The death of the Hindenburg on May 6, 1937. The airship Hindenburg

On Monday, May 3, 1937, a cold, light rain fell in Berlin. A black Mercedes was racing along the wet asphalt towards Wilhelmstrasse, where the SS headquarters was located. In the car were Colonel Fritz Erdmann, Major Franz Hugo Witt and Senior Lieutenant Klaus Hinkelbein - officers of the secret service of the Luftwaffe (the air force of Nazi Germany).

At the SS headquarters building, after a thorough check of documents, all three went to the office of Major Hufschmidt, who was directly subordinate to Himmler. Those who arrived immediately felt that the major was very preoccupied with something. Without hesitating for a moment he got down to the essence of the matter.

Gentlemen! You are entrusted with a task of special importance,” Major Hufschmidt made a significant pause, looked intently at those present and solemnly said, apparently premeditated words: “Everything possible must be done to protect the pride and symbol of the greatness of Germany, the airship Hindenburg, from sabotage.”

“We have information,” the major continued, “that upon arrival in New York they will try to blow up the airship, and this is an international scandal. Passengers, especially Americans, cannot be allowed to be killed on board a German ship on American soil. It is even more important that the Americans do not get the impression that the Germans in the Reich are so dissatisfied with the new order that they are engaged in such criminal activities, because this casts a shadow on our beloved Fuhrer.

Where did you get the information from? - asked Colonel Erdman.

“We learned,” the major answered evasively, “that last month, in a Paris bank, a group of enemies of the Reich developed a plan to sabotage the Hindenburg in order to put the government and the National Socialist Party of the Reich in an awkward position. Fortunately, we have friends on the board of this bank. And recently we received credible information from another source. According to these intelligence reports, there may be an attempt to sabotage the airship during the upcoming flight to New York. I would like to remind you, gentlemen, officers that during the flight to Rio de Janeiro of our airship “Graf Zeppelin”, a bomb was found and defused on board in a restaurant. This fact suggests that vigilance and more vigilance are needed.

Major Hufschmidt then removed the dossier from the safe and read out the data that had been collected about the passengers of the Hindenburg. Many, according to the major, may have all sorts of motives for committing sabotage. First of all, suspicion falls on a certain artist, Josef Spa, posing as an American with a French passport. In Munich he met with enemies of the Nazi Party. In Berlin, he regularly dined at one of the expensive restaurants, which was clearly beyond the means of a comedian and acrobat. Josef Spa is often seen together with the famous artist Matija Marifil. She is an American and is in the custody of a man who tops the list of dangerous persons.

“All these are just assumptions,” Major Hufschmidt concluded, “however, Colonel, I would not take my eyes off this damned artist day and night.” Hurry up, gentlemen! You have a lot of work ahead of you, and the Hindenburg's departure is tonight.

...Colonel Erdman's group flew to Frankfurt, near which there was an airport from where the airship was supposed to take off to North America.

The road to the airport went through a pine forest. Here, too, it was drizzling and low clouds covered the sky. From time to time, houses with red tiles wet from the rain flashed along the sides. Soon the boathouses appeared behind the trees, striking the imagination with their impressive size. Soon a new city of airship construction was to rise here - Zeppelin-Heim.

The car of Colonel Erdman's group proceeded past the huge boathouse in which the Hindenburg was preparing to fly overseas. The boathouse reached almost 300 meters in length, having a height of more than twenty stories, making it one of the largest structures in the world.

The construction of such impressive buildings was determined by the gigantic dimensions of rigid airships, which, in turn, depended on the volume of hydrogen required for the airship to fly, because one cubic meter of gas has a floating force of a little more than a kilogram. Consequently, the more gas there is in a closed shell, the greater the load the airship can lift, the higher its flight. However, this led to the need to increase the size of the aircraft.

