' and USS ''Macon''.<ref>Smith (1965). pp. 7, 8, 34 & 161</ref>

On 7 November 1929, [[Rear Admiral]] [[William A. Moffett]], the chief of the U.S. Navy's [[Bureau of Aeronautics]], drove the "golden rivet" into the main ring of ZRS-4. Erection of the [[wikt:hull|hull]] sections began in March 1930. [[Secretary of the Navy]] [[Charles Francis Adams III|Charles Francis Adams]] chose the name ''Akron'' (for the city near where it was being built), and [[Assistant Secretary of the Navy]] [[Ernest Lee Jahncke]] announced it in May 1930.<ref name=rs/>{{rp|33}}

[[File:ZRS-4 USS Akron duralumin sample.jpg|thumb|left|Sample of the [[duralumin]] from which the frame of USS ''Akron'' was built]]

On 8 August 1931, ''Akron'' was launched (floated free of the hangar floor) and [[ship naming and launching|christened]] by First Lady [[Lou Henry Hoover]], the [[First Lady of the United States|wife]] of the President of the United States, [[Herbert Clark Hoover]]. The maiden flight of ''Akron'' took place around [[Cleveland]] on the afternoon of 23 September with Secretary of the Navy Adams and Rear Admiral Moffett on board. The airship made 10 trial flights, including a {{convert|2000|mi|km|adj=on}} journey over a period of 48 hours to [[St. Louis]], [[Chicago]], and [[Milwaukee, Wisconsin|Milwaukee]]. On 21 October, ''Akron'' left the [[Goodyear Zeppelin Air Dock]] for the Lakehurst [[NAS Lakehurst |
Naval Air Station (NAS)]], with Lieutenant Commander [[Charles E. Rosendahl]] in command, arriving the next day. On [[Navy Day]], 27 October 1931, ''Akron'' was commissioned as a Navy vessel.<ref name=rs/>{{rp|37–43}}

==History of service==
[[File:USS Akron in flight, nov 1931.jpg|thumb|right|The maiden voyage of ''Akron'' on 2 November 1931, showing her four starboard propellers; The engines' water-reclaiming devices appear as white strips above each propeller. The emergency rear control cabin is visible in the lower fin.]]

===Maiden voyage===
On 2 November 1931, ''Akron'' departed on her first cruise down the eastern seaboard to [[Washington, DC]]. On 3 November, she took to the air with 207 persons on board. This demonstration was to prove that in an emergency, airships could provide limited but high-speed airlift of troops to outlying possessions. Over the weeks that followed, some 300 hours aloft were logged in a series of flights, including a 46-hour endurance flight to [[Mobile, Alabama]], and back. The return leg of the trip was made via the valleys of the [[Mississippi River|Mississippi]] and [[Ohio River]]s.<ref name=rs/>{{rp|47–49}}

===Participation in a search exercise (January 1932)===
[[File:USS Akron Chesapeake Bay February 1932.ogv|thumb|Film of ''Akron'' operating over [[Chesapeake Bay]] in early 1932, including footage of the ship mooring to the airship tender {{USS|Patoka|AO-9|6}}]]

On the morning of 9 January 1932, ''Akron'' departed from Lakehurst to work with the [[Scouting Fleet]] on a search exercise. Proceeding to the coast of [[North Carolina]], ''Akron'' headed out over the Atlantic, where she was assigned to find a group of [[destroyer]]s bound for [[Guantánamo Bay, Cuba]]. Once these were located, the airship was to shadow them and report their movements. Leaving the coast of North Carolina around 07:21 on 10 January, the airship proceeded south, but bad weather prevented sighting the destroyers (contact with them was missed at 12:40 EST, although their crews had sighted ''Akron'') and eventually shaped a course toward the [[Bahama]]s by late afternoon. Heading northwesterly into the night, ''Akron'' then changed course shortly before midnight and proceeded to the southeast. Ultimately, at 09:08 on 11 January, the airship succeeded in spotting the [[light cruiser]] {{USS|Raleigh|CL-7|6}} and 12 destroyers, positively identifying them on the eastern horizon two minutes later. Sighting a second group of destroyers shortly thereafter, ''Akron'' was released from the evaluation about 10:00, having achieved a "qualified success" in the initial test with the Scouting Fleet, but the performance could have been better with radio detection-finding equipment, and scout planes.<ref name=rs/>{{rp|49–51}}

