The Explosion of the Hindenberg

We all know of the *Good Year Blimp*, it appears high above sports arenas during big sports events in the USA (e.g., World Series, Super Bowl, The Olympics, and other events)

It was only around 25-30 years ago that we brought back the usage of Blimps (or the proper name for them is *Airships*).

That is because of what happened on May 6 in the year 1937. The German Airship named the *Hindenburg* as it was landing, exploded and crashed to the ground, killing 32 people.

But before I get to the disaster, let me talk a bit about a brief history of the airship.

## History of the Airship

Airships were used since the mid to late 19th century (especially after the discovery and production of light gases such as *Hydrogen* and *Helium*). So airships were beginning to use.

Though, numerous problems plagued the usage of airships, many of them obvious.

One of the problems is that Airship traveling was quite expensive, in fact so expensive that only those of wealth could afford airship travel.

Another problem is that airships can just suddenly lose altitude and crash.

Another problem is the gases used for airships. The Primary gas used for airships to keep them afloat in the air was Hydrogen. It was more practical and thus it was cheap but had a trade-off, it was also quite flammable (despite having a high point of ignition which is at 932° F). Helium, on the other hand, was safer to use as it wasn't flammable, but had its trade-off, it was less practical and thus more expensive.

By the 1920s, many nations such as the USA, Great Britain, and France, began to question the reliability and profitable capabilities of the airship.

Germany, on the other hand, wanted to see things differently. They wanted to still use and rely on the capabilities of the airship as the airship were good at staying in the air for long periods, and due to this also had great range.

During World War 1, Germany used airships (known in Germany as *Zeppelins*) to bomb the major cities of France and Britain (especially in Britain). Unlike what would happen 2 decades later in WW2, the German airships did little damage. That is because of several factors.

**1.** The old German airships couldn't carry large bomb payloads and accuracy was scarce.

**2.** The airships were also very slow and were sitting ducks to all kinds of anti-aircraft, either on the ground or even enemy aircraft especially the RAF which equipped their machine guns with special incendiary bullets which would ignite the Hydrogen gas inside, causing the airships to crash to the ground.

Nevertheless, Germany was still determined to still use the airship (especially for commercial travel).

In 1928, Germany created a huge airship called the *Graf Zeppelin*(*LZ-127*), and it was highly successful and had a pretty long lifespan.

The Graf Zeppelin demonstrated it's power as it flew across the world (with 4 stops) in 1929. It also began to make tours in many areas around the world such as North America, South America, The Middle East, and Asia. The Graf Zeppelin also made history when in 1931 it went on an expedition in the Arctic.

With the success of the Graf Zeppelin, the Germans want to take the next step forward and construct a new generation airship. One of them was called the *Hindenburg* (named after *Paul von Hindenburg*; a hero during WW1 and the provisional leader of the Weimar Republic from 1925 to his death in 1934, and was the leader during the initial construction fo the airship.

## The Hindenburg

Construction initially began in 1931 but didn't officially begin construction until a year after. It took 4½ years to build due to the re-modeling of its power source (The Daimler-Benz LOF-6 Deisel Engine) to reduce weight while retaining a reasonable amount of power to move the airship, there was also poor funding due to the company that initially constructed the airship (*Luft-Schiff Paul Hindenburg*) went bankrupt.

It was also the manufacturers who wanted the Hindenburg to use the safer and more expensive Helium. But by the 1930s, the USA (the leading supplier of Helium) were very stingy about parting ways with the gas, so the manufacturers had no choice but to opt to use Hydrogen gas. The Hindenburg finished construction in 1936 because the Nazis took over Germany, it was used for the infamous Nazi Propaganda to show off the power of Germany. Soon, the Hindenburg was making flights to both Americas (as it made 17 flights between Europe and the 2 Americas in its first year).

The Hindenburg had a size that dwarfs even modern jetliners (with a length of 800 feet and a diameter of 130). It can carry over 100 people (around 60 crewmen and 70 passengers) and it can carry as much as 23,000 LBS in either luggage and even mail and packages. It had a top speed of 80 MPH and can carry more than 7 Million Cubic Feet of Hydrogen Gas. It also had a great flight range of around 9,000 Miles.

But like all commercial airships before it, it was considered a luxury piece of transportation that only the wealthy can afford. The price of a one-way Trans-Atlantic ticket would cost around $400 (just a bit over $7,000 in today's value).

Because of this, the Hindenburg was a bit like a luxury cruise. It had a prestigious dining room and a lounge where it was pressurized so the passengers can smoke (just to make sure that the smokes don't ignite the Hydrogen Gas). But the trade-off that the bedrooms (a lack for a better word) were quite small and the passengers were forced to share the same room on the airship.

## The Disaster

By 1937, the Hindenburg was beginning its second year of Trans-Atlantic transports. On May 3, the Hindenburg set off from its air station in Frankfurt to begin its maiden voyage towards the air station in Lakehurst (in my native state of New Jersey).

On the evening of May 6, there were several thunderstorms in the immediate area, so this delayed the flight for several hours.

At 7:21 PM, the Hindenburg was beginning its initial descent and released it's landing lines and the men who caught them were about to control the Hindenburg's landing.

Around 4 minutes into the Hindenburg's landing, the airship exploded into a giant ball of fire. People that were watching the airship watched in absolute horror and began to run. It was also covered by many photographers and even on the radio.

The disaster of the Hindenburg had killed 32 of the 96 people onboard (as well as some people on the ground especially one of the men controlling the Hindenburg's landing when the airship landed on him), and there are reasons why the death toll was low.

**1.**The Hindenburg was landing on the side of its engine, this allowed many of the people that were in the crew cabin to jump out of the airship when it was low enough to the ground. Though some people weren't so lucky, those people on the side of the engine, and they burned to death and some of the doors became jammed as the Hindenburg was coming towards the ground.

**2.** The wind was carrying the fire away from the crew cabin, again allowing the people in the cabin to escape, and again caused the majority of the deaths to be on the engine's side.

Various theories made up by historians and people alike led to a lot of debate on exactly what caused the disaster, and it's quite unlikely that a definitive conclusion will ever be determined.

Right after the disaster, many news media propaganda and even the commanders of both the airship and the Lakehurst air station all say it was sabotage, eventhough there was no evidence to support this despite threatening letters being sent even before the Hindenburg left the Frankfurt air station.

Some said it was lightning as there was a line of storms in Lakehurst at the time of the Hindenburg disaster. Though people that watched the Hindenburg explode debate on this because they haven't seen a visible bolt of lightning.

Another theory states about some kind of fault in the engines, as in 1936 after the Hindenburg's year of transport had a minor problem with one of its engines which is supposed to be assessed and repaired before 1937.

Another theory could also be a static charge, but most people believe that the static charge wouldn't be hot enough to ignite the Hydrogen Gas.

Another theory is also that there were small holes in the airship itself and was leaking a significant amount of Hydrogen Gas at the time of the disaster.

All of these theories are still speculative even today, and as said before it seems unlikely that any of these theories will be determined definitively. But what is sure that the Hindenburg disaster caused people to lose all confidence in the use of Airships, and after WW2 the idea was scrapped entirely. It's sister airship (The Graf Zeppelin 2) was eventually decomissioned and scrapped to make Nazi Fighter Aircraft during World War 2.

Well, that is it for this page. Don't forget to check out my Games and Movies wikis as well. Until next time, this is JohnnyOTGS signing out.