Roma (airship)

Roma
General information
RoleTraining airship
National originItaly
ManufacturerStabilimento Construzioni Aeronautiche (SCA)
Designer
ServiceUnited States Army Air Service
History
First flightSeptember 1920 (Italy)
15 November 1921 (USA)
Last flight21 February 1922
FateDestroyed after crash and explosion

Roma was an Italian-built semi-rigid airship, designated by its designer as the Model T-34. Purchased by the United States from the Italian government in 1921, Roma was operated for three months by the United States Army Air Service from November 15, 1921 to February 21, 1922, when it crashed in Norfolk, Virginia, killing 34 crewmen and passengers aboard, with 9 survivors. As a result of this accident, Roma was the last hydrogen inflated airship flown by the US military; all subsequent US Army and Navy airships were inflated with non-flammable helium.