USS Shenandoah ( ZR - 1 ) USS " Shenandoah " was the first of four United States Navy rigid airship s . It was built in 1922 – 1923 at Lakehurst Naval Air Station , and first flew in September 1923 . It developed the Navy ' s experience with rigid airships , and made the first crossing of North America by airship . On the 57th flight , " Shenandoah " was torn apart in a squall line over Ohio in 1925 . Design and construction . " Shenandoah " was originally designated FA - 1 , for ' Fleet Airship Number One ' but this was changed to ZR - 1 . The airship was long and weighed . It had a range of , and could reach speeds of . " Shenandoah " was assembled at Naval Air Station Lakehurst , New Jersey in 1922 – 1923 , in Hangar No . 1 , the only hangar large enough to accommodate the ship ; her parts were fabricated at the Naval Aircraft Factory in Philadelphia . NAS Lakehurst had served as a base for Navy blimps for some time , but " Shenandoah " was the first rigid airship to join the fleet . The design was based on Zeppelin bomber " L - 49 " ( LZ - 96 ) , built in 1917 . " L - 49 " was a lightened " height climber " , designed for altitude at the expense of other qualities . The design was found insufficient and a number of the features of newer Zeppelins were used , as well as some structural improvements . The structure was built from a new alloy of aluminum and copper known as duralumin . Girders were fabricated at the Naval Aircraft Factory . Whether the changes introduced into the original design of L - 49 played a part in " Shenandoah " later breaking up is a matter of debate . An outer cover of high - quality cotton cloth was sewn , laced or taped to the duralumin frame and painted with aluminum dope . The gas cells were made of goldbeater ' s skin s , one of the most gas - impervious materials known at the time . Named for their use in beating and separating gold leaf , goldbeater ' s skins were made from the outer membrane of the large intestines of cattle . The membranes were washed and scraped to remove fat and dirt , and then kept in a solution of water and glycerine in preparation for application to the rubberized cotton fabric providing the strength of the gas cells . The membranes were wrung out by hand to remove the water - glycerine storage solution and then rubber - cemented to the cotton fabric and finally given a light coat of varnish . The 20 gas cells within the airframe were filled to about 85 % of capacity at normal barometric pressure . Each gas cell had a spring - loaded relief valve and manual valves operated from the control car . As the first rigid airship to use helium rather than hydrogen , " Shenandoah " had a significant edge in safety over previous airships . Helium was relatively scarce at the time , and the " Shenandoah " used much of the world ' s reserves just to fill its 2 . 1 million - cubic - foot volume . — the next rigid airship to enter Navy service — was at first filled with the helium from " Shenandoah " until more could be procured . " Shenandoah " was powered by , eight - cylinder Packard gasoline engines . The first frame of " Shenandoah " was erected by 24 June 1922 ; on 20 August 1923 , the completed airship was floated free of the ground . Helium cost $ 55 per thousand cubic feet at the time , and was considered too expensive to simply vent to the atmosphere to compensate for the weight of fuel consumed by the gasoline engines . Neutral buoyancy was preserved by installing condensers to capture the water vapor in the engine exhaust . It was christened on 10 October 1923 by Mrs . Edwin Denby , wife of the Secretary of the Navy , and commissioned on the same day with Commander Frank R . McCrary in command . Mrs Denby named the airship after her home in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia , and the word " shenandoah " was then believed to be a native American word meaning " daughter of stars " . Early Naval service . USS " Shenandoah " took to the sky for the first time on 4 September 1923 . " Shenandoah " was designed for fleet reconnaissance work of the type carried out by German naval airships in World War I . Her precommissioning trials included long range flights during September and early October 1923 , to test her airworthiness in rain , fog and poor visibility . On 27 October , " Shenandoah " celebrated Navy Day with a flight down the Shenandoah Valley and returned to Lakehurst that night by way of Washington and Baltimore , where crowds gathered to see the new airship in the beams of searchlights . At this time , Rear Admiral William Moffett — Chief of the Bureau of Aeronautics and staunch advocate of the airship — was discussing the possibility of using " Shenandoah " to explore the Arctic . He felt such a program would produce valuable weather data as well as experience in cold - weather operations . With her endurance and ability to fly at low speeds , the airship was thought to be well - suited to such work . President Calvin Coolidge approved Moffett ' s proposal ; but " Shenandoah " s upper tail fin covering ripped during a gale on 16 January 1924 , and the sudden roll tore out her mooring tube from the Lakehurst mast . Damage to the nose deflated the first gas bag and holed the second . Zeppelin test pilot Anton Heinen rode out the storm and landed safely while the airship was being blown backwards . A period of repair was needed , and the Arctic expedition was scrapped . " Shenandoah " s repairs were completed in May , and the summer of 1924 was devoted to work with her powerplant and radio equipment to prepare for her duty with the fleet . On August , it reported for duty with the Scouting Fleet and took part in tactical exercises . " Shenandoah " succeeded in discovering the " enemy " force as planned but lost contact with it in foul weather . Technical difficulties and lack of support facilities in the fleet forced her to depart the operating area ahead of time to return to Lakehurst . Although this marred the exercises as far as airship reconnaissance went , it emphasized the need for advanced bases and maintenance ships if lighter - than - air craft were to take any part in operations of this kind . Flight across