WEBVTT - U.S.S. Akron 0:00:00.120 --> 0:00:03.160 Hey, listeners, we are soon to be appearing at New 0:00:03.200 --> 0:00:05.200 York Comic Con as part of New York Comic Con 0:00:05.280 --> 0:00:07.800 presents their evening programming. We are going to do an 0:00:07.800 --> 0:00:11.680 episode about the creation of what is usually credited as 0:00:11.680 --> 0:00:13.480 the first comic book, and we'll be talking about the 0:00:13.480 --> 0:00:15.480 man who did it and how that came to be 0:00:15.640 --> 0:00:16.919 and if you want to get in on that, we 0:00:16.960 --> 0:00:18.919 would love to see you for our live show. It 0:00:19.000 --> 0:00:22.119 is taking place on October six, from nine thirty to 0:00:22.360 --> 0:00:25.120 eleven at the Hudson Mercantile. Again that runs during New 0:00:25.200 --> 0:00:28.080 York Comic Con, and for more information on it, you 0:00:28.080 --> 0:00:31.080 can visit our website Missed in History dot com. You 0:00:31.120 --> 0:00:33.080 will click on the link this is live shows and 0:00:33.120 --> 0:00:35.720 you can get all the info and a link to 0:00:35.840 --> 0:00:41.320 order your tickets. We hope to see you there. Welcome 0:00:41.360 --> 0:00:44.200 to Stuff You Missed in History Class from how Stuff 0:00:44.200 --> 0:00:53.599 Works dot com. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. I'm 0:00:53.640 --> 0:00:57.880 Holly Fry and I'm Tracy B. Wilson. Tracy, did you 0:00:57.880 --> 0:00:59.720 know that the loss of the U S. S Acron 0:00:59.800 --> 0:01:02.800 was the biggest single tragedy in aviation history at the 0:01:02.840 --> 0:01:05.840 time that had happened. I did not know that level 0:01:05.840 --> 0:01:09.440 of detail. Yeah, because unless year in aviation or U. S. 0:01:09.520 --> 0:01:11.760 Navy history buff you might not know much about it. 0:01:11.760 --> 0:01:14.199 It's one of those things that kind of uh doesn't 0:01:14.200 --> 0:01:16.640 get a whole lot of attention. I think we might 0:01:17.240 --> 0:01:20.160 have mentioned it just as an aside in that episode 0:01:20.160 --> 0:01:22.840 that we did about the Hindenburg, but even so we 0:01:22.840 --> 0:01:25.360 did not get into any detail. Yeah, and even the 0:01:25.440 --> 0:01:29.119 Hindenburg disaster, which happened four years after the Acron was lost, 0:01:29.200 --> 0:01:33.320 resulted in far fewer lives lost, but probably because we 0:01:33.400 --> 0:01:37.679 have terrifying dramatic footage of the Hendenburg burning, that very 0:01:37.720 --> 0:01:42.040 tragic incident is far more commonly recalled in the public consciousness. 0:01:42.080 --> 0:01:44.920 So today we are going to talk about the USS Akron, 0:01:45.040 --> 0:01:47.880 one of two large rigid airships that were part of 0:01:47.920 --> 0:01:50.880 the U. S. Navy's five year aircraft program, which was 0:01:50.920 --> 0:01:55.280 authorized in and also just for clarity, doubts would come up, 0:01:55.280 --> 0:01:57.960 but just in case, this is not to be confused 0:01:58.000 --> 0:02:00.920 with a much smaller, privately owned air ship also called 0:02:00.960 --> 0:02:04.440 the Akron. UH. That airship, which was owned by adventurer 0:02:04.520 --> 0:02:08.000 and photographer Chester Melvin Vanaman, exploded off the coast of 0:02:08.040 --> 0:02:10.680 New Jersey in nineteen twelve, killing its owner. But that 0:02:10.800 --> 0:02:14.800 is a totally different thing. So for the one that 0:02:14.840 --> 0:02:18.520 we are talking about, and the fall of nineteen nine, 0:02:18.680 --> 0:02:22.919 construction began on the z R S four in acron, Ohio. 0:02:23.600 --> 0:02:26.320 It was eventually renamed for the city where it was built. 