Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-01-02
The Shena ndoah Report.

IIC OllCllc HUOdH bSpoAt'
After a Ions and ptinstakinG in
nuirv. a naval court of inquiry has
declared that the wreck of the dirigi-
hle Shenandoah in September was due
10 natural forces that the ship as il
was then equipped, was unable to re-
sist that the disaster was not attribu-
table in any degree To faults Of man
acement or navigation: that blame is
10 he attributed To no person attached
to the craft: that. finally. the wreck
is part of the price that must in
evitably he paid in the development Of
any new and hazardous art"
This is the expected findinc- Ger
tain matters OF controversy have re
suited in general declarations by the
court which will probably provoke fur
Their discussion. The court strongly
intimates that changes in the gas cells
system of the ship may have been an
important contributing factor to the
disaster. These changes the court
holds to have been inadViSable and
the urging of them by the late com
mander of the Shenandoah. the RECON-
mendation of the comman iinC officer
At Lakehurst. and their fnaI approval
as an experiment by the chief of he
Bureau of Naval AeronautiCs. are, in
the light of subsequent events. viewed
as errors of judgment" These rec
concentrations. however. were all
made after full consideration by the
most expert officers of the Navy. and
did not. in the opinion of The court.
involve negligence or Culpability. The
court finds itself unable To determine
whether tho Shenandoah would have
weathered the storm had these
changes not been made
Definitely rejecting the contention
that Commander Lansdowne w3s OPP
posed to the flight at that particular
time. owing to weather conditions. the
court holds that he was entirely jus
tifled in starting from LakehurSt
when he did. as the weather reports
indicated nothing TO render the voy.
age unsafe. The court. however.
urges more extensive mateorologi-
cal service ana more frequent broad
casting of reports. which. in this in
stance. would probably grently have
contributed 10 the safe navigation Of
the Shena ndoah
Finally. the court holds hat such
flights as the Shenandoah was MAX
40 hai, pIx
mission and largely in response to re-
quests for visits To State fairs are in
advisable. and il recommends that
such movements should lie limited to
essential military and naval opera
tions, especially in the case Of new
and experimental types
Thus, in the judgment of the court
Of inquiry. the Shenandoah had been
weakened through an error of judg-
ment and was sent on its voyage
through an error of policy, but that in
the handling Of the vessel and in the
timing of the flight no one is to be
held blameworthy, but, on the con.
trary, every person attached to the
airship is deserving Of the highest
praise for skill and fidelity
Three distinct facts appear from
this report: The change in the air
valve system was a mistake the me
geological service of the Govern
nent is inadequate: the sendinc of
aircraft on other than strictly mill
tary missions is unwarrantod.
In one respect positive remedial
nea sures may be adopted in the light
of the Shenandoah wreck making for
greater safety in the air in the future.
7hi3 is in the enlargement and i'm
prnvement of the weather forecastin"
service. with especial bearing upon
aviation. The loss of the Shenandoah
n ii can he attributed to any one
specific cause outside OF the storm
itself is 10 be charged against the in
adequacy of meteorological informa-
ton fault which, in the present
st, te of the science, can be corrected.
II the lesson of the Shena ndoah is
learned fully and appropriations are
sufficiently made tor weather service
extension. there should never he a
repetition of this disaster in this
country.