The airship LZ-129, called the Hindenburg, took four years to build. It was the world's greatest airship, an outstanding achievement of aeronautical technology. In size and flight characteristics, the Hindenburg was superior to all airships built before it. Its length was 245, height 44.7 and maximum shell diameter 41.2 meters. The Hindenburg was built specifically to transport passengers across the Atlantic Ocean. It could carry 72 passengers, as well as 55 crew and service personnel.

The rigid duralumin frame of the airship was covered with a dense canvas shell, reinforced with layers of cellon with silver thread to reflect solar heat. The inside of the canvas was painted red, which does not transmit ultraviolet rays. These safety measures were complemented by careful sealing of gas chambers (bags) containing 200 thousand cubic meters of hydrogen. This was enough to lift a load weighing more than 200 tons into the air. Four Daimler-Benz diesel engines with a rated power of 809 kilowatts each allowed a horizontal speed of up to 130 kilometers per hour. A fully loaded LZ-129 carried enough fuel to make a non-stop flight with a range of more than 15,000 kilometers, which took 5-6 days, depending on the weather.

For the passengers of the Hindenburg, the smooth flight over the ocean waves must have been a true pleasure. Comfort and impeccable service awaited them on board the airship; they had comfortable and bright cabins, showers, a promenade deck, a wardroom, a garden flower bed and even a piano in the salon. The total area of ​​passenger premises alone was 400 square meters. Communication with the outside world was provided by four radio stations operating in the short and long wave range.

LZ-129 made its first transatlantic flight from Frankfurt to Rio de Janeiro and back in early April 1936. This was followed by 10 more flights to the USA, and all of them went off without a hitch. The arrival of the first airship was a sensation for the Americans. The crew members in New York were received as movie stars of the first magnitude, but... the shine of novelty quickly began to fade. In 1937, it was planned to make 18 transatlantic flights to the United States, to which the propaganda of Nazi Germany attached paramount importance, especially noisily advertising the upcoming flight of the Hindenburg.

Agent reports of alleged sabotage on board the Hindenburg plunged the Nazi security service into confusion and alarm. Even before the arrival of the first passengers, Colonel Erdman's trained people searched all the nooks and crannies, inspected all the premises, including passenger cabins, crew quarters, and the control gondola. The SD employees wore special boots on their feet to eliminate the possibility of a spark that could ignite hydrogen when it leaked from the gas chambers. An inspection of the premises yielded nothing; not even the slightest hint of sabotage could be found. Now suspicious passengers were to be searched and their luggage checked.

Josef Spa - circus performer and acrobat

Passengers were brought to the airport to the berth mast on a special bus. They walked to the ramp of the airship, ready to take off, past a line of people in SD uniforms, peering intently at each passenger. The artist Josef Spa was not among them. He drove up to the boathouse in a passenger car at the very last moment, when the boarding of passengers was already ending. Under his arm, Shpa held a large parcel of brown paper, over which he had an argument with the guards. Shpa laughed at the SD workers, even stated that he refused to fly and was returning to the city with his burden. They almost forcibly took the package from him, unwrapped it and, to the disappointment of the guards, found there... a doll. The doll was carefully examined and felt, photographed and even tested in an X-ray machine. However, it turned out that this was just a harmless children's toy, bought by Spa in one of the stores in Berlin; Confused guards returned the doll to its owner. However, the episode with the doll was regarded as a distraction designed to lull the guards' vigilance.

A few minutes later, the captain of the Hindenburg, Lehmann, gave the command: “Rise.” The airship began to rise smoothly and silently, and the orchestra began to play a bravura farewell march. From the windows of the passenger gondola one could see how the figure of the orchestra conductor slowly diminished. The airship floated higher and higher. The airport's floodlights brightly illuminated the retreating airship. At an altitude of more than 100 meters, the command was given to turn on the diesel propulsion engines. At 20:15 the last beam of the searchlight brightly illuminated the spider swastika on the tail of the Hindenburg and went out. Ahead of the passengers were the boundless waters of the Atlantic.