0:02:26.720 --> 0:02:29.480 The Good Years Zeppelin Corporation had signed a contract with 0:02:29.520 --> 0:02:33.680 the Bureau of Aeronautics in to build this ship, which 0:02:33.720 --> 0:02:37.200 was designed by Dr. Carl Arnstein to be an airborne 0:02:37.520 --> 0:02:41.240 aircraft carrier. In a week into the build, there was 0:02:41.280 --> 0:02:44.400 an official ceremony to markets beginning. So sometimes if you're 0:02:44.440 --> 0:02:46.960 looking at the historical record, there are a couple different 0:02:47.080 --> 0:02:49.280 dates that are listed as the beginning of construction, and 0:02:49.320 --> 0:02:51.800 that's why there was some preliminary work done and then 0:02:51.800 --> 0:02:55.240 a week after it they had this official ceremony uh 0:02:55.320 --> 0:02:58.400 And during that ceremony, the chief of the Bureau of Aeronautics, 0:02:58.520 --> 0:03:02.079 Rear Admiral William ama Fit, drove a golden rivet into 0:03:02.160 --> 0:03:04.800 the main ring of the ship. By the spring of 0:03:05.680 --> 0:03:08.160 one the hull was well underway and the name for 0:03:08.160 --> 0:03:10.440 the ship, which was the Acron, like we said, was 0:03:10.520 --> 0:03:15.200 announced by Ernest Lee Jankie, who was the Navy's Assistant Secretary. 0:03:15.440 --> 0:03:18.480 The Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, in cooperation with the 0:03:18.480 --> 0:03:21.840 City of Akron, Ohio, actually produced a short silent film 0:03:21.919 --> 0:03:24.760 about the Acron's construction. It runs about twenty minutes and 0:03:24.800 --> 0:03:28.040 it showcases all the features and innovations of the dirigible. 0:03:28.440 --> 0:03:31.440 It features the quote huge building from which the giant 0:03:31.440 --> 0:03:35.240 airship was hatched, as well as showing all of the 0:03:35.280 --> 0:03:38.760 construction phases of this massive airship. In it, you can 0:03:38.800 --> 0:03:42.320 also see workers raising the first ring into position, a 0:03:42.480 --> 0:03:46.000 massive gas cell being placed in the frame for an 0:03:46.000 --> 0:03:49.440 inflation and buoyancy test, the nose and tail of the 0:03:49.480 --> 0:03:52.720 craft being moved into position, and the sheets that comprised 0:03:52.720 --> 0:03:55.640 its outer covering being applied to the exterior of the 0:03:55.720 --> 0:03:58.800 frame along with a number of other milestones and the 0:03:58.800 --> 0:04:02.600 Acron's construction. Yeah, they show some cool footage of like 0:04:02.720 --> 0:04:05.600 them doping that exterior, which is when they coat it 0:04:05.640 --> 0:04:07.960 with its its protective coating, and it just looks like 0:04:08.040 --> 0:04:10.720 dude spray painting. It's kind of fun to watch, um. 0:04:10.880 --> 0:04:13.960 And the film also mentions the water ballast that was 0:04:14.040 --> 0:04:17.000 used to keep the zeppelin steady, which was supplied by 0:04:17.080 --> 0:04:20.600 exhaust vapors that were then condensed, so it was pretty 0:04:20.640 --> 0:04:25.960 smartly designed as well. On August one, First Lady Mrs 0:04:26.000 --> 0:04:29.520 lou Henry Hoover christened the airship as it was launched, 0:04:29.720 --> 0:04:32.520 meaning that it was floating above the hangar floor, but 0:04:32.560 --> 0:04:36.159 it was still contained there in the build bay. And 0:04:36.200 --> 0:04:39.120 when the dirigible was completed, it was seven and eighty 0:04:39.160 --> 0:04:43.080 feet that's two nine long, hundred and thirty two point 0:04:43.120 --> 0:04:46.360 five feet or forty wide, and a hundred and fifty 0:04:46.400 --> 0:04:49.440 two point two ft or forty six point five ms tall. 0:04:49.520 --> 0:04:53.480 When fully inflated, its volume was six point five million 0:04:53.600 --> 0:04:56.240 cubic feet and it had been built with a sturdy, 0:04:56.279 --> 0:04:59.560 deep mainframe, and this design was actually a departure from 0:04:59.560 --> 0:05:03.840 the rain design of prior dridgibles. It was inflated with helium, 0:05:04.120 --> 0:05:07.039 and it featured eight may Back v L two engines, 0:05:07.080 --> 0:05:10.040 which were reversible and thus offered a really high degree 0:05:10.040 --> 0:05:14.440 of maneuverability for something this size. The Akron's design included 0:05:14.480 --> 0:05:17.640 a third of the interior space dedicated to a hangar 0:05:17.760 --> 0:05:21.320 which could accommodate five aircraft. We're going to talk about 0:05:21.360 --> 0:05:24.120 how those planes were launched and retrieved in just a bit. 0:05:24.839 --> 0:05:28.120 There were also two sections allocated to crew quarters, which 0:05:28.200 --> 0:05:31.080 featured a galley, mess and washroom in addition to the 0:05:31.080 --> 0:05:34.600 sleeping areas. The water that passed through the airship's engines 0:05:34.680 --> 0:05:37.680 to cool them was then used to heat the crew quarters. 