New Britain herald., 1925-04-16
R-33 Breaks Loose From Mooring Mast During Gale And Es- capes With But Few On Board.
Those in Charge Unable to Keep Craft Headed Homeward and No Chance of Reaching Station Tonight.
By Tho Associated Press.

By Tho Associated Press.
 London, April 16.--Riding north
 ward before the winds that swept
 the North Sea, the big British diligi-
 ble, R43S which tore away from her
 mooring mast at Pullman, Norfolk,
 this morning apparently cannot be
 kept headed homeward by the crew
 oe twenty which was aboard her
 when she broke loose. There is no
 chance of the R-33 returning to Pull
 ram air station tonight, it is unoffi- cially announced.
 The wind has veered from a wes- terly direction to the northwest and aas slightly decreased in the neigh
 Jorhood of the ship, which is now about seventy miles northeast of Amsterdam. The wind has definite {" decreased in the north of Eng and. The British naval sloop God tia is following the dirigible. The big British dirigible, R-33,
 tster-ship of the R-34, which was le first lighter-than-air craft to 1foss the Atlantic. broke loose hortly before 10 o'clock this morn Ing in one of the heaviest south vest gales that has swept England n months.
 Kept Under Control The twenty men aboard kept her under control despite the fact that he big ships nose dragged when !; tore away from the mooring mast. With the wind, which earlier in he day had reached the force of ! full gale, gradually subsiding. the ear of serious accident lessened I'd 1t was hoped that the ship ould be able to moor again late is evening. Radio Says "An o. K" Although it first appeared that e R-33 was manageable the ex- ,nrts soon had the engines running nd the wireless working, and :ithln two hours after the big flier vas swept out over the storm swept vaters of the North sea, she was partially under control and making 1me headway against the gale. AS ..he storm spent itself, little diff u}ty in steering was experienced, Hd by 12:30 o'clock the wireless oerator aboard was able to signal All o. K"
 News Causes Sensation The news that the F-S3 had rokon away was the greatest air nip sensation in England since the atal explosion aboard the R-3S in !y21 when the dirigible built to be- come the ZR-2 of the United States ir fleet was wrecked during a trial light near Hull, with the loss of l6 lives including 16 Americans. The R-SS is smaller edition than hat craft and until few weeks ago when 1t made short test flight, it had not flown since the E R-3S disaster. It had been housed , inF the big hangar at Darlington, ] where it was almost entirely re- built and the newest improvement j ot design incorporated.
 When the R-3S broke loose this I morning there was a prolonged rip ] ping sound as she tore away from I her mooring mast. A few moments I later little group of watchers saw 4 inc big air vessel speeding past i lIarleston low in the air and almost scraping the tops of farmhouses as ! l.. swept along helplessly in the gale. Within 40 minutes the R-33 was above Port Lowestoft, 30 miles from { Pullman, battling brayely against B the gale but stil in danger and dip
 ping eartllward with sudden shifts I of the wind. Crowds assembled on i he shore to watch the struggle and i he harbor lifcboats put out to give
 my aid within their power.
 Danger Finally Past
 Slowly, as the engines began to urn, the sh. } took an even keel, and within three hours after her headlong flight began the worst danger had passed. although there
 was always the possibility of s breakdown of the motors which
 might prove disastrous.
 Immediately after the accident,
 very wireless station in the east of
 England as we'll as In continental 4 countries bordering on the North sea were informed of the airship's S blight. Vessels in the North sea
 lso were directed to keep a lookout
 lr the craft.
 2I Men on Board
 The R-33 was commanded by its
 irst officer, Flight Lieutenant R. $.
 tooth, and 20 men of the regular
 rev of 2S were aboard. It had
 aeen planned for her to make test
 fight today and for this reason
 here were more men of the crew
 n board than would have been the
 lse otherwise.
 R-SS Survivor on Board
 1t 4S0 o'clock the air ministry
 nnounced receipt of a message from
 he R-S3 stating she was approxi. nately 75 miles northwest of Ann
 sterdam and still maintaining her
 tContinued on Page l5)