Today on this day in 1937 The Hindenburg was lost.

[humbug]

Along with 36 lives.

This thing was as big as the Titanic, an incredible feat of engineering, a shame the age of ridged airships had to end like this.

https://i.imgur.com/XdmeU9v.mp4

 

[Diddums x]

And now we have a flying butt.

 

[humbug]

And now we have a flying butt.

This gawed awful thing...

 

[SexyGreyFox]

And became the picture for one of the World's greatest debut albums.

 

[Scania]

It was a flying propaganda instrument for the Nazis.

In other slightly more momentous on this day news, May 7, 1915, today is 104 years since the Sinking of "Lusitania" resulted in the death of 1,198 passengers. 764 people survived.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS_Lusitania

This sinking of a civilian passenger ship with many Americans on board started events that lead to America joining World War 1 (2 years later after Germany restarted unrestricted submarine warfare) and turning the course of the War against Germany and altering the course of history.

 

[robfosters]

It was a flying propaganda instrument for the Nazis.

In other slightly more momentous on this day news, May 7, 1915, today is 104 years since the Sinking of "Lusitania" resulted in the death of 1,198 passengers. 764 people survived.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS_Lusitania

This sinking of a civilian passenger ship with many Americans on board started events that lead to America joining World War 1 (2 years later after Germany restarted unrestricted submarine warfare) and turning the course of the War against Germany and altering the course of history.

It was so reckless though of the admiralty to carry munitions on the same vessel as civilian passengers during a war. Talk about putting innocents in the line of fire.

 

[Scania]

It was so reckless though of the admiralty to carry munitions on the same vessel as civilian passengers during a war. Talk about putting innocents in the line of fire.

The British were reckless in many aspects of WW1 (not least sending a generation to certain death) but this does not excuse - on the part of Germany - the fact that the Lusitania was still technically an unarmed passenger liner loaded with predominantly women & children regardless of what cargo she was carrying which was kept a secret at the time , Germany may have suspected munitions but they didn’t know...

 

[aardvark]

oh the humanity!

 

[robfosters]

The British were reckless in many aspects of WW1 (not least sending a generation to certain death) but this does not excuse - on the part of Germany - the fact that the Lusitania was still technically an unarmed passenger liner loaded with predominantly women & children regardless of what cargo she was carrying which was kept a secret at the time , Germany may have suspected munitions but they didn’t know...

Of course it doesn’t excuse it, but their suspicions were proved correct in the end.

 

[Scania]

Of course it doesn’t excuse it, but their suspicions were proved correct in the end.

Yes, quite, the point being though they had no conclusive proof at the time yet still chose to sink a huge ship loaded with civilians.

 

[robfosters]

Yes, quite, the point being though they had no conclusive proof at the time yet still chose to sink a huge ship loaded with civilians.

I agree that it was a despicable act, but the admiralty could have easily prevented the disaster. There were some crazy conspiracy theories for years that the admiralty were complicit in not offering the necessary protection as they thought any such attacks would persuade the US to join in the war efforts. That theory went up the wall, they still didn’t join for another two years.

 

[humbug]

It was a flying propaganda instrument for the Nazis.

In other slightly more momentous on this day news, May 7, 1915, today is 104 years since the Sinking of "Lusitania" resulted in the death of 1,198 passengers. 764 people survived.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS_Lusitania

This sinking of a civilian passenger ship with many Americans on board started events that lead to America joining World War 1 (2 years later after Germany restarted unrestricted submarine warfare) and turning the course of the War against Germany and altering the course of history.

Don't blame the ship for its horrid owners.

The ship was first planed in 1931, before the Nazi's got hold of her in 1934.

 

[Yaayuh!]

I live near where the flying butt (HAV 304/Airlander 10) was kept and flown from in the UK, it's eerily quiet for something so massive.
Looked awesome flying over my house despite looking like an arse.

 

[robfosters]

This gawed awful thing...

Is that Gemma Collins knickers?