0:05:38.200 --> 0:05:40.240 Yeah That hot water that they took away from the 0:05:40.240 --> 0:05:43.560 engines then got a second life as a heating implement. 0:05:44.120 --> 0:05:46.480 A month and a half after the christening, on September 0:05:46.560 --> 0:05:49.159 twenty three, the Akron had her first flight, which was 0:05:49.200 --> 0:05:53.240 conducted over Cleveland, Ohio, and before the dirigible was officially 0:05:53.240 --> 0:05:56.560 commissioned as a Navy vessel, an additional eight test flights 0:05:56.560 --> 0:05:59.680 were conducted, taking the ship farther and farther each time 0:05:59.800 --> 0:06:03.840 and testing all of the various mechanisms aboard, just shy 0:06:03.920 --> 0:06:06.880 of two years before the anniversary of the startup construction. 0:06:07.080 --> 0:06:12.240 On October, the USS Akron was commissioned after having been 0:06:12.240 --> 0:06:15.560 delivered to the Lakehurst, New Jersey, Naval Air Station, with 0:06:15.600 --> 0:06:19.520 Lieutenant Commander Charles E. Rosendaal named as the commanding officer 0:06:19.600 --> 0:06:23.000 of the new vessel. The Akron had its first official 0:06:23.080 --> 0:06:27.279 Navy voyage on November two, on a course that took 0:06:27.279 --> 0:06:30.480 it down the east coast of the United States to Washington, 0:06:30.600 --> 0:06:33.320 d C. And from that moment on it saw plenty 0:06:33.360 --> 0:06:36.000 of airtime, more than three hundred hours in flight over 0:06:36.040 --> 0:06:39.400 the course of just a few weeks. Following that, forty 0:06:39.520 --> 0:06:42.640 six of those three hours were logged on a single 0:06:42.720 --> 0:06:47.200 mission that took the Acron on a round trip to Mobile, Alabama. 0:06:47.320 --> 0:06:51.320 And the Akron really proved itself repeatedly. Um you will 0:06:51.360 --> 0:06:54.640 see a lot of discussions of it as being plagued 0:06:54.680 --> 0:06:56.480 by problems, and it had problems. We're going to talk 0:06:56.480 --> 0:06:58.760 about those in a minute, but it also did some 0:06:58.760 --> 0:07:03.000 pretty impressive things. On January nine of ninety two, the 0:07:03.080 --> 0:07:05.720 Zeppelin took part in a search exercise that showed its 0:07:05.800 --> 0:07:09.480 endurance and its capabilities as a search vessel. The goal 0:07:09.720 --> 0:07:12.040 was for the Akron to locate a group of destroyers 0:07:12.080 --> 0:07:15.160 that were on route to Guantanamo Bay and then follow, observe, 0:07:15.240 --> 0:07:19.000 and report their activities. Due to the inclement weather i'm 0:07:19.120 --> 0:07:22.080 January tenth, the crew of the Akron wasn't able to 0:07:22.080 --> 0:07:26.160 sight the destroyers initially, although the destroyers did report spotting 0:07:26.160 --> 0:07:29.760 the dirigible, but the airship kept looking for the destroyers 0:07:29.800 --> 0:07:32.720 and eventually was able to spot and report on two 0:07:32.720 --> 0:07:35.679 groups of ships on the eleventh, which made the scouting 0:07:35.680 --> 0:07:38.560 mission a success. Yeah. This was to be clear when 0:07:38.560 --> 0:07:41.480 we say it's an exercise, this is like a planned thing. 0:07:41.760 --> 0:07:44.520 There were no enemies that they were citing. This was 0:07:44.560 --> 0:07:48.040 all sort of training. And coming up, we're going to 0:07:48.120 --> 0:07:51.800 talk about an accident that the Akron had in one 0:07:51.840 --> 0:07:55.560 but first we're going to pause, have a little sponsor break. 