As U.S. naval aviation historian Richard K. Smith wrote in his definitive study, ''The Airships Akron & Macon: Flying Aircraft Carriers of the United States Navy'', with "consideration given to the weather, duration of flight, a track of more than {{convert|3000|mi|abbr=on}} flown, her material deficiencies, and the rudimentary character of aerial navigation at that date, the ''Akron''{{'s}} performance was remarkable. There was not a military airplane in the world in 1932 which could have given the same performance, operating from the same base."<ref>Smith (1965). p. 51</ref>

===First accident (February 1932)===
''Akron'' was to have taken part in [[Fleet Problem XIII]], but an accident at Lakehurst on 22 February 1932 prevented her participation. While the airship was being taken from her hangar, the tail came loose from her moorings, was caught by the wind, and struck the ground.<ref>{{citation|title=Sudden Gale Akron at Lakehurst NJ 1932/02/22 |date=1932 |url=https://archive.org/details/1932-02-22_Sudden_Gale_Akron_at_Lakehurst_NJ |publisher=[[Universal Newsreel|Universal Newspaper Newsreel]] |access-date=20 February 2009}}</ref> The heaviest damage was confined to the lower fin area, which required repair. Also, ground-handling fittings had been torn from the main frame, necessitating further repairs. ''Akron'' was not certified as airworthy again until later in the spring. Her next operation took place on 28 April, when she made a nine-hour flight with Rear Admiral Moffett and Secretary of the Navy Adams aboard.<ref name=rs/>{{rp|53–55}}

As a result of this accident, a turntable with a walking beam on tracks powered by electric mine locomotives was developed to secure the tail and turn the ship even in high winds, so she could be pulled into the massive hangar at Lakehurst.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QSgDAAAAMBAJ&q=Popular+Science+1931+plane&pg=PA33|title=Popular Science|first=Bonnier|last=Corporation|date=1 April 1932|publisher=Bonnier Corporation}}</ref>

===Testing of the "spy basket"===
Soon after returning to Lakehurst to disembark her distinguished passengers, ''Akron'' took off again to conduct a test of the "[[spy basket]]"—something like a small airplane fuselage suspended beneath the airship that would enable an observer to serve as the ship's "eyes" below the clouds while the ship herself remained out of sight above them. The first time the basket was tried (with sandbags aboard instead of a man), it oscillated so violently that it put the whole ship in danger. The basket proved "frighteningly unstable", swooping from one side of the airship to the other before the startled gaze of ''Akron''{{'}}s officers and men, and reaching as high as the ship's equator.<ref name="Smith 1965. p 55"/> Though it was later improved by adding a ventral stabilizing fin, the spybasket was never used again.<ref>Smith (1965). pp. 133–135</ref>

===Experimental use as a "flying aircraft carrier"===
[[File:F9C in USS Akron hangar1932.jpg|thumb|right|[[Curtiss F9C Sparrowhawk|F9C Sparrowhawk]] in ''Akron''{{'}}s hangar: This aircraft was one of four lost with {{USS|Macon|ZRS-5|6}} on 12 February 1935.]]

''Akron'' and ''Macon'' (which was still under construction) were regarded as potential [[Airborne aircraft carrier|"flying aircraft carrier]]s", carrying [[parasite fighter]]s for reconnaissance. On 3 May 1932, ''Akron'' cruised over the coast of [[New Jersey]] with Rear Admiral [[George C. Day]], and the [[Board of Inspection and Survey]], on board, and for the first time tested the "trapeze" installation for in-flight handling of aircraft. The [[naval aviator|aviator]]s who carried out those historic "landings"—first with a Consolidated [[Fleet Model 1|N2Y]] [[Trainer aircraft|trainer]] and then with the prototype [[Curtiss F9C Sparrowhawk|Curtiss XF9C-1 Sparrowhawk]]—were Lieutenant D. Ward Harrigan and Lieutenant Howard L. Young. The following day, ''Akron'' carried out another demonstration flight, this time with members of the [[House Committee on Naval Affairs]] on board; this time, Lieutenants Harrigan and Young gave the lawmakers a demonstration of ''Akron''{{'}}s aircraft hook-on ability.<ref name=rs/>{{rp|55–56}}

