USS Shenandoah (ZR-1)

USS Shenandoah (ZR-1)
USS Shenandoah moored at NAS San Diego
History
United States
NameUSS Shenandoah
NamesakeShenandoah Valley
Ordered11 July 1919
Builder
Laid down24 June 1922
Launched20 August 1923
Christened10 October 1923
Commissioned10 October 1923
Maiden voyage4 September 1923
Stricken5 September 1925
Honors and
awards
First transcontinental U.S. flight
FateCrashed during a thunderstorm near Caldwell, Ohio, 3 September 1925
Notes
  • First rigid airship commissioned into U.S. Navy
  • World's first helium-filled rigid airship
General characteristics
Class and typeShenandoah-class rigid airship
Tonnage77,500 lb (35,200 kg)
Length680 ft (207.26 m)
Beam78 ft 9 in (24.00 m) (maximum diameter)
Height93 ft 2 in (28.4 m)
PropulsionSix (later five) 300 hp (220 kW) eight-cylinder Packard gasoline engines
Speed60 kn (69 mph; 110 km/h)
Range5,000 mi (4,300 nmi; 8,000 km)
Capacity
  • Useful lift 53,600 lb (24,300 kg)
  • Nominal gas volume: 2,100,000 ft³ (59,465 m³) (at 95% inflation)
Complement25
Armament
  • 6× 0.30 in (7.62 mm) Lewis machine guns
  • 8× 500 lb (230 kg) bombs
Official nameShenandoah Crash Sites
Designated25 July 1989
Reference no.89000942[1]
CoordinatesSite #1: 39°50′21″N 81°32′22″W / 39.83917°N 81.53944°W / 39.83917; -81.53944
Site #2: 39°50′7″N 81°32′46″W / 39.83528°N 81.54611°W / 39.83528; -81.54611
Site #3: 39°44′29″N 81°35′36″W / 39.74139°N 81.59333°W / 39.74139; -81.59333

USS Shenandoah was the first of four United States Navy rigid airships. It was constructed during 1922–1923 at Lakehurst Naval Air Station, and first flew in September 1923. It developed the U.S. Navy's experience with rigid airships and made the first crossing of North America by airship. On the 57th flight,[2] Shenandoah was destroyed in a squall line over Ohio in September 1925.[3]

  1. ^ "NPS Focus". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. Retrieved 3 August 2013.
  2. ^ Hayward (1978) p. 67
  3. ^ Hayward (1978) p. 66