0:08:00.200 --> 0:08:04.400 So the following month after where we left off, on February, 0:08:04.880 --> 0:08:07.920 the Acron was damaged in an accident. It was being 0:08:07.960 --> 0:08:10.480 moved out of its hangar when a wind gust blew 0:08:10.480 --> 0:08:12.960 the tail off its moorings and the back end of 0:08:13.000 --> 0:08:16.040 the airship was then thrust downward and it impacted on 0:08:16.080 --> 0:08:20.000 the ground. Repairs to the damage, which was mostly concentrated 0:08:20.040 --> 0:08:23.800 around the lower fin, took two months. After this restoration 0:08:23.880 --> 0:08:27.920 was complete, its first voyage took place on Ape and 0:08:28.080 --> 0:08:31.520 this was a smooth nine hour flight. And soon after 0:08:31.840 --> 0:08:35.920 there was this really unique technology tested. The Acron tested 0:08:35.960 --> 0:08:38.360 what they called a spy basket on its next flight, 0:08:38.960 --> 0:08:41.400 and this spy basket was just as it sounds. This 0:08:41.520 --> 0:08:44.160 small addition that hung from the bottom of the airship 0:08:44.600 --> 0:08:46.880 was space for a man to sit in uh and 0:08:46.960 --> 0:08:50.440 observe the ground below. And the intent was that the 0:08:50.480 --> 0:08:53.360 ship itself could stay within cloud cover for the most part, 0:08:53.559 --> 0:08:56.719 while the basket could hang just below the clouds. This 0:08:56.920 --> 0:09:01.000 test did not go well. It really did not go well, 0:09:01.400 --> 0:09:04.400 and it's kind of it's not surprising to me that 0:09:04.440 --> 0:09:07.360 it did not go well. The spy basket swung back 0:09:07.400 --> 0:09:10.120 and forth really wildly, and it was considered to be 0:09:10.200 --> 0:09:14.120 way too unstable for practical use. Fortunately, though, the test 0:09:14.240 --> 0:09:17.000 was conducted with a sandbag in the spy seat and 0:09:17.040 --> 0:09:20.280 not an actual person, so no one was harmed or 0:09:20.320 --> 0:09:23.880 just traumatized by the test. No additional work was done 0:09:23.880 --> 0:09:25.560 to try to make it viable either. They were like, 0:09:25.600 --> 0:09:28.880 this is not gonna work, and they abandoned it immediately. Yeah, 0:09:28.920 --> 0:09:31.319 we're about to talk about an interesting mechanism that kind 0:09:31.360 --> 0:09:33.880 of ties into this, and I will explain. So we 0:09:33.920 --> 0:09:36.400 mentioned earlier that the Akron was intended to be an 0:09:36.400 --> 0:09:39.800 aircraft carrier, and the first time that function was tested 0:09:39.880 --> 0:09:43.040 was on May third of nWo and in that flight, 0:09:43.120 --> 0:09:45.679 which was conducted on the eastern seaboard along the New 0:09:45.760 --> 0:09:50.200 Jersey coastline, pilots used the Acrons so called trapeze installation, 0:09:50.280 --> 0:09:53.360 which was a method for docking aircraft with the dirigible 0:09:53.400 --> 0:09:55.800 in flight. And this kind of followed up on that 0:09:55.880 --> 0:09:59.960 spy basket idea because planes that were cooked on were 0:10:00.040 --> 0:10:04.000 still hanging under the airship initially, and those guys could 0:10:04.040 --> 0:10:06.400 also cite the ground, so that kind of replaced that 0:10:06.440 --> 0:10:09.679 whole idea. There's actually some footage of some of these 0:10:09.679 --> 0:10:11.679 types of connections and they give a sense of just 0:10:11.800 --> 0:10:14.719 how precise and skilled the pilots of the planes had 0:10:14.760 --> 0:10:17.520 to be. There was a rod assembly on the lower 0:10:17.559 --> 0:10:19.880 side of the akron and that was the trapeeze that 0:10:19.960 --> 0:10:22.800 had another rod across the bottom with a very slight 0:10:22.880 --> 0:10:25.800 downward bend in the middle, and so for a plane 0:10:25.840 --> 0:10:28.840 to dock it had to have uh what looked like 0:10:28.880 --> 0:10:32.800 an inverted basket of rods, also a fix to the 0:10:32.800 --> 0:10:35.439 top of it. So imagine like on top of the 0:10:35.480 --> 0:10:40.120 cockpit there's this whole other little assembly and at the 0:10:40.120 --> 0:10:43.640 apex of that inverted metal basket was a hook. So 0:10:43.679 --> 0:10:46.560 the pilot would have to carefully align his plane so 0:10:46.600 --> 0:10:50.079 that that hook would catch on to that trapeeze mechanism. 0:10:50.800 --> 0:10:53.719 Once the plane had hooked onto the trapeeze and settled 0:10:53.760 --> 0:10:56.360 to the bottom of the bend, mechanisms would drop into 0:10:56.400 --> 0:10:59.199 place to keep the plane's hooks centered there, and then 0:10:59.200 --> 0:11:01.440 the plane and the isilet could be drawn up into 0:11:01.480 --> 0:11:05.480 the akron's internal hangar. Uh. This has been described in 0:11:05.559 --> 0:11:09.319 some writings as like better than any amusement ride on Earth. 