==="Coast-to-coast" flight and second accident (May 1932)===
[[File:ZRS-4 USS Akron Cover 1932.jpg|thumb|left|Cover carried on the May 1932 "Coast to Coast" flight and later autographed by the only three survivors of the April 1933 crash of USS ''Akron'']]

Following the conclusion of those trial flights, ''Akron'' departed from Lakehurst, New Jersey, on 8 May 1932, for the American West Coast. The airship proceeded down the eastern seaboard to [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]], and then across the southern Gulf Coast states, continuing over Texas and [[Arizona]]. En route to [[Sunnyvale, California]], ''Akron'' reached [[Camp Kearny]] in San Diego on the morning of 11 May and attempted to moor. Since neither trained ground handlers nor specialized [[mooring mast|mooring]] equipment were present, the landing at Camp Kearny was fraught with danger. By the time the crew started the evaluation, the helium gas had been warmed by sunlight, increasing lift. Lightened by {{convert|40|ST|t|abbr=on}}, the amount of fuel spent during the transcontinental trip, ''Akron'' was now uncontrollably light.<ref name=rs/>{{rp|56–57}}
[[File:Akron incident 11 may32.jpg|thumb|right|Still pictures from 11 May 1932 incident: The two pictures on the left and the picture at far right are of Seaman Cowart; the picture second from right shows Henton and Edsall before their fatal fall.]]

The mooring cable was cut to avert a catastrophic nose-stand by the errant airship, which floated upwards. Most of the mooring crew—predominantly "boot" seamen from the [[Naval Training Center San Diego|Naval Training Station San Diego]]—released their lines, although four did not. One let go at about {{convert|15|ft|m|abbr=on}} and suffered a broken arm, while the three others were carried further aloft. Of these, Aviation Carpenter's Mate 3rd Class Robert H. Edsall and Apprentice Seaman Nigel M. Henton soon plunged to their deaths while Apprentice Seaman C. M. "Bud" Cowart held on to his line and then secured himself to it<ref>{{cite web |url=http://jeffwise.net/2013/01/19/mind-traps-the-fatal-mistake-of-hanging-on-too-long-update/ |title=Mind Traps: The fatal mistake of hanging on too long – Update |website=Jeff Wise |date=19 January 2013 |access-date=8 January 2019}}</ref> before being hoisted on board the airship an hour later.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/ac-usn22/z-types/zrs4-k.htm |title=USN Aircraft-USS Akron (ZRS-4) – Events |publisher=History.navy.mil |access-date=24 March 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120205004711/http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/ac-usn22/z-types/zrs4-k.htm |archive-date=5 February 2012 }}</ref> ''Akron'' moored at Camp Kearny later that day before proceeding to [[Sunnyvale, California]]. Footage from the accident appears in the film ''Encounters with Disaster'', released in 1979 and produced by [[Sunn Classic Pictures|Sun Classic Pictures]].

===West Coast flights===
Over the weeks that followed, ''Akron'' "showed the flag" on the [[West Coast of the United States]], ranging as far north as the [[Canada–United States border|Canada–US border]] before returning south in time to exercise once more with the Scouting Fleet. Serving as part of the "Green Force", the ''Akron'' attempted to locate the "White Force". Although opposed by [[Vought O2U Corsair]] [[floatplane]]s from "enemy" [[warship]]s, the airship located the opposing forces in just 22 hours, a fact not lost upon some of the participants in the exercise in subsequent critiques.<ref name=rs/>{{rp|58–59}}

[[File:USS Akron (ZRS-4) in flight over Manhattan, circa 1931-1933.jpg|thumb|left|''Akron'' over [[Lower Manhattan]]]]

In need of repairs, ''Akron'' departed from Sunnyvale on 11 June 1932 bound for Lakehurst, on a return trip that was sprinkled with difficulties, mostly because of unfavorable weather, and having to fly at [[pressure height]] while crossing the mountains. ''Akron'' arrived on 15 June after a "long and sometimes harrowing" aerial voyage.<ref name=rs/>{{rp|61–62}}