The night flight over the ocean passed without incident. The next day, when the navigator was considering how to bypass the cyclone, which was approaching from the ice of Greenland in a wide front, Captain Lehman held a meeting in his cabin with Colonel Erdman. By this time, all letters on board had been reviewed, passengers and crew members had been searched, and matches, lighters, lanterns and flash lamps had been confiscated. All luggage was thoroughly checked. There was little cargo on board the airship: two purebred dogs, films of several films, magazines, newspapers, advertising brochures, samples of tobacco leaves and partridge eggs. Without exception, all cargo was checked, even eggs, as Colonel Erdman clarified. It was decided on Wednesday, May 5, to check all the premises again, but this search also yielded nothing.

When the airship began to approach the New World, one of the passengers was detained in a place where it was forbidden for outsiders to be. The passenger turned out to be the same Josef Spa. This incident was followed by a tense meeting at which Colonel Erdman demanded that Shpa be locked, practically arrested, in his cabin until the end of the flight, completely depriving him of the ability to move around the airship and communicate with passengers. However, Captain Lehman did not agree with this preventive measure. He feared unnecessary publicity and undermining the commercial side of subsequent voyages across the ocean. Shpa was left free, but now Lieutenant Hinkelbein did not take his eyes off him.

It was May 6th and the Hindenburg was approaching New York. At 18:00, according to the flight program, he was supposed to reach Lakehurst Airport. After a hearty and cheerful lunch over Long Island, the passengers began to prepare for disembarkation - they packed their suitcases and prepared their documents. The crew members were told that the Hindenburg was to unload and load at the airport in record time in order to depart with passengers back to Germany at midnight.

And then, finally, New York appeared. From here, its bridges and overpasses looked like toys, and the Statue of Liberty seemed like a porcelain figurine. The commander sent the airship towards Times Square, flying over the crowds of spectators gathered on Broadway. He was accompanied by an escort of aircraft. At the beginning of five in the evening, the airship reached Lakehurst Airport, but did not land. Although the sun was still shining brightly over the Hindenburg, the sky in the West was overcast, a thunderstorm was approaching, lightning flashed in the distance and distant rumbles of thunder could be heard. The captain of the ship ordered a pennant with the words “I am leaving the approaching storm” to be dropped on the airport landing pad. This message was duplicated over the on-board radio.

The airship headed south from the storm front towards Atlantic City. Tea was served to passengers earlier than usual. Josef Spa was noticeably nervous, moving from place to place, and Lieutenant Hinkelbein was not far behind him. At 18:22 a message came over the radio from Lakehurst Airport: “We recommend landing now.” Immediately the radio operator sent a response: “Headed for Lakehurst.”

At about 19:00, the Hindenburg appeared in the airport area at an altitude of 200 meters and began to slowly maneuver, like a giant whale, preparing to land. By this time the weather had improved noticeably, the wind had died down, the sky had cleared of thunderclouds, but light rain was still falling.

At the airport, hundreds of people were eagerly awaiting the landing of the airship, which was widely announced in all the morning newspapers. There were nosy reporters, ubiquitous photojournalists, cameramen, relatives of passengers, airport staff, and simply curious people. At 19:19 the Hindenburg approached the mooring mast. The Hindenburg's hours-long flight across the vast blue waters of the Atlantic was drawing to a close. There were only a few minutes left until the long-awaited landing at Lakehurst Airport. The passengers already saw that an excited, joyful crowd was waiting for them below on the ground. Movie cameras whirred, photographic lamps flashed. Those greeting them waved their hats and scarves, welcoming the descending air giant.

At an altitude of 60 meters the diesel engines were turned off. At 19 hours 21 minutes, when the airship was about 30 meters from the ground, something incomprehensible happened in front of a large crowd: suddenly a strong explosion was heard on the airship and at the same moment a blindingly bright flame burst out of its stern.