0:11:09.679 --> 0:11:11.959 To me, it seems slightly terrifying, but you're minding to 0:11:12.080 --> 0:11:17.800 be very uh well, and I'm wondering. I'm wondering what 0:11:18.000 --> 0:11:22.280 all signaling and what not they had to make connections 0:11:22.400 --> 0:11:26.400 just because um. Earlier this year, I toured the Midway 0:11:26.920 --> 0:11:29.880 and listened to pilots talk about landing on an aircraft 0:11:29.920 --> 0:11:33.960 carrier on the ocean. Yeah, which is also kind of 0:11:33.960 --> 0:11:36.760 a white knuckle experience. But like there there are definitely 0:11:36.800 --> 0:11:39.400 things that you have in your field division to align 0:11:39.440 --> 0:11:43.520 with in instruments. So I'm very curious. Yeah, since that 0:11:43.640 --> 0:11:49.320 was usually sort of centered underneath the the airship, like 0:11:49.360 --> 0:11:52.120 they could align a little bit just by centering. But 0:11:52.360 --> 0:11:55.840 I mean, it's it looks so sort of casual and relaxed. 0:11:55.880 --> 0:11:58.080 When you watch the footage, they just seem like they 0:11:58.160 --> 0:12:01.840 zip up, they're very it's smooth, and they just latch on. 0:12:01.960 --> 0:12:05.800 But I can't imagine that there weren't some clunkers they 0:12:06.440 --> 0:12:09.720 at some way, but these were also incredibly well trained pilots, 0:12:10.200 --> 0:12:12.480 and the two pilots that performed that maneuver in the 0:12:12.480 --> 0:12:16.280 May third test were Lieutenant Daniel W. Harrigan and Lieutenant 0:12:16.360 --> 0:12:19.680 Howard L. Young. They first did the demonstration with an 0:12:19.880 --> 0:12:23.760 end to Y Dash one biplane trainer and then with 0:12:23.800 --> 0:12:27.440 a Curtis x F nine c DASH one sparrowhawk, and 0:12:27.480 --> 0:12:31.120 these tests went really well, and they actually performed them 0:12:31.120 --> 0:12:33.600 again the next day for members of the House Committee 0:12:33.600 --> 0:12:36.560 for Naval Affairs who watched all of these proceedings and 0:12:36.559 --> 0:12:39.120 how well this whole thing worked from a vantage point 0:12:39.120 --> 0:12:42.679 as passengers on the Akron. On May eighth, the Akron 0:12:42.720 --> 0:12:45.400 took flight again, this time traveling down the East Coast 0:12:45.400 --> 0:12:49.280 to Georgia and then cutting west to California. The ultimate 0:12:49.360 --> 0:12:53.200 destination for the Akron was Sunnyvale, California, but a stop 0:12:53.280 --> 0:12:56.760 was planned at Camp Kearney in San Diego County, and 0:12:56.840 --> 0:13:00.280 this stop was a tricky undertaking. The crew a Camp 0:13:00.320 --> 0:13:03.480 Kearney had not brought in a dirigible like the Acron before, 0:13:04.040 --> 0:13:06.440 and the specialized moorings that were used at the Navy 0:13:06.480 --> 0:13:10.000 base in Lakers, New Jersey were not on hand, and 0:13:10.040 --> 0:13:12.800 to further complicate the landing, the craft was lighter than 0:13:12.840 --> 0:13:15.080 normal because it had burned so much fuel on this 0:13:15.160 --> 0:13:18.200 cross country trip, and because the heat from the sun 0:13:18.240 --> 0:13:21.120 had warmed it, the gases inside had expanded to be 0:13:21.240 --> 0:13:23.760 less dense, so it just wasn't as easy to control 0:13:23.840 --> 0:13:26.920 as it normally would be. Those two factors led to 0:13:26.960 --> 0:13:29.959 a loss of control of the ship, and to prevent 0:13:30.000 --> 0:13:32.640 it from hitting the ground nose first, the mooring cable 0:13:32.679 --> 0:13:35.520 had to be cut. This did prevent a crash, but 0:13:35.600 --> 0:13:38.880 it also resulted in a tragedy. Four of the men 0:13:38.960 --> 0:13:41.319 who were holding lines to the ship didn't let go, 0:13:41.559 --> 0:13:43.560 and one of them fell from a height of fifteen 0:13:43.600 --> 0:13:46.360 feet which is four point six meters, and broken arm. 0:13:47.200 --> 0:13:51.679 Three others held on. Initially, apprentice seamen cm Cowart was 0:13:51.760 --> 0:13:54.600 able to cling to the line and not lose his grip, 0:13:54.920 --> 0:13:57.600 and