Evening star., 1925-09-06
Wreck Inquiry Board Finds
Craft Twice Size of Air
Giant Needed.
IMMEDIATE BUILDING
OF WAR DIRIGIBLE URGED
Fight of Ill-Fated Mammoth's
Grew Is Called an Epic
in Flying Annals.
BY the Associated Press.

BY the Associated Press.
CALDWELL, Ohio, September 8
Carry on" was the tenor of the off
cial statement OF the board investiga-
ton into the causes of the wreck OF
the Navy dirigible Shenandoah issued
tonight by Capt. George Washington
Steele, jr., commandant of the Lake
hurst, N. J., naval air station.
THE Navy Department will need
the support Of the country and the
press to carry on at Lakehurst." said
the statement Capt. Lansdowne
and his officers and men gave their
lives for the cause. Let the country
give its support to the Navy Depart
ment and their sacrifice may not be in
vain"
The battle with the elements Thurs
day morning, which left the once
proud daughter Of the stars broken
and scattered over the terrain of the
Allegheny foothills, and which brought
to death II members of the gallant
crew, was declared by Capt. Steele as
constituting an epic in the annals of
aviation.
No Fault of Crew.
II am sure that everything was done
that could have been done by officers
and crew. That she met disaster
believe was no fault of her construc
tion or of her operators"
The issuance of the statement
marked only the slightest pause in
the inquiryN being conducted along
two separate lines by the Navy De-
partment. Capt. Steele and Comdr
Jacob II. Klein and their fellow off,
lss.r
again. Rear Admiral C. w Dyson,
inspector general of the Navy De-
partment and chief of the Bureau of
Engineering, was making an investi-
cation simultaneously, but separate
ly. He will report directly to Sec
retary of the Navy Wilbur. His spe-
cial observation Is to be concentrated
on possible weakness in the construc-
ton materials of the wrecked dirigi
BILE.
1t was definitely established in the
Investigations made today that the
airship buckled amidships by the force
of the gale and broke into two Sec
tions, one section free -ballooning
over a hazardous and circuitous
course to a hillside resting place IL
miles away, the other settling more
Immediately to the earth. Further
breaking up of the portion which
dropped more directly to the ground
was caused by the contact 1t could not
avoid with high tree tops. Some of
these smaller fragments were lodged
in the branches of the trees that COW
cred the slopes.
Capt. Steele's Statement.
Capt. Steele's statement, the first
formal Dronouncement by a Navy off
cial here, concerning the wreck said:
The cause of the disaster Is very
apparently due to the effect of forces
which the airship was unable to with
stand. l have sailed with Capt Lans-
downe and know how careful a navi-
gator he was. This storm, whose an
proach was not heralded, came sud
denly upon the ship and fianked it
upon three sides. The opposing winds
from the fourth side were so strong
that despite full speed on the engines
the ship was unable to drive her way
clear before the storm closed in and
engulfed it.
The survivors tell of the wonderful
battle with the elements waged by the
captain and the crew of the ship, and
l am sure that everything was done
which could have been done by the
officers and the crew. The wonderful
skill and presence of mind shown by
Lieut.. Comdr. Rosendahl and Lieut..
Mayer, Lieut.. Anderson, Col. Hall and
the others who brought the forward
end of the ship safely to earth. will
constitute an epic in the annals of
aviation"
The articles for the government of
the Navy which say that any officer or
man shall be court.martiaIed who
shall pusillanimously cry for quarter"
were cited by Capt. Steele as the
Navy's answer to the question mark
that has been placed upon the future
of the dirigible branch of naval
aeronautics.
Pusillanimous to Give Up.
'It would be pusillanimous for this
country to give up this important
development at this time. but il is
entirely up to the country whether
1t Is given up or not. The construc-
tion OF new Shenandoah twice the
size OF the unfortunate ship whose
remains strew these hillsfdes should
be begun without delay. The first bal
loon was flown in this country in
1898 and since that time the practice
of ballooning has been practically
continuous. The United States has
reached a stage in this art where it
Is now possible to cross the ocean in
balloon which may be directed at
sessed a scout of great value and a
retrenchment of the policy will leave
the Navy without this valuable aid
He further points out that the Los
Angeles, the Shenandoah's sister, now
in the home hangar at Lakehurst, Is
treaty bound not to be used for war
purposes or in military maneuvers.
This, Capt. Steele says, makes requi-
site the Shenandoah's replacement
Out Of the demolition of the Shenan-
doah is bound to come some benefit to
the future OF the operation of lighter
than-air craft, in the opinion of
Capt. Steele. The observations made
by the survivors while the storm was
buffeting the ship about and after she
had broken up and was free-balloon-
ing over the countryside, he said in
his statement, were clear and thor
ough. They promise to be of great
value in determining in details the
causes of the accident when time is
available to sift the evidence care
fully"
The testimony of witnesses to the
disaster was taken today by the Lake
hurst officials. In an old-fashioned
country parlor, the captain and com.
manders in gold braid and bright-col-
ored insignia listened to the stories
of the Ava toWnsmen and their rural