This Week In World History: On May 6, 1937 Germany’s airship Hindenburg went up in flames once it touched its mooring mast in Lakehurst, New Jersey. The Hindenburg was the largest dirigible ever built. Out of its 97 passengers and crewmembers, 36 passed away – 13 passengers, 22 crewmembers, and 1 one ground worker. Meanwhile, 62 passengers and crewmembers survived.
The Airship’s Background
French engineer Henri Giffard constructed the blimp, the first successful airship, in 1852. However, the German inventor Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin developed zeppelins, aptly named after him, in the late 19th century. Zeppelins were similar to blimps in they were lifted by highly flammable hydrogen gas and vulnerable to explosion. Unlike blimps, zeppelins had light frameworks of metal girders that protected a gas-filled interior. In the 1930’s, Germany’s Graf Zeppelin pioneered the first transatlantic air service. This led to the construction of the Hindenburg.
The Hindenburg’s First and Last Flight
The Hindenburg set out from Frankfurt, Germany for Lakehurst’s Navy Air Base on May 3, 1937. Unfortunately, this would be her first and last flight. While attempting to moor at Lakehurst, the airship suddenly burst into flames. Although unknown for certain, it was most likely the cause of a spark that ignited its hydrogen core. The Hindenburg’s hull incinerated in seconds. Although more than half involved in the disaster survived, most suffered substantial injuries.
The Aftermath
Radio announcer Herb Morrison came to Lakehurst with plans to record a routine voice-over for a NBC newsreel on the day the Hindenburg flew in. Instead, he recorded the now infamous description of the scene he witnessed: “Oh, the humanity!”. After the Hindenburg fell, air travel in airships of its kind rapidly fell out of favor. No rigid airships survived World War II. As Tom Crouch, a curator for the Smithsonian, remarked: “the age of the rigid airship had already passed, anyways. The Hindenburg disaster was merely punctuation.”
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Info Source: History.com and Smithsonianmag.com
Image Source: AdobeStock