after a wild ride of about an hour, he 0:13:57.640 --> 0:14:01.079 was pulled onto the akron. Yeah, there was allegedly an 0:14:01.080 --> 0:14:03.679 attempt or a thought for a while that they were 0:14:03.720 --> 0:14:05.719 going to land just him on the ground, but then 0:14:05.720 --> 0:14:08.360 they realized they were not confident that they could do 0:14:08.440 --> 0:14:10.679 it without like slamming him into the ground, so he 0:14:10.760 --> 0:14:13.840 ended up being pulled aboard. Two other men were not 0:14:13.920 --> 0:14:18.000 so lucky. Aviation Carpenter's mate, third Class Robert H. Edsel, 0:14:18.120 --> 0:14:21.800 and apprentice Seaman Nigel M. Hinton both died after they 0:14:21.840 --> 0:14:23.880 lost their grips on the lines that they held and 0:14:23.920 --> 0:14:26.800 they fell to their deaths, and when interviewed a few 0:14:26.840 --> 0:14:29.120 days later, Cowart, who was the man who had survived, 0:14:29.120 --> 0:14:32.040 said quote, I just hung on. I saw the other 0:14:32.080 --> 0:14:34.400 fellows fall and it didn't make me feel any too good, 0:14:34.440 --> 0:14:36.680 but there was nothing I could do about it except 0:14:36.720 --> 0:14:40.840 to hang on tighter. The Acron continued its missions, though 0:14:40.880 --> 0:14:43.320 it stayed on the West coast for several weeks, It 0:14:43.440 --> 0:14:46.760 traveled north to the Canadian border and participated in scouting 0:14:46.760 --> 0:14:49.520 fleet exercises similar to the one that we mentioned earlier, 0:14:49.560 --> 0:14:52.360 when it searched for destroyers that were headed to Guantanamo Bay. 0:14:53.120 --> 0:14:57.840 The Acron once again performed admirably in these exercises. In June, 0:14:58.120 --> 0:15:01.120 the airship left California to head back to lake Hurst, 0:15:01.240 --> 0:15:04.080 and that journey took four days from June eleven to 0:15:04.240 --> 0:15:08.520 June fifteenth, two before the Acron was able to get home, 0:15:08.600 --> 0:15:12.080 and that was in part because it encountered several incidents 0:15:12.080 --> 0:15:14.800 of just really bad weather along the way, and when 0:15:14.800 --> 0:15:17.760 the Akron finally docked in New Jersey, the seventy nine 0:15:17.760 --> 0:15:21.200 main crew was exhausted from the journey. When they're described 0:15:21.240 --> 0:15:23.760 as coming down the gang point, they just all sound 0:15:23.800 --> 0:15:26.680 like they were completely depleted. And the next several weeks 0:15:26.720 --> 0:15:29.640 brought a welcome respite from flights as the airship underwent 0:15:29.680 --> 0:15:33.560 maintenance and repairs. In July, the Akron was once again 0:15:33.600 --> 0:15:36.080 air ready and assisted in a rescue mission when the 0:15:36.160 --> 0:15:38.680 yacht Curlew went missing. This had been part of a 0:15:38.720 --> 0:15:41.160 six d and twenty eight mile which is a thousand 0:15:41.160 --> 0:15:44.520 and eleven kilometer race from Montauk to Bermuda, when the 0:15:44.560 --> 0:15:47.200 boat and the six people on it were lost during 0:15:47.240 --> 0:15:50.200 some bad weather. All the other twenty five yachts made 0:15:50.240 --> 0:15:52.840 it through, but contact with the Curlew had been lost. 0:15:53.480 --> 0:15:56.880 The Akron was ordered to fly in circles along the 0:15:56.920 --> 0:15:59.600 course from the Curlew's last known location and to try 0:15:59.600 --> 0:16:03.840 to report results back to naval operations. It was eventually 0:16:03.880 --> 0:16:07.400 found off the coast of Nantucket. Yeah, but that yacht 0:16:07.400 --> 0:16:09.320 search had caused a little bit of a pause in 0:16:09.360 --> 0:16:12.080 the Acron's training missions. But we're gonna get right back 0:16:12.080 --> 0:16:15.080 into that after we first take a quick break to 0:16:15.200 --> 0:16:17.360 hear from one of the sponsors that keep stuff you 0:16:17.360 --> 0:16:25.320 missed in history class going. So the focus of the 0:16:25.360 --> 0:16:29.280 Akron's efforts at that point rescue missions for yachts aside 0:16:29.840 --> 0:16:33.560 was continued experimentation and development of the trapeeze system. They 0:16:33.560 --> 0:16:36.120 really wanted to