''Akron'' next underwent a period of voyage repairs before taking part in July in a search for ''Curlew'', a yacht that had failed to reach port at the end of a race to the island of [[Bermuda]]. The yacht was later discovered safe off [[Nantucket]].<ref>{{cite magazine| url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,753394,00.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101027064331/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,753394,00.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=27 October 2010 | magazine=Time | title=Sport: Cruise of the Curlew | date=18 July 1932 | access-date=27 May 2010}}</ref> She then resumed operations capturing aircraft on the "trapeze" equipment. Admiral Moffett again boarded ''Akron'' on 20 July, but the next day left the airship in one of her N2Y-1s, which took him back to Lakehurst after a severe storm had delayed the airship's own return to base.<ref name=rs/>{{rp|65–66}}

===Further tests as "flying aircraft carrier"===
''Akron'' entered a new phase of her career that summer of 1932, engaging in intense experimentation with the revolutionary "trapeze" and a full complement of F9C-2s. A key element of the entrance into that new phase was a new commanding officer, Commander Alger Dresel.<ref name=rs/>{{rp|63–65}}

===Third accident (August 1932)===
Another accident hampered training on 22 August, when ''Akron''{{'}}s tail fin became fouled by a beam in Lakehurst's massive Hangar No 1 after a premature order to commence towing the ship out of the mooring circle. Nevertheless, rapid repairs enabled eight more flights over the Atlantic during the last three months of 1932. These operations involved intensive work with the trapeze and the F9C-2s, as well as the drilling of lookouts and gun crews.<ref name=rs/>{{rp|66–67}}

Among the tasks undertaken were the maintenance of two aircraft patrolling and scouting on ''Akron''{{'}}s flanks. During a seven-hour period on 18 November 1932, the airship and a trio of planes searched a sector 100&nbsp;mi wide.<ref name=rs/>{{rp|67}}

===Return to the fleet===
[[File:Akron test pilots.jpg|thumb|right|Pilot officers of USS ''Akron'' Air Group, 1933 (l to r): Lt(JG) Robert W. Lawson, Lt Harold B. Miller, Lt [[Frederick M. Trapnell]], Lt Howard L. Young, Lt(JG) Frederick N. Kivette]]

After local operations out of Lakehurst for the remainder of 1932, ''Akron'' was ready to resume operations with the fleet. On the afternoon of 3 January 1933, Commander [[Frank C. McCord]] relieved Commander Dresel as commanding officer, the latter becoming the first commanding officer of ''Akron''{{'}}s sister ship ''Macon'', whose construction was almost complete. Within hours, ''Akron'' headed south down the eastern seaboard toward Florida, where after refueling at the Naval Reserve Aviation Base, [[Opa-locka, Florida]], near Miami, the next day proceeded to Guantánamo Bay for an inspection of base sites. At this time, the N2Y-1s were used to provide aerial "taxi" service to ferry members of the inspection party back and forth.<ref name=rs/>{{rp|73}}

Soon thereafter, ''Akron'' returned to Lakehurst for local operations, which were interrupted by a two-week overhaul and poor weather. In March, she carried out intensive training with an aviation unit of F9C-2s, honing hook-on skills. During the course of these operations, an overfly of Washington, DC, was made 4 March 1933, the day [[Franklin Delano Roosevelt|Franklin D. Roosevelt]] first took the oath of office as President of the United States.<ref name=rs/>{{rp|74}}

On 11 March, ''Akron'' departed Lakehurst bound for [[Panama]], stopping briefly ''en route'' at Opa-locka before proceeding on to [[Balboa, Panama|Balboa]], where an inspection party looked over a potential air base site. While returning northward, the airship paused at Opa-locka again for local operations exercising gun crews, with the N2Y-1s serving as targets, before getting underway for Lakehurst on 22 March.<ref name=rs/>{{rp|74–75}}