For a moment the ship still maintained a precarious balance, and then, losing control, rushed down like a fiery block and crashed into the ground with an incredible roar. The burning wreckage of the airship scattered in all directions, tongues of yellow-orange flame and huge clouds of slate-black smoke shot up into the sky. A wave of hot air scorched the terrified people gathered at the airport. Many panicked and rushed away from the flaming, defeated giant. Fire trucks and ambulances rushed to the pile of burning debris to rescue survivors. A giant fire that broke out on the ground insatiably consumed people and the collapsed remains of the airship, pompously bearing the name of Hindenburg.

A little more than 30 seconds passed from the moment of the explosion and the blinding flash until the frame of the airship crumbled upon hitting the ground. But the fire burned for several more hours - there was more than enough flammable material on the Hindenburg. When the next day began - it was Friday - all that was left of the air giant was a mangled skeleton and a sooty swastika on its unburnt tail. The wreckage was sold for scrap for $4,000 and then transported to Germany, where, after being melted down, it was used to build aircraft.

Of the 36 passengers on board the airship, 13 died on the field or died in the hospital. Of the crew, 22 people were killed or died from wounds and burns. One airfield service technician was killed. The total number of deaths in the disaster was 36 people.

What caused the death of the airship? What events took place on board in the minutes leading up to the disaster? From this perspective, of interest are the testimony of eyewitnesses who miraculously escaped death in the fire, the opinions of experts, as well as the analysis of photographs and films that captured from the ground all stages of the death of the airship.

It can be unmistakably said that each crew member knew their duties well and carried them out clearly when the airship docked. Captain Lehman was in the control gondola and was connected to all services and posts via an internal intercom. His competence as a flight director was beyond doubt. No technical malfunctions or violations were noted during the flight over the ocean or while mooring at the airport. True, one of the SD guards, towards the end of the flight, during the next inspection, discovered a hydrogen leak in chamber No. 4. These chambers, or, as they are commonly called, bags of hydrogen, were placed in a canvas shell like peas in a pod and were reliably isolated from one another, so a drop in gas pressure in one of them could not affect the flight of the airship. It should be borne in mind that the Hindenburg, like other airships, had its own “upper pressure level,” that is, the maximum altitude at which the gas chambers (bags) with hydrogen inside the outer shell were inflated to a certain limit , and then the exhaust valves automatically opened and excess gas escaped into the atmosphere; the pressure in the chambers dropped and the ship remained hovering at a given altitude. From a safety point of view, the main thing was to prevent the formation of a mixture of hydrogen and air in the space between the gas chambers and the outer shell of the airship. The drop in hydrogen pressure discovered by the security guard in one of the gas chambers was decided to be eliminated on the ground: the moment of mooring the airship was approaching.

When the crew members began to throw out the mooring ropes through special hatches, one of them - Helmut Lau - heard a soft bang, as if the burner of a gas stove had been lit. Looking back, he saw a reflection of a yellow-orange flame inside chamber No. 4, then for a moment the flame disappeared, but as soon as the air penetrated the “bag,” an explosion was heard and a fireball shot up, showering everything around with sparks and burning shreds of the shell. Lau remembers well that a few seconds later there was a second, more powerful explosion, the airship, like a living body, shuddered and fell to the ground. The force of the blow threw Lau far away from the fireplace, and he remained alive, having received burns and injuries.

O'Loughlin, a passenger who survived the crash, said: “It was an indescribable nightmare. We hovered over the airport and thought about everything but the possibility of disaster. The airship was located about 30 meters above the ground. I went to my cabin - and suddenly, a bright flash illuminated everything around. I glanced out the window and saw that the earth was rapidly rushing towards the falling airship. Flames sparkled dazzlingly all around. It’s unlikely that I reasoned at that tragic moment; there was no time for that. In an instant, the airship reached the ground, hitting it with a terrible roar. The force of the blow threw me away from the fiery inferno. Someone ran up to me and helped me move to a safe zone. I almost lost consciousness from fear and the bruises I received, so I can’t tell you anything about the circumstances of the disaster. I think that no one else can either - after all, everything happened in a few seconds.”