 

[humbug]

lol ^^

I live near where the flying butt (HAV 304/Airlander 10) was kept and flown from in the UK, it's eerily quiet for something so massive.
Looked awesome flying over my house despite looking like an arse.

That's the thing about ridged Airship's, they are like flying cruse liners, at least the Hindenburg which was 3 times as long as the flying arse.

They waft through the air in the clouds perfectly still and almost silently, what a way to travel....

 

[Scania]

I agree that it was a despicable act, but the admiralty could have easily prevented the disaster. There were some crazy conspiracy theories for years that the admiralty were complicit in not offering the necessary protection as they thought any such attacks would persuade the US to join in the war efforts. That theory went up the wall, they still didn’t join for another two years.

The sinking was a factor in the U.S. eventually joining and I’ve read that it was hoped within the admiralty that the loss of a passenger ship (with Americans on it) would hasten them joining....

I believe (but would have to check my books at home) that numerous destroyer escorts were in port and stayed put despite knowing Lusitania was on the western approaches of Ireland.

Don't blame the ship for its horrid owners.

The ship was first planed in 1931, before the Nazi's got hold of her in 1934.

Quite right, alas, - like many things in Germany at the time - it ended up with a ruddy great swastika stuck to its tail.

 

[ubersonic]

This thing was as big as the Titanic, an incredible feat of engineering, a shame the age of ridged airships had to end like this.

It may have been the longest rigid airship by a couple of meters but the USS Akron and Macon were actually bigger airships (volumetrically speaking).

As for the age of rigid airships ending, the importance of the Hindenburg distaster is often greatly overstated. The real thing that killed them off was the sheer amount of money thrown into aeroplane development during WW2 (because airships were useless for combat) resulting in the jet age of passenger travel.

I mean, London to NY in ~7 hours on a de Havilland Comet or ~60 hours on an airship, which would you choose?

 

[Gerard]

This thing was as big as the Titanic,

Almost, 70ish feet shorter.

 

[Scania]

It may have been the longest rigid airship by a couple of meters but the USS Akron and Macon were actually bigger airships (volumetrically speaking).

As for the age of rigid airships ending, the importance of the Hindenburg distaster is often greatly overstated. The real thing that killed them off was the sheer amount of money thrown into aeroplane development during WW2 (because airships were useless for combat) resulting in the jet age of passenger travel.

I mean, London to NY in ~7 hours on a de Havilland Comet or ~60 hours on an airship, which would you choose?

Incorrect, what did for the Hindenburg was the blockade of Helium on Germany, plain & simple which forced her builders to use highly volatile hydrogen as a substitute with disastrous consequences.

Had she had bouncy from Helium the disaster wouldn’t have occurred, aircraft would have eventually taken the lead of course, but the fact she died in a hydrogen fuelled inferno that was - unlike the R101 for example - captured on film for the masses at large to see in all its horror - it would have been a non event and the airship would have served on for a considerable time thereafter.

 

[humbug]

Incorrect, what did for the Hindenburg was the blockade of Helium on Germany, plain & simple which forced her builders to use highly volatile hydrogen as a substitute with disastrous consequences.

Had she had bouncy from Helium the disaster wouldn’t have occurred, aircraft would have eventually taken the lead of course, but the fact she died in a hydrogen fuelled inferno that was - unlike the R101 for example - captured on film for the masses at large to see in all its horror - it would have been a non event and the airship would have served on for a considerable time thereafter.

This.

Also, Zeppelin are still going and still making ridged Airship's, the Goodyear Blimp for example, Incorrect name, its not a Blimp, a Blimp is not ridged, its an elongated balloon, the Goodyear Blimp is a ridged Airship, and built by Zeppelin, and there are others.
Zeppelin are looking at bringing back the glory days of large luxury travel in the form of large Airships, as are others.

Of course winged flight was superseding Airship travel but not necessarily in the same market, the argument that you can get from A to B much faster in a plane is of course a valid one, but not entirely relevant, its a different market, Planes are convenient, they are simply a means to get from A to B, we still travel on Ocean Liners, its a luxury excursion, Airships offer that too only on a higher level, that's the point of them.