primarily just drill the pilots so that 0:16:36.160 --> 0:16:39.360 they would be extremely good at this uh and the 0:16:39.400 --> 0:16:42.520 man in charge of these ongoing trapeze experiments, as appointed 0:16:42.520 --> 0:16:46.520 by Rear Admiral Moffatt, was Commander alger Herman Dressel, and 0:16:46.600 --> 0:16:50.320 under Dressel's leadership, the AKRON continued to advance its trapeeze work, 0:16:50.400 --> 0:16:53.880 eventually achieving the ability to manage a full load of 0:16:53.960 --> 0:16:59.280 Curtis F nine C two sparrowhawks on August two. There 0:16:59.320 --> 0:17:02.320 was a new pro problem, though, due to a timing 0:17:02.360 --> 0:17:05.480 accident and the relay of orders because the command was 0:17:05.520 --> 0:17:08.919 given to early, the dirigibles fin hit a beam in 0:17:09.000 --> 0:17:11.640 the hangar as it was being taken off its moorings. 0:17:12.119 --> 0:17:14.240 This put a stop to the trapeze training that had 0:17:14.240 --> 0:17:17.399 been underway while the Finn had to be repaired, but 0:17:17.440 --> 0:17:20.480 the last quarter of nineteen thirty two still yielded eight 0:17:20.520 --> 0:17:24.199 successful flights for the Acron, so that a little accident 0:17:24.240 --> 0:17:26.600 had happened in August and they were able to repair 0:17:26.640 --> 0:17:30.480 it pretty quickly. Training continued for the Trapeez system as 0:17:30.480 --> 0:17:33.399 well as training for the Gun and Lookout cruise, and 0:17:33.440 --> 0:17:36.800 they also worked with a formation scouting setup to test 0:17:36.840 --> 0:17:39.880 that where two planes flanked the Akron as they performed 0:17:39.880 --> 0:17:44.199 search exercises. In early nine thirty three, the Acron had 0:17:44.200 --> 0:17:48.159 a leadership change. Commander Dressel was moved to the akron 0:17:48.280 --> 0:17:52.840 sister ship, the USS, making His replacement was Commander Frank McCord. 0:17:53.080 --> 0:17:56.680 This personnel change took place on January third, ninety three, 0:17:56.720 --> 0:18:00.439 and almost immediately McCord was underway on a flight with 0:18:00.520 --> 0:18:04.040 his new command and the Akron on this This first 0:18:04.040 --> 0:18:06.840 flight under McCord traveled down the East coast to Florida, 0:18:07.040 --> 0:18:11.000 stopping in Miami Dade County at Opallaca, Florida, to refuel. 0:18:11.440 --> 0:18:13.720 This is not to be confused with the very very 0:18:13.760 --> 0:18:18.640 familiar sounding Opalaika, which is a city in Alabama. After 0:18:18.680 --> 0:18:22.280 the refuel at the Naval Reserve Aviation Base in Opelaca, 0:18:22.640 --> 0:18:26.879 the Akron proceeded to Guantanama Bay, Cuba. This mission was 0:18:26.920 --> 0:18:30.560 to inspect bases, and the crew performing those inspections was 0:18:30.600 --> 0:18:33.800 actually taxied from the Akron in flight to the basis 0:18:33.920 --> 0:18:37.879 via an into Y one biplane. Once the inspection rounds 0:18:37.880 --> 0:18:40.719 were completed, Commander McCord and his crew took the Acron 0:18:40.800 --> 0:18:45.280 back to New Jersey. Inclement weather kept the Akron grounded 0:18:45.320 --> 0:18:47.960 for several weeks at Lakehurst, but it wasn't long before 0:18:48.000 --> 0:18:51.880 the trapeze training continued. And as we mentioned when describing 0:18:51.920 --> 0:18:55.400 the trapeze mechanism, it really did require an incredibly deft 0:18:55.400 --> 0:18:57.200 hand on the part of a pilot to hook onto 0:18:57.240 --> 0:19:00.159 the airship. So it really, uh if it's see was 0:19:00.200 --> 0:19:02.000 like we're just saying over and over that they were 0:19:02.000 --> 0:19:04.240 doing a lot of training in this particular area. It's 0:19:04.320 --> 0:19:07.320 because they were. It was needed to get those pilots 0:19:07.359 --> 0:19:09.520 just so proficient that they could do it almost without 0:19:09.520 --> 0:19:13.840 having to think. When Franklin Delano Roosevelt was worn in 0:19:14.000 --> 0:19:16.399 as the thirty second President of the United States on 0:19:16.440 --> 0:19:20.480 March fourth, three, the Akron was overhead, but just a 0:19:20.520 --> 0:19:24.080 week later, on March eleventh, Acron