Josef Spa saw a blinding flash of fire while in the dining salon. His reaction was immediate. He broke a window with his camera. Glass shards rained down. Shpa immediately climbed out the window, and two more passengers followed his example. All three hung from the outside of the gondola. Shpa thanked God for learning the art of circus. The two other passengers could not hold on for long, fell to the ground and were killed. But the artist continued to hang until the height decreased to 10-12 meters. Then he jumped down, curling up before falling into a ball, and rolled head over heels on the ground. Shaking off the dust and dirt, he rushed headlong to run away from the flaming ruins of the airship. Shpa escaped with only a dislocated foot.

Here is the story of another eyewitness: “I saw two passengers thrown out of the windows at the moment of the explosion. At the same instant, the stern of the airship crashed into the ground. A split second before the airship fell, I jumped out of the broken window onto the ground and ran with all my might away from the fiery avalanche. Once safe, I turned around and saw Captain Lehman, who, apparently, also jumped out of the airship as it fell to the ground. He got up and, limping, walked towards me with a bloody face, mechanically repeating the same words: “I can’t understand, I can’t understand!” He was immediately placed in an ambulance and taken to the hospital, where, as I later learned, he soon died from his burns and wounds.”

The disaster was filmed by five cameramen who came to Lakehurst to celebrate the arrival of the Hindenburg. Filming began as soon as the airship appeared on the horizon and continued until it fell to the ground, capturing in detail the heartbreaking scenes of people dying in the fire. The very next day after the disaster, a film about the death of the Hindenburg was shown in New York cinemas. The film footage made an extremely difficult impression on the audience. In one of the films, the beginning of the disaster was clearly visible - a small cloud of smoke that appeared at the bottom of the aft part of the airship.

Telegraph, radio, and newspapers spread the news of the death of the Hindenburg around the world with lightning speed, focusing on the heartbreaking scenes of the fire and the death of passengers. Sensational reports about the smallest details of the disaster turned public opinion against the continued use of airships as a means of transport, extremely dangerous to human life. The tragedy that unfolded on the Lakehurst field, amplified a hundredfold by the efforts of the press, became a dark day for airships. An objective investigation of the disaster could, to some extent, rehabilitate the airship as a developing new type of technology, but this did not happen.

The investigation ordered by the US Department of Commerce was carried out superficially and hastily. A variety of versions have been put forward regarding the causes of the explosion and fire on board the airship. The difficulty was that the Americans stubbornly denied the possibility of sabotage, primarily out of a desire to avoid aggravation of international relations. The Germans, too, were not particularly keen to get to the bottom of the true cause of the disaster. The German commission of investigation received Goering's order “not to open anything.” It was impossible to admit that among the Germans there were people who dared to destroy the Nazi symbol of the greatness of the Third Reich. Everything was done to hush up the incident, and the fire in the gas chamber and the subsequent death of the airship were attributed to a “discharge of static electricity.” At the same time, no investigative experiments, calculations or technical justification for the possibility of a fire and explosion on board the airship from a discharge of static electricity were carried out.

This version was also defended by Dr. Eckener, chairman of the supervisory board of the Zeppelin airship building company, on whose slipways the Hindenburg was built. At the time of the airship disaster, Eckener was in Graz (Austria) and, not yet having the results of the investigation or the opinion of experts, made a rather categorical conclusion about the cause of the death of the Hindenburg. He stated that, in his opinion, the ignition of the hydrogen leaking from the gas chamber was caused by a discharge of atmospheric electricity. Later, Eckener, before the commission, argued that during a sharp turn of the airship during landing maneuvers, the steering cable broke, which pierced the rear chamber, resulting in the formation of an explosive mixture of hydrogen and air between the upper gas chambers and the outer shell of the airship. The mooring ropes were wet when they were thrown to the ground during the rain, and the airship became a horizontal lightning rod. A discharge of atmospheric electricity inside the airship generated sparks that ignited the explosive mixture.