==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>

==Assessment==

For numerous reasons, in the opinion of Richard K. Smith,<ref name="Smith 1965. p 171">Smith (1965). p 171</ref> ''Akron'' never got the chance to show what she was capable of. Initially, the idea had been to use her as a scout for the fleet, just as the German Navy Zeppelins had been used during World War I] with her airplanes being simply useful auxiliaries capable of extending her range of vision or of defending her against attacking enemy aircraft.<ref>Smith (1965). p 177</ref> Gradually, in the minds of the more forward-thinking officers familiar with airship and scouting fleet operations, that was reversed, ''Macon'' and ''Akron'' came to be regarded as aircraft carriers, whose sole job was to get the scouting airplanes to the search area and then to support them in their flights.<ref name="Harrigan Report">Report by Senior Aviator, HTA Unit to CO, Akron ZRS4/A4-3, 15 December 1932, Record Group 72, BuAer General Correspondence (1925–1942), Box 5592, US National Archives</ref><ref>Smith (1965). pp 51 & 107</ref> The mothership herself should stay in the background, out of sight of enemy surface units, and act merely as a mobile advanced base for the airplanes, which should do all of the actual searching.<ref>Smith (1965). pp 28 & 29</ref> Any aircraft carrier could do that, but only an airship could do it so quickly, since her speed was at least twice that of a surface ship, enabling her to get to the scene or be switched from flank to flank quickly. However, she was an experimental ship, a prototype, and time was needed for the doctrine and suitable tactics to evolve, as well as for developing the techniques of navigating, controlling, and coordinating the scouts. At first, developments were hampered by inadequate radio equipment,<ref>Smith (1965). pp 49 & 51</ref> and the difficulties encountered by the scout pilots in navigating, scouting, and communicating from their cramped, open cockpits.<ref>Smith (1965). p 69</ref>

Some politicians, some senior officers, and some sections of the press seemed predisposed to judge the airship experiment a failure without regard to the evidence.<ref>Smith (1965). pp. 51, 53, 55, 59, etc.</ref> Even within the Navy's Bureau of Aeronautics, many opposed spending so much on a single asset.<ref name="Smith 1965. p 171"/> Smith also asserts that political pressure inside and outside the Navy led to the ship being pushed too early to attempt too much.<ref>Smith (1965). p. 45 et al (especially p 56)</ref> Little allowance seems to have been made for the fact that this was a prototype, an experimental system, and that tactics for her use were being developed "on the hoof". As a result, the airship's performance in fleet exercises was not all that some had hoped, and gave an exaggerated impression of the ship's vulnerability and failed to demonstrate her strengths.<ref>Smith (1965). pp 59, 171 et al</ref>

==Specifications (as built) ==

These data are based on the book ''The Story of the Airship'' by Hugh Allen:<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=_xBoFmJmU54C&dq=USS+Akron+Range&pg=PA76 The Story of the Airship, Hugh Allen, p. 76, viewable on Google Books]</ref>

{{Aircraft specs
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|volume note=
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|gross weight lb=403000
|lift kg=
|lift lb=182000
|lift note= 
|more general=
|eng1 number=8
|eng1 name= [[Maybach VL II]]
|eng1 type= 60 deg. V12 water-cooled engines
|eng1 kw=
|eng1 hp=560

|prop blade number=2<!-- propeller aircraft -->
|prop name=fixed-pitch, rotatable wooden propellers
|prop dia m=<!-- propeller aircraft -->
|prop dia ft=<!-- propeller aircraft -->
|prop dia in=<!-- propeller aircraft -->
|prop dia note=

|max speed kmh=
|max speed mph=84
|max speed kts=
|max speed note=
|cruise speed kmh=
|cruise speed kts=
|cruise speed mph=50
|range km=
|range miles= 10580 
|range nmi= 
|range note=at {{convert|50|mph}}
|endurance h=<!-- if range unknown -->
|endurance min=<!-- if range unknown -->
|ceiling m=
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|climb rate ms=
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|guns=8 x.30-cal machine guns
}}

