What happened to the airships

[tomsong3320]

I grew up near Weymouth N.A.S.in MA I served there when I was a cadet in the early eighties the old timers told me and I have read it was and airship bace from the thirties and had the largest hanger in the world at the time.I remember marching in a hanger.What happened to these 'aircraft'?

 

[P38 Pilot]

I guess they were decomisioned. You might want to check into the history of that base.

Were you in AF ROTC? I'll be in Army JROTC this year as a Freshman Cadet.

 

[HealzDevo]

My guess is that they were decommissioned after the loss of an airship called the USN Marcon. It was lost during a lightning storm at sea. After two or more disasters of such a massive scale, it was decided that airships were no longer safe for long voyages. In addition there was in-flight refueling experiments that had started to pay fruit, and also engine development meant that planes could fly faster and further using the same or less fuel per km of distance. That is my interpretation that these disasters plus in-flight refuelling promises and better fuel economy led to the airship's demise.

 

[Kiwikid]

Shenandoah was built in USA but it broke up in a storm over Ohio in 1925. The Los Angeles was built in Germany by the Zepplin company but was decommissioned 1932.

Two other bigger airships which carried scout planes were the Akron and Macon.
Akron crashed in 1933 and Macon was lost in the Pacific in 1935.

 

[HealzDevo]

That is the disaster that I think they were crediting as ending the Airship's US service, the loss of the USN Macon. Also don't forget the loss of the German Airship Hindenburg. All of these things ended the airship. Plus aircraft were beginning to show promise at that stage as being able to take over. You had the famous Catalina flying boats (think they were built before WW2 and then militarized after that) and a few other flying boats. So there were alternatives to a method of air transport that was now seen as dangerous. Seaplanes could land on the surface of the water to make repairs, etc. and airships couldn't. Therefore seaplanes won on safety ability.