Evening star., 1925-09-03
SHIP WON FAME
u. BY LONG FLIGHT
Bettered Time of Fastest
Train From Lakehurst to
Pacific Coast.

The dirigible Shenandoah designed
by the Bureau of Naval Aeronautics
and constructed at the naval airship
station, Lakehurst. y. J.. was an i'm
proved type Of the Zeppelin L-33 and
the British R-33 class. of which she
was a very close duplicate in dimen-
sions.
She was the first rigid airship built
in America. Six hundred and eighty
feet in length, with a maximum diam
eter of 1871, she contained 19 gas cells
with capacity Of 2,lf5,00o cubic
feet Her power plant consisted of six
3o0-horsepower Packard engines, capa-
bic Of driving her at a maximum speed
Of so miles an hour.
The Shenandoah was completed In
the Summer Of 1923 and her test
flights were very satisfactory. While
attached to her nooring mast at Lake
hurst on January II, 1924, the ship
was torn loose in a violent gale While
only a skeleton crew was on board.
Rides Out Storm Safely.
The whole mooring fitting and part
of the nose framing were wrenched
out Of the ship, the forward gas bag
was ripped and the following one was
punctured, but the crew had four OF
the six engines running within two
water were released TO restore her
trim and she weathered the storm
without further structural damage
and was again housed in her shed
after a few hours.
Last October the Shenandoah was
given remarkable test in the form
| OF a. transcon tinental flight. Leaving
the Lakehurst station on October I.
! she cruised to the Pacific coast and
return in 235 air hours. completing the
round trip of S,1OO miles on Octo-
J Der 25.
Including a stay OF II days on the
| West coast. she was away from Lake
hurst for 18 days Her actual nying
| time between Lakehurst, Fort worth
| Tex; San Diego, Calf, ana camp
| Lewis at Tacoma, Wash, and return
not counting the time consumed in
| locating mooring nasts through the
( fog on two occasions. was 23b hours J
| minutes, against the fastest express
| train time between these points OF z -
| hours 80 minutes. deducting time Tor
connections.
Carried Ter Machine Guns.
Tho Shenandoah was inflated with
heIjunn gas. which is noninfamma bic
non.noisonous and the next lightest
gas to hydrogen. This gas, extracted
| from, the natural gas of certain 1elds
| in Texas and Kansas, is not Iouhd
| in commercial quantities elsewhere
| II is extracted by a Government plant
| in Texas.
The dirigible was recently equipped
with 10 machine guns, TWO IL the
after car two in the forward cabin.
from which the airship was steefeo
and one in each of the six power gon
! dolas This armament, 1t was stated
was for use in repelling airplane at
tack in time Of war.
| Tho success achieved by the SheH-
andoah in her transcontinental tour
| and other test voyages led to plans
| for her use in United states haFai
jexpedition to the Arctic.
| The plans as drawn UP called Tor
stationing vessels, fitted with mooring
n1asts, al Nome, Alaska. and Spitzber-
: gen, the Norwegian archipelago
Polar Trip Called OF.
| It was hoped she would be able 10
reach the Pole, and her crew was eager
| for the trip. but after her storm Elk
perience at IIakehurst. in which she
was torn from the moortng mast,
| plans for the polar flight were aoan-
| doned by order of President Coolidge.
! The United States possesses only one
/ other dirigible. the Los Angeles, when
was built at the Zeppelin works In
| Friederichshafen, Germany Inc Los
| Angeles. however, under the terms OF
| the peace treaty by which she was
| constructed, can be used only for
commercial and experimental flights.
| The Shenandoah was this country 5
| only dirigible of war.
| The Shenandoah's metal framework
was constructed of duralumin, com.
position of aluminium. copper and
! manganese, having the tensile strength
| OF mild steel with only one-thtrd its
weight The outer sheathing was Of
cotton fabric painted aluminium, this
serving only as a weather protection
| and streamline for the gas bags within.