Search for the Navy Zeppelin Akron that crashed during
a storm 27 miles off Beach Haven, New Jersey, April of
1933. July, 1986.
The story of the Akron and her naval sister rigid airships
the Macon and forerunner the Shenandoah grip the imagination.
Once I began researching the early airships and their
often tragic endings, I became hooked.
The Shenandoah's crash site in Noble County, Ohio,
is well known and marked by a memorial. The Macon went
down in deep water off Point Sur, California, in 1937.
And so the Akron became NUMA's prime target, especially
since she crashed in only 105 feet of water and took
78 men with her, including Admiral William Moffett,
considered the father of Naval aviation.
My NUMA crew consisted of A1 and Laura Ecke, owners
of our search boat; Dr. Ken Kamler, team physician and
diver; and Mike Duffy, diver and oceanographer; and
old dependable Bill Shea.
We gathered at a motel in Beach Haven on July 27.,
1986. I flew in while some drove. The Ecke's came down
from Long Island on their boat. We were knocked out
three days by bad weather and fog, but managed to get
in 29 hours of solid search time. I used the position
from the log book of the navy salvage ship Falcon as
a the basis for a search grid. Unfortunately, a woman
who was to do a report of the expedition for us departed
to parts unknown with most of my research material.
However, I do have the Loran coordinates that run on
an east to west line at the southern end of the debris
field. If you should decide to check out the Falcon's
log over the wreck site, be advised that the description
of another salvage ship's buoy (I can't recall her name)
400 yards to the northeast is pretty much on the money.
We did, contrary to one newspaper report, get a dive
down on one target, which proved to be the base of one
tail fin. I was not on board that day to direct the
operations so the Loran reading is off by about a hundred
yards due to the crew's late reaction to the cry of
"Target!" and the fact they never got the
hang of allowing for the distance between the sonar
recording unit the sensor trailing nearly 150 feet behind.
Be that as it may, Loran coordinates 43076.7 by 26724.9
and 43076.0 by 26726.7 should put you in the southern
end of the ballpark.
There is an excellent story on the expedition in the
August 8th issue of the New York Times.
AKRON Built: 1931 Sunk: April 4, 1933 Previous names:
ZR-4 Depth: 105 feet Grass Tonnage: 200 Dimensions:
785' Type of vessel: Rigid dirigible Power: 8 Gasoline
engines Builder: Goodyear-Zeppelin Company, Akron, OH
Owner: United States Navy Port of Registry: Lakehurst,
NJ Cause of sinking: Crashed in a storm Location:
The Akron is a ship, a ship of the air.
Because of the proximity of the Lakehurst Naval Air
Station, and the sheer amount of traffic originating
there, quite a few dirigibles have dived into the sea
over the years. During W W 2 they were a common sight
in the sky as the lighter-than-air craft patrolled coastal
shipping lanes for German submarines, lost seamen, and
downed pilots.
Two Akrons have been lost off the Jersey shore. The
first one was a private venture operating out of Atlantic
City. On July 2, 1912, the 258 foot semi-rigid airship
began an attempt try cross the Atlantic. Melvin Vaniman,
designer and engineer, steered the ship over Absecon
Beach and headed north toward Brigantine. The trip barely
began when, in front of the eyes of thousands of horrified
sunbathers, 400,000 cubic feet of hydrogen burst into
flames. The Akron crashed into the water, killing all
five aboard.
The Z R-4 was built in 1931 in the largest hangar in
the world, in Akron, Ohio, under U.S. Navy contract.
The giant rigid dirigible was 785 feet long, and boasted
6,500,000 cubic feet of nonflammable helium in 11 gas
cells. Instead of external engine pods, the 8 gasoline
engines were set inside the hull with the propellers
mounted on variable pitched outriggers.
On August 8 the Z R-4 was christened Akron, but within
weeks became more popularly known as the "Queen
of the Skies." During the next 2 years she made
58 successful. flights, crossing the country many times.
People were awed by her size, beauty, and streamlined
profile. The Navy was proud too have such a ship, and
made no pretense of showing her off.
Her reputation was somewhat tarnished on May 11, 1932,
during a landing at San Diego. A combination of events
caused the airship to bob back up in the sky with three
ground crew men clinging to the ropes. Two fell off
and were killed, one was reeled up to safety. Her final
demise came during a short protocol hop. When a bong
flight along the New England coast was cancelled due
too weather, some of the Navy brass decided to take
a quick tour of the skies. Among the 76 crew and passengers
were Admiral William A. Moffett, Chief of the Bureau
of Aeronautics, and 6 survivors from the Shenandoah
crash.
The Akron took off at 7:30 p.m., in a pea soup ground
fog. By the time she reached 300 feet she was out of
sight. The round trip was planned to take them to Philadelphia,
the Delaware Capes, and up along the coast. She soared
over the City of Brotherly Love in crystal clarity.
By midnight, nearing the end of the flight, a storm
caught up with her off the coast of Atlantic City.
Surrounded by thunder and lighting, she was pummeled
by fierce winds. Girders cracked, and gas cells burst.
The airship plummeted down, and struck the ocean stern
fist. Men fought their way out of the sinking framework
as the dirigible sealed to the bottom.
The Akron did not burn, but her navigation lights were
by the Phoebus, a German tanker. Captain Karl Dalldorf,
master, watched the lights near the water. He thought
a plane must be crashing, so he altered course to investigate.
In 45 knot winds and heavy seas, he found 5 men clinging
to a 120 gallon fuel tank.
He veered his ship in sideways. Two men swam toward
the tanker, caught life rings, and were hauled aboard.
A lifeboat was lowered and 2 others were plucked off
the makeshift raft. But during the hour and a half wait
one man had been unable to hang on, and had drowned.
Then, one of those rescued succumbed to his exertions;
he slipped into unconsciousness and quietly passed away.
Commander Frank McCord, skipper of the Akron, and Admiral
Moffett, went down with the airship. The 3 survivors
were transferred to the Coast Guard destroyer Tucker
and taken do the Naval Hospital at Brooklyn. Moffet's
body eventually washed ashore.
The death troll was compounded later that day when
the 2 engine blimp, the J-3, set out to look for survivors.
She cruised the coastline between Barnegat and Atlantic
City, fighting vicious winds all the way. As she was
backtracking the route the port engine shifted off its
mounts and had to be shut down. The airship lost altitude,
and came into Beach Haven for an emergency landing.
The seven man crew dropped hang lines and released helium,
but a gust of wind slammed the blimp into the dunes.
She rebounded, was carried a thousand feet offshore,
and crashed into the surf. The gondola was torn off
and the men dropped into the waves. A New York City
amphibious police plane saw the accident, landed in
the water, and rescued 5 men. The other 2, including
the blimp's skipper, Lieutenant Commander David Cummins,
drowned.
The famous salvage vessel Falcon, that had among other
things raised the submarine S-51 under the leadership
of Commander Edward Ellsburg in 1925, was called in.
She located the wreckage and recovered enough material
to make a positive identification.
In 1986, the National Underwater and Marine Agency,
headed by author Clive Cussler, located by side scan
sonar what he believes to the wreckage of the Akron.
Although no divers were sent down to explore the wreckage,
electronic equipment was able try record a 700 foot
debris field consisting of beams and metal frames.
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