United States
The United States rigid airship program was mostly based at Lakehurst Naval Air station, New Jersey. USS Shenandoah (ZR-1) was one of the first of these rigid airships, serving from 1923 to 1925, when it was torn about in severe weather killing 14 of the crew. ZR-2 was a British airship intended to join the naval fleet, but it crashed on a trial flight 1921 before it could be delivered to the States. Forty-four of those on board died. USS Los Angeles (ZR-3) was a German airship, sold to the United States in 1924. The ship was grounded in 1931, due to the Depression, but was not dismantled for over 5 years. The sister ships Akron and Macon both crashed after technical failure. The Akron was flown into the sea in bad weather and broke up. Over seventy were killed, including one of the US Navy's proponents of airships - Rear Admiral Moffett. Macon also ended up in the sea when it flew into heavy weather with unrepaired damage from an earlier incident, but the introduction of life-jackets following the loss of the Akron meant only two lives were lost.
These crashes ended the rigid airship program.
Read more about this topic: Rigid Airship
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