once again left its 0:19:24.119 --> 0:19:28.000 northeast home of Lakehurst. This time the mission took the 0:19:28.040 --> 0:19:31.280 airship to Panama, stopping once again at opal Laca, Florida 0:19:31.440 --> 0:19:34.359 en route, and after that the dirigible and its crew 0:19:34.400 --> 0:19:37.040 were on course for the naval station at Balboa in 0:19:37.040 --> 0:19:39.760 the Panama Canal zone, which sits just at the south 0:19:39.880 --> 0:19:41.479 end of the canal if you're looking at it, and 0:19:41.600 --> 0:19:44.679 that's the entrance from the Pacific Ocean. And as with 0:19:44.720 --> 0:19:47.560 the Acron's mission to Cuba, the objective in this case 0:19:47.640 --> 0:19:50.359 was an inspection, this time of a possible site for 0:19:50.400 --> 0:19:54.359 an air base. Once the inspection was concluded, the Akron 0:19:54.400 --> 0:19:58.520 headed back to Opelaka. This time additional drills were conducted 0:19:58.560 --> 0:20:01.880 at the Florida base. The gun cruise got target practice, 0:20:02.000 --> 0:20:05.520 using the N two y ones as targets. As March 0:20:06.600 --> 0:20:09.000 came to a close, the Acron headed back to New 0:20:09.080 --> 0:20:12.560 Jersey from Florida, but the airship wasn't moored for long. 0:20:13.000 --> 0:20:16.600 On April third, another mission began, and this time it 0:20:16.680 --> 0:20:20.440 was intended to help calibrate radio direction finding stations along 0:20:20.480 --> 0:20:23.919 the New England coast which were used for radio triangulation. 0:20:24.800 --> 0:20:27.920 But the voyage wasn't smooth. When the Akron passed over 0:20:27.960 --> 0:20:31.040 Barneket Light in Ocean County, New Jersey that ten pm 0:20:31.040 --> 0:20:34.280 on April three. The airship was already dealing with severe weather. 0:20:34.840 --> 0:20:37.320 Two and a half hours later, at twelve thirty am 0:20:37.400 --> 0:20:40.160 on April fourth, the Acron was swipped by a particularly 0:20:40.240 --> 0:20:44.720 powerful gust and dropped tail first into the sea. There 0:20:44.760 --> 0:20:48.840 had been a witness to the struggle the acron struggle 0:20:48.880 --> 0:20:50.760 with the wind, and that was a German ship called 0:20:50.800 --> 0:20:54.240 Phoebus that had seen lights in the air dropping down 0:20:54.280 --> 0:20:57.320 toward the Atlantic, and the crew aboard the Phoebus actually 0:20:57.359 --> 0:21:00.919 thought they were witnessing a plane crash, so Phoebus altered 0:21:00.960 --> 0:21:04.240 course to investigate. In about a half hour after the incident, 0:21:04.320 --> 0:21:07.040 they pulled the first person from the water, and that 0:21:07.080 --> 0:21:10.479 was Lieutenant Commander Henry V. Wiley, who was unconscious at 0:21:10.480 --> 0:21:12.920 the time. At this point, the crew of the Phoebus 0:21:12.960 --> 0:21:15.919 still thought they were finding the results of a plane crash. 0:21:16.040 --> 0:21:18.159 They had no idea that the Acron had been in 0:21:18.160 --> 0:21:21.520 the area. Phoebus also sent out its boat to widen 0:21:21.560 --> 0:21:26.080 the search for victims. The boat crew fished Boson's mate, 0:21:26.119 --> 0:21:30.480 second class Richard E. Deal Aviation Metalsmith's second class Moody 0:21:30.520 --> 0:21:34.199 e Irvin and Chief Radioman Robert W. Copeland out of 0:21:34.200 --> 0:21:38.560 the turbulent water. Copeland died after being transferred to the Phoebus, 0:21:38.600 --> 0:21:42.440 despite efforts to revive him. As the rescue effort continued, 0:21:42.480 --> 0:21:46.040 Lieutenant Commander Wiley regained consciousness and communicated to the crew 0:21:46.160 --> 0:21:48.440 of the German vessel, but it had been the Acron 0:21:48.680 --> 0:21:51.040 and not a plane that they saw to send into 0:21:51.040 --> 0:21:54.760 the sea. For more than five hours, Phoebus continued to 0:21:54.800 --> 0:21:59.080 search for survivors, but their efforts were for not two 0:21:59.119 --> 0:22:01.439 more men. Actually, he died in the search effort when 0:22:01.480 --> 0:22:04.919 another blimp, the non rigid J three, which also served 0:22:04.920 --> 0:22:07.479 out of the base at Lakehurst, went on a mission 0:22:07.480 --> 0:22:12.159