The reliability of the picture of the death of the airship drawn by Dr. Eckener is highly doubtful. Firstly, the combustion process in gas chamber (bag) No. 4 was noticed by crew member Lau at the very moment of releasing the mooring ropes, when they were still dry and could not be conductors of electric current. Secondly, the cameras captured the appearance of smoke in the lower part of the stern of the ship even before the explosion, when the mooring ropes had not yet touched the ground. The malfunction in the steering was not confirmed by the surviving crew members. The rudders functioned normally during the flight and during landing.

According to Rosendahl, the most prominent American expert on airship construction in the 1930s, the cause of the disaster cannot be determined. According to his conclusion, the general conditions for the landing of the airship were satisfactory, the rain had almost stopped, the wind force was insignificant and the landing was quite normal until the moment of the explosion.

However, it was the version expressed by the German specialist that was recognized as official based on the results of the investigation into the Hindenburg disaster. From that time on, the fear of ignition of hydrogen from a discharge of static electricity became a technical bogeyman for everyone who tried to solve the problem of creating safe lighter-than-air aircraft...

35 years have passed and the true facts of the death of the Hindenburg in Lakehurst were established by the American journalist Michael McDonald Mooney, who published them in one of the magazines in Brazil.

The Nazi SD service, focusing all its attention on the passengers of the airship and especially on intensive surveillance of Josef Spa, was on the wrong trail. It has been precisely established that among the passengers on the airship’s first flight to America in 1937 there were no people plotting sabotage on board. The threat came from a completely different direction, which the SD employees did not even suspect.

Among the crew of the Hindenburg was a young German, Erich Spehl, an implacable opponent of Nazism. He came from a Bavarian peasant family, in which from his youth he was accustomed to work and learned to master a needle and a sewing machine. Laconic and physically strong, Erich, despite his youth, enjoyed great respect in his family and among his acquaintances. His knowledge of tailoring brought him to the Zeppelin boathouses and allowed him to participate in the construction of the Hindenburg. His ability to firmly and quickly stitch together the canvas shell of gas chambers and membranes from large intestines was beyond praise. He successfully mastered a number of other specialties, performing them quickly and accurately. The diligent craftsman was noticed and invited to join the crew as an adjuster. Shpel agreed. During this period, he met a German artist who went through interrogation and torture in the dungeons of the Gestapo, where his hands were mutilated. After numerous interrogations and torture, the artist was released, considering that, given his physical helplessness, he was no longer dangerous to the Nazis. Conversations with the artist and his plight as a helpless cripple sowed hatred of National Socialism in Spehl's mind. He decides to join the fight against fascism. But how? Spehl is acutely worried when every flight overseas of the airship, in the construction of which he also contributed his labor, is brazenly used by Nazi propaganda to glorify the Third Reich. He, a working man, makes an independent decision to destroy the Hindenburg as Germany's trump card. Shpel does not share his thoughts with anyone, he acts alone and this saves him from Gestapo surveillance and possible failure. In the airship crew, he behaves impeccably and is held up as an example to others.

For a qualified specialist, who also had unhindered access to the airport workshops, it was not difficult to make an incendiary mechanism with which one could start a fire and explode a hydrogen-filled Hindenburg. It is possible that someone helped Erich Spehl in preparing the sabotage, but he took this secret to his grave.

The mine, or rather the incendiary device, placed by Shpel in gas chamber No. 4 long before the airship departed, was extremely simple, but reliable. The detonator, powered by dry batteries on the principle of a magnesium flash, ignited phosphorus, which, in turn, burned through the fabric of the “bag” containing hydrogen, followed by a flash and explosion. The mine was equipped with a clock mechanism. To put it into action, it was enough to turn the handle of the clock mechanism.

Shpel did not intend to kill anyone, he expected to wait until the airship landed, then turn on the clockwork and calmly leave. Only the symbol of the Reich itself was supposed to take off in the parking lot, when the passengers and crew left the airship.

