On May 6th, 1937 a German airship named the LZ-129 Hindenburg, named after the famous German field marshal Paul von Hindenburg and later 2nd President of the Weimar Republic, attempted to make a landing at the Lakehurst Naval Air Station in New Jersey. The Hindenburg had an intended 10 round trips between Europe and the United States. As the Hindenburg's season of flights began, beginning with it's departure from Berlin on May 3rd, there was not much reason to panic. However, from what has been theorized to have been sabotage, engine failure, or just a spark inside the airship resulted in horrific tragedy just 3 short days after it's departure from Berlin. The hydrogen inside the airship keeping it afloat ignited, incinerating the ship and was sending it downward at 200 feet per second. 35 of those aboard the airship would lose their lives, alongside 1 civilian member of the ground crew. 62 of the passengers would survive, but many would suffer serious burns from the flames.
One major consequence that came from the Hindenburg Disaster was the final conclusion to the use of airships. Airships could be viewed as outdated, and as highlighted by the disaster, unsafe and undesirable, especially when compared to their aircraft counterparts which were becoming increasingly more commercially viable. But perhaps it isn't the fault of the design of airships for their own decline, but politics. The Hindenburg was designed to use helium, much safer then hydrogen for use in airships. However, America restricted it's helium exports to Germany, forcing Germany to use hydrogen to fly the ship. And to make matters worse for airships, as well as for the Nazi's, inventions years prior such as the ability to record video as well as transmit video and the much quicker means of communication that were introduced in decades prior meant the incident could and would be spread everywhere much quicker and have a much greater impact. Perhaps what best summarizes how many viewed the situation is Herbert Morrison's famous exclamation of "Oh the humanity!", which was also recorded and transmitted by radio for millions to listen. While the Hindenburg was certainly a marvel of engineering, it was also certainly an outdated aviation machine from a time of old, and the destruction of it would finally concluded the era of airships.
Sources:
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/the-hindenburg-disaster
https://www.businessinsider.com/how-the-hindenburg-changed-aviation-history-photos-2013-5
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/the-hindenburg-disaster
https://www.businessinsider.com/how-the-hindenburg-changed-aviation-history-photos-2013-5
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindenburg_disaster
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJ2-oCxA2rM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJ2-oCxA2rM
I was interested to hear about how the politics of the time impacted the Hindenburg disaster because the extent of my knowledge was that an airship had exploded. America's involvement with the helium aspect was really intriguing because of all the complicated relationships that led to the disaster. It must have been really bad for the reputation of the Nazis... Another random fact that I wanted to add was that the last remaining survivor of the disaster died just this month! His name was Werner G. Doehner and he was only 8 years old when he traveled on the Hindenburg. His father and sister died in the incident, but Werner only suffered from burn injuries. I just thought it would be interesting to add this tidbit because it shows how it is feasible that people who lived through these things are still among us.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/16/us/werner-doehner-dead-hindenburg-disaster.html
Very interesting post to read about. It seems as if burning airships were also iconic of the Great War as they were also used extensively. One interesting thing to note is that zeppelins such as the Hindenburg, contain an internal framework which makes them heavier, while blimps only contain gas. In addition, following the Hindenburg disaster, airships were still used for "mine sweeping, search and rescue, photographic reconnaissance, scouting, escorting convoys, and antisubmarine patrols". Finally on August 31, 1962, airships were terminated from military use.
ReplyDeletehttps://writingexplained.org/blimp-vs-zeppelin-difference
https://www.centennialofflight.net/essay/Lighter_than_air/Airships_in_WWII/LTA10.htm
After reading your blog post, it got me thinking if there were any other facts about the Hindenburg that would surprise me because I, for one, was surprised to learn that it was first used as Nazi propaganda. After doing some research, I found out that there was a smoker's lounge on the Hindenburg even though the designers knew that hydrogen was very flammable. Of course, they had a special, pressurized room and a double airlock in order to prevent the hydrogen from igniting but I found it interesting that they were willing to risk this considering that there was 7 million cubic feet of hydrogen in the Hindenburg.
ReplyDeleteSource:
https://www.history.com/news/the-hindenburg-disaster-9-surprising-facts
I found your post very insightful and did some research on my own on the Hindenburg. It turns out the exportation of helium was cut off by the US so the Hindenburg was filled with hydrogen. Hydrogen is much more reactive than Helium and was susceptible to discharge of atmospheric electricity. That problem ultimately explains why the Hindenburg caught fire and why many similar blimps aircraft now use Helium.
ReplyDeleteSource:
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2015/05/06/german-nazi-hindenburg-anniversary/70883998/