Evening star., 1925-09-03
The Loss of the Shenandoah.

The Loss OF the Shenandoah.
Another American airship has been
destroyed by the elements. Shenan-
doah, the great naval dirigible, caught
by a violent storm while sailing over
Ohio this morning, was broken into
two parts and crashed 10 earth, killing
1S of its crew and injuring the others.
This is the third American dirigible
that has been destroye in the air.
The ZR-2, bought in E. and for the
United States. buckled over the Hum
her River August a, 1927. and over
40 persons, including IL Americans.
lost their lives. The Roma. bought in
Italy by this Government, caught fire
in the air in flight near Hampton
Roads February 81, 1922, and in the
crash 81 men were killed. The latest
report of the Shenandoah disaster in
dicates l3 fatalities, and many in
iured.
The ship broke in two. one part
falling some distance away, with Il
loss of all of those in the cabin at
tached to it, while the other descended
in a cornf1eld with no fatalities. The
heaviest loss in lighter than-air navi-
cation was that of the French diri-
sible DiXmude, which fell into the
Mediterranean NJ December u 1928.
with the loss of all on board. 81 men.
She was probably struck by lightning.
Compared with the lighter than-air
planes, not reckoning losses during
the war in battle service the trage-
dies OF the dirisible have been far
more costly in terms Of proportion of
the number of planes and balloons
and of flights. The dirigible car
ries large numbers. the plane but few.
The dirigible has an element of safety
in case the engine is disabled superior
TO that of the plane. But the great
size of the gas bag exposes it to the
Jury of the elements. The Shenan-
doah was broken in twain by sud
den, fierce gust of wind. There can
be no safeguarding against such a
mischance III the air
Despite this disaster. the latest of a
long series, which prove the fallibility
Of the dirigible, the construction of
these immense airships will undoubt-
edly be continued. They may be made
stouter, to stand all stresses of un-
expected conditions. They perhaps
will be lessened in size to increase
their chance of endurance under the
inG ic
from the fragments Of Shenan-
doah may be deduced the specific
causes of this failure. Was she too
large for safety, or was there some
flaw in her construction? Shenandoah
had previous experience with the
storm when she was blown from her
mooring mast at Lakehurst some
months ago and carried out to sea.
returning in safety, however, with no
loss of life. 1t was felt then that she
had proved her capacity to withstand
The hardest blows of the wind This
disaster in Ohio proves that she was
not stout enough for all assaults.
When it was proposed to send
Shenandoah into the Arctic region
for exploration objection was raised
hat the craft could not withstand the
stress of the severe weather likely to
he encountered there. Furious storms
prevail in the frozen region. probably
more intense than that which broke
the back of the great airship a few
hours ago. y collapse in the Arctic
would have meant the loss of all on
board, whereas the fall in Ohio was
fatal TO only a part of the crew.
Mans effort to conquer the ain and
To use it for transport has been eX-
pensfre in human lives. With all the
advances that have been made within
less than 20 --ears of active aviation
development, the appliances are still
subject to failure. A heavy risk is in
volved in flight. Yet it is assured
nat flying will continue in both plane
and dirigible. Perhaps some day the
perfect device will be evolved, strong
enough for all conditions, safe enough
Tor daily practical use. Thus far the
dirigible has not reached that point
If perfection.