At 18 o'clock Erich Spehl passed his flight watch. Before leaving his post, he cut the canvas in gas chamber No. 4 with a knife and set the clock mechanism in motion. He carefully covered the cut in the canvas with the folds of the camera. Towards the end of the flight, some of the hydrogen was always released, so it was impossible to see a small cut in the resulting folds. A hydrogen leak in chamber No. 4 was discovered by one of the guards before landing, but no one noticed the hole in the fabric.

The delay in landing the airship due to bad weather confused Erich Spehl's calculations. At the time of the explosion he was in the bow. Through the window, he saw a blinding flash that threatened the death of the entire airship. Shpel looked at his watch - it was 19 hours 25 minutes. The clockwork worked too early! Maybe he set the time indicator incorrectly? Or maybe something happened in the mechanism of the device or the phosphorus burned through the shell ahead of time and the air entering the gas chamber led to a hydrogen explosion and fire? Shpel prepared for the worst and did not take measures to save himself...

A medical center was urgently set up in Lakehurst, where first aid was provided to the victims. Among them was Josef Spa, who escaped death, and had a plaster cast on his foot. Since he spoke German well, the nurse asked him to go into the next room so that he could help a young German guy from the Hindenburg crew who was in serious condition. The sister told the artist that the young German suffered greatly from burns and wounds and could not write. Shpa, limping on his injured leg, walked towards the victim, whose head and hands were bandaged. He had difficulty pronouncing words and sometimes fell into unconsciousness.

It is unknown what the dying man spoke to the artist in German: except for them and the nurse, there was no one in the room, and the sister did not know German. At the end of a difficult conversation, Shpa wrote down, from the words of a young German, the laconic text of a telegram to Germany, just two words: “I am alive.” But the telegram with this news remained unsent, since the victim suddenly died. This was Erich Spehl - a lone fighter against fascism. Josef Spa chose to remain silent about what Erich Spehl told him before his death, except for the request to write down the text of the telegram.

These are the true circumstances of the death of the Hindenburg, as established by journalist Michael Mooney many years later.

The sensational death of the Hindenburg in front of hundreds of spectators, as well as the hasty official conclusions of the investigation into the causes of the disaster, had the most disastrous consequences for the development of airship construction.

Savelyev P.S. Fire disasters

Construction of the airship LZ 129. Germany, 1935 San Diego Air & Space Museum

Construction of the airship, codenamed LZ 129, began in Germany in 1931 - even before Hitler came to power - and took almost five years. Structurally, it was a so-called rigid airship - the most widespread type of the era of passenger airship construction. Dur-aluminum frame Duralumin- a lightweight, durable alloy of aluminum with copper and magnesium. was covered with fabric, and there were closed chambers with gas inside. Rigid airships were of enormous size: otherwise the lifting force was very small.

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The first flight of the LZ 129 took place on March 4, 1936. At that time it was the largest passenger airship in the world. At first they wanted to name it in honor of the Fuhrer, but Hitler was against it: any trouble with the car could damage his image. Then the airship was given the name “Hindenburg” - in honor of Paul von Hindenburg, who served as Reich President from 1925 Reich President- head of the German state in the Weimar Republic and the Third Reich from 1919 to 1945. Germany. It was he who appointed Adolf Hitler chancellor in 1933, but after Hindenburg’s death in 1934, Hitler abolished the post of Reich President and assumed all the powers of the head of state.

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Airship "Hindenburg". 1936 Wikimedia Commons

The Hindenburg was 245 meters long and was only 24 meters shorter than the Titan. Four powerful engines allowed it to reach speeds of up to 135 km/h - that is, it was faster than passenger trains of that time. There could be 100 people on board the di-jable, and in total it was capable of lifting about 100 tons of cargo into the air, of which 60 tons were fuel reserves.

