Evening star., 1933-04-04
The Loss of the Akron.

4uc AOSS OI The AkIOu.
The staggering proportions Of the
tragedy in loss of life alone over
| shadow for the time being everything
else in connection with the destruction
Of the Akron. AS this is written it seems
probable that the brave crew which
sailed the ship has been practically
wiped out-only three Of the seventy
seven officers and men aboard her hav-
ing survived. In loss of life the Akron's
sinking takes rank as the major catas-
trophe of the air, the most appalling
tragedy in the history of aviation.
The ranking officer aboard her, as
an observer, was Rear Admiral William
A. Moffett, chief of the Bureau of
Naval Aeronautics. And in the death
Of this beloved officer aboard the ship
that was built to vindicate his own
great faith in the future of lighter
than-air craft, one finds a curious
manifestation of the fates that rule
men and the events which are shaped
by men.
After the loss of the Shenandoah over
the village of Ava, Ohio, in September
of 1925, and with her the death of
fourteen officers and men, there were
many who were willing to write fms
to the chapter Of aeronautical develop
ment in America which dealt with
lighter-than-air craft. Previous to the
loss Of the Shenandoah, the first airship
OF any size built in America, there had
been the fatal wreck of the Italian-bui
Roma near Hampton Roads on Febru-
ary 81, 1922, and the loss of "a Of her
Army crew, and before that the ZR-2,
built for the American Navy by Eng
land, had gone down in flames as her
frames buckled over the Humber River
near Hull, England, on trial trip,
carrying to their death AZ men.
Only the Germans seemed to have
found the trick Of building these
mighty ships of the air, and the Los
Angeles, German built, had demon
strated her worth when she was flown
over for the Navy in 1924. Rear Ad-
miral Moffett believed that these ships,
despite the lack of faith in them by
many specialists in the aviation world,
had a distinct mission and that this
country should pave the way in demon
strating their practicability. AS a
keen student of naval tactics, he had
come to place great faith in the diri-
gible as scouting arm Of the fleet.
More than once he quoted the German
officers who said that their ability to
discover the British fleet at the battle
Of Jutland by use of dirigible airships
had made each one of these craft
worth at least six cruisers. And it was
chiefly due to his insistence and his
confidence in the future of dirigible
aircraft that Congress decided to
launch a five-year dirigible airship-
building program in June Of 1926, au-
thorizing two ships at cost of some
thing in excess of $7,5O0,o0
The Akron was christened by Mrs.
Hoover in 1881. She was, roughly,
about twice as large as any airship ever
built. She exceeded her contract weight
specifications, at the time she was ac-
cepted by the Navy, by about 10000
pounds. But the builder paid penalty
measured in dollars for each pound
over weight and the Navy found her
maneuverable. She met the tests and
became the queen of the worlds ar
feet.
What happened to her early this
morning may never be known exactly.
She crashed, and then burned. The
fact that she went down in a heavy
electric storm has given rise to specula-
ton as to whether she was struck by
lightning. In the loss Of the French
Dixmude over the Mediterranean in De-
cember, 1928, on a flight to Africa,
lightning was blamed. Nobody saw
that accident and none Of the So men
aboard her lived to tell the tale. But
as non-explosive heliun, instead of the
highly inflammable hydrogen, was used
as the bouyancy gas on the Akron, it
was felt that the hazards of lightning
and fire had been diminished. The first
official reports indicate that the ship
was struck by lightning and caught fire.
1t will require more investigation to
determine the cause OF the accident be-
yond doubt.
The question now is whether the loss
of the Akron means the end Of large
scale experimenting, in this country,
with dirigible aircraft. She has gone
down almost on the eve Of the commits
sioning Of her sister ship, the Macon,
built at cost OF about $2,45o 900.
The brave traditions of the conquest
Of the air take no account of the past;
aviators look only forward, toward to-
morrow. But it is only reasonable to
believe that the Macon. to come into
service under such circumstances, must
start at the very beginning to regain
public confidence in form of aviation
that has always been handicapped by
the lack of it. The loss of the Akron
undoubtedly means heavy blow to the
dreams of those who have sought to
give dirigible aircraft a commercial
standing in the trade and commerce of
| the world.
The King of Siam wants to estab-
lish democracy. His trip to America
| not only irnrrnued his euesiuht hut