USS Akron (ZRS-4) - Participation in A Search Exercise, January 1932

Participation in A Search Exercise, January 1932

On the morning of 9 January 1932, Akron cleared 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 it was tasked with finding a group of Guantanamo Bay-bound destroyers. Once located, the airship was to shadow them and report their movements. Clearing the North Carolina coast at 7:21 on the morning of 10 January, the airship proceeded south, but bad weather prevented sighting the destroyers (contact with them was missed at 12:40, although they sighted Akron) and eventually shaped a course toward the Bahamas by late afternoon. Heading northwesterly into the night, Akron then changed course shortly before midnight and proceeded to the southeast. Ultimately, at 9:08 am on 11 January the airship succeeded in spotting the light cruiser USS Raleigh (CL-7) and 12 destroyers, positively identifying them on the eastern horizon two minutes later. Sighting a second group of destroyers shortly thereafter, the Akron was released from the evaluation about 10:00, having achieved a "qualified success" in the initial test with the Scouting Fleet.

As historian Richard K. Smith says in his definitive study, The Airships Akron and Macon, "...consideration given to the weather, duration of flight, a track of more than 3,000 miles (4,800 km) 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."