North America . In July 1924 , the oiler put in at Norfolk Navy Yard for extensive modifications to become the Navy ' s first airship tender . An experimental mooring mast some above the water was constructed ; additional accommodations both for the crew of " Shenandoah " and for the men who would handle and supply the airship were added ; facilities for the helium , gasoline , and other supplies necessary for " Shenandoah " were built ; as well as handling and stowage facilities for three seaplanes . " Shenandoah " engaged in a short series of mooring experiments with " Patoka " to determine the practicality of mobile fleet support of scouting airships . The first successful mooring was made on 8 August . During October 1924 , " Shenandoah " flew from Lakehurst to California and on to Washington to test newly erected mooring masts . This was the first flight of a rigid airship across North America . Later Naval career . The year 1925 began with nearly six months of maintenance and ground test work . " Shenandoah " did not take to the air until 26 June , when it began preparations for summer operations with the fleet . In July and August , it again operated with the Scouting Fleet , successfully performing scouting problems and being towed by " Patoka " while moored to that ship ' s mast . Crash of the " Shenandoah " . On 2 September 1925 , " Shenandoah " departed Lakehurst on a promotional flight to the Midwest which would include flyovers of 40 cities and visits to state fair s . Testing of a new mooring mast at Dearborn , Michigan was included in the schedule . While passing through an area of thunderstorms and turbulence over Ohio early in the morning of 3 September , during its 57th flight , the airship was caught in a violent updraft that carried it beyond the pressure limits of its helium gas bags . It was torn apart in the turbulence and crashed in several pieces near Caldwell , Ohio . Fourteen of " Shenandoah " s crew — including her commanding officer , Commander Zachary Lansdowne — were killed . This included every member of the crew of the control cabin , with the exception of Lieutenant Anderson , who barely escaped before it detached from the ship ; two men who went through holes in the hull ; and several mechanics who fell with the engines . There were twenty - nine survivors , who succeeded in riding three sections of the airship to earth . The largest group was eighteen men who made it out of the stern after it rolled into a valley . Four others survived a crash landing of the central section . The remaining seven were in the bow section which Commander ( later Vice Admiral ) Charles E . Rosendahl navigated as a free balloon . In this group was Anderson who — until he was roped in by the others — straddled the catwalk over a hole . A number of those crew who survived would later be killed in the loss of the " Akron " . The Shenandoah Crash Sites are located in the hillsides of Noble County . Site No . 1 , in Buffalo Township , surrounded the Gamary farmhouse , which lay beneath the initial break - up . An early fieldstone and a second , recent granite marker identify where Zachary Lansdowne ' s body was found . Site No . 2 ( where the stern came to rest ) is a half - mile southwest of Site No . 1 across Interstate 77 in Noble Township . The rough outline of the stern is marked with a series of concrete blocks , and a sign marking the site is visible from the freeway . Site No . 3 is approximately six miles southwest in Sharon Township at the northern edge of State Route 78 on the part of the old Nichols farm where the nose of the " Shenandoah " ' s bow was secured to trees . Although the trees have been cut down , a semi - circular gravel drive surrounds their stumps and a small granite marker commemorates the crash . The Nichols house was later destroyed by fire . Two schools of thought developed about the cause of the crash . One theory is that the gas cells over - expanded as the ship rose , due to Lansdowne ’ s decision to remove the 10 automatic release valves , and that the expanding cells damaged the framework of the airship and led to its structural failure . Aftermath . Thousands of people flocked to the wreckage which was then heavily looted , with the logbooks and most of the ship ' s fabric stolen . Official inquiry brought to public attention the fact that the fatal flight had been made under protest by Commander Lansdowne ( a native of Greenville , Ohio ) , who warned of the violent weather conditions which were prevalent in the area and common to Ohio in late summer . His pleas for a cancellation of the flight only led to a postponement . His superiors were keen to publicize airship technology , and justify the huge cost of the airship to the taxpayers . So , as Lansdowne ' s widow consistently maintained at the inquiry , publicity rather than prudence won the day . This event was the trigger for Army Colonel Billy Mitchell to heavily criticize the leadership of both the Army and the Navy , leading directly to his court - martial for insubordination and the end of his military career . Heinen , according to the " Daily Telegraph " put the blame on the removal of safety valves , saying he would not have flown on her " for a million dollars " . Ultimately a positive result of the disaster was that future airships were better built . Hulls were strengthened , control cabins were built into the keels rather than suspended from cables , and engine power was increased . More attention was also paid to weather forecasting . When the U . S . used blimps in World War II and the Cold War , these improvements may have prevented other crashes . Memorials . Several memorials remain near the crash site . There is another memorial at Moffett Field , California , and a small private museum in Ava , Ohio . The Noble Local School District — which services the area where " Shenandoah " crashed — has named its elementary , junior high , and high schools after " Shenandoah " . Their sports teams are named " The Zeps . " Additionally , a truck stop located about away in Old Washington was named Shenandoah Plaza after the airship . The truck stop has since closed and has been torn down .