==See also==
* [[List of airship accidents]]
* [[List of airships of the United States Navy]]
* [[Rigid airship]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
*Hook, Thomas, ''Sky Ship: the Akron Era.'' Annapolis, Md: Airshow Publishers, 1976. 
*Robinson, Douglas H, and Charles L. Keller. ''"Up Ship!": U.S. Navy Rigid Airships 1919–1935.'' Annapolis, Maryland: United States Naval Institute, 1982. {{ISBN|0-87021-738-0}}
*Shock, James R, ''U.S. Navy Airships 1915–1962'', Edgewater, Florida: Atlantis Productions, 2001. {{ISBN|0-9639743-8-6}}
*Smith, Richard K, ''The Airships Akron & Macon: Flying Aircraft Carriers of the United States Navy.'', Annapolis, Maryland: United States Naval Institute, 1965. {{ISBN|0-87021-065-3}}
*Rosendahl, C E, ''Up Ship!'' New York, NY: Dodd, Mead and Company,1932.
*Department of the Navy, Naval Historical Center. [http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/a4/akron.htm USS ''Akron''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050413000428/http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/a4/akron.htm |date=13 April 2005 }}. Retrieved 5 May 2005.

==External links==
{{Commons and category|ZRS-4 USS Akron|USS Akron (ZRS-4)}}
*{{cite video
 | year =1931
 | title =Construction of the USS ''Akron'', Part One
 | url =https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AxdJwWnkdQ
 | publisher =University of Akron
 | access-date =16 August 2016
}}
*{{cite video
 | year =1931
 | title =Construction of the USS ''Akron'', Part Two
 | url =https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjPqK8dYD1A
 | publisher =University of Akron
 | access-date =16 August 2016
}}
*[http://www.airships.net/us-navy-rigid-airships/uss-akron-macon USS ''Akron'' and USS ''Macon''] at Airships.net
*[https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/a/akron.html USS ''Akron'' page] from the [[Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships]]
*[http://www.ciderpresspottery.com/ZLA/greatzeps/american/Akron_Macon.html USS ''Akron'' and ''Macon''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180727154620/http://www.ciderpresspottery.com/ZLA/greatzeps/american/Akron_Macon.html |date=27 July 2018 }}
*[http://www.summitmemory.org/cdm4/results.php?CISOOP1=all&CISOBOX1=&CISOFIELD1=CISOSEARCHALL&CISOOP2=exact&CISOBOX2=U.S.S.%20Akron&CISOFIELD2=CISOSEARCHALL&CISOOP3=any&CISOBOX3=&CISOFIELD3=CISOSEARCHALL&CISOOP4=none&CISOBOX4=&CISOFIELD4=CISOSEARCHALL&CISOROOT=all&t=a&CISOSTART=1,1 Images of the U.S.S. ''Akron''] from the Summit Memory Project
*[http://www.usswestvirginia.org/veterans/personalpage.php?id=3433 Herbert V. Wiley Captain USN USS ''West Virginia'' 1944–1945]
*{{cite web |title=Akron Disaster 1933/04/04  |year=1933 |url=https://archive.org/details/1933-04-04_Akron_Disaster |publisher=Universal Newspaper Newsreel }}
*[https://books.google.com/books?id=0-IDAAAAMBAJ&dq=Popular+Mechanics+1931+curtiss&pg=PA977 "Navy Air Giant Handles Easy As A Yacht", December 1931, ''Popular Mechanics'']
*[https://books.google.com/books?id=3ScDAAAAMBAJ&dq=Popular+Science+1931+plane&pg=PA24 "World's Biggest Airship To Fly In May", February 1931, ''Popular Science''] large detailed article with cutaway drawing of ''Akron''
*{{cite video
 | year =1933
 | title =Commander Describes ''Akron'' Tragedy While Navy Search Goes On 1933/04/06 (1933)
 | url =https://archive.org/details/1933-04-06_Commander_Describes_Akron_Tragedy
 | publisher =[[Universal Newsreel]]
 | access-date =22 February 2012
}}
*[[iarchive:encounter-with-disaster-1979|Watch ''Encounters with Disaster (1979)'' on the Internet Archive]]

{{DANFS}}

{{Akron class airship}}
{{USN rigid airships}}
{{Aviation accidents and incidents in 1933}}
{{Goodyear Company}}
{{Aviation accidents and incidents in the United States in the 1930s}}

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[[Category:Accidents and incidents involving balloons and airships]]
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