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Promenade deck of the Hindenburg Airships.net collection

A one-way transatlantic flight on the Hindenburg cost a lot of money in the mid-1930s - $400 (which is almost $7,000 in 2017 prices), so the main passengers of the Hindenburg were politicians, athletes, artists and large industrialists. We tried to create maximum comfort for passengers on board. The Hindenburg was originally even equipped with an ultra-light aluminum piano, but this, along with some other design elements, was subsequently removed to get rid of excess weight and add several passenger cabins. During its entire operation, the airship went through a number of alterations, but the promenade deck with large windows remained unchanged. By the way, you can see her in the third part Indiana Jones, in which father and son Jones attempt to escape Germany by airship.

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Passenger cabin. 1936 Heinrich Hoffmann / ullstein bild / Getty Images

Unlike a number of other German airships, the Hindenburg's passenger cabins were not located in the gondola Gondola- a room for people in an aerostat or airship., and in the lower part of the main body. Each cabin was three square meters in area and equipped with two beds, a plastic washbasin, a small built-in wardrobe and a folding table. There were no windows or toilets.

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The Hindenburg over Manhattan. 1936 New York Times Co. / Getty Images

In the first third of the 20th century, Germany was the absolute leader in airship construction. Having come to power, the Nazis viewed airships as an important means of propaganda abroad, making them their calling card. From this point of view, flights to North America were considered especially important. Just two months after the test flight, on May 6, 1936, the Hindenburg made its first flight to the United States from Frankfurt to Lake Hurst Air Force Base (New Jersey). The flight took 61 hours 40 minutes: the Hindenburg arrived in Lakehurst on May 9, flying over New York.

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Paul Schulte celebrates Mass on board the airship. May 6, 1936 bistum-magdeburg.de

During the first transatlantic flight, there were many celebrities on board the Hindenburg. Among them was the Catholic missionary Paul Schulte, known as the Flying Priest. During World War I, he served as a combat pilot and then became a missionary in Africa, traveling to hard-to-reach areas by plane. Before the Hindenburg's flight, Schulte personally asked for papal approval to celebrate the world's first "air mass" and, having received it, conducted the service on Wednesday, May 6, 1936, while the airship was over the Atlantic.

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The Hindenburg over the Olympic Stadium. August 1, 1936 Keystone Pictures/DIOMEDIA

At least twice, the Hindenburg was used as a propaganda tool within Germany. So, on August 1, 1936, during the Berlin Olympics, he flew over the Olympic stadium at an altitude of 250 meters. The airship with the Olympic rings on board circled over the city for about an hour, and the German press wrote that the flight was seen by 3 million people. Later, on September 14, 1936, the Hindenburg also flew over the NSDAP congress NSDAP- National Socialist German Workers' Party, which existed from 1920 to 1945. From July 1933 to May 1945 - the ruling and only legal party in Germany. in Nuremberg - an annual event glorified in Leni Riefenstahl's film "Triumph of the Will".

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The Hindenburg arrives at Lakehurst Air Force Base. May 9, 1936 The U.S. Coast Guard/Wikimedia Commons

Once over US territory, the crew of the Hindenburg always sought to fly over large cities, but the constant landing place for passengers was Lakehurst Air Force Base, located almost 100 kilometers from New York. Before World War II, it was the center of airship construction in the United States, to which the largest American airships were assigned - including the military airship-aircraft carrier Akron, which crashed off the coast of the United States in 1933. It was the largest disaster of the airship era in terms of number of casualties: out of 76 crew members, only three survived. However, the sinking of the Hindenburg quickly overshadowed the sinking of the Akron, mainly because it was one of the first crashes to occur on live television.

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The Hindenburg over New York. May 6, 1937 Zuma/TASS

On May 6, 1937, during another flight to the United States, the Hindenburg crashed while landing at Lakehurst base. Under the control of Captain Max Pruss, the airship left Germany on the evening of May 3 with 97 people on board, and reached New York on the morning of May 6. Demonstrating the airship to the Americans, Pruss flew up to the observation deck of the Empire State Building, and then headed for Lakehurst. A thunderstorm front forced the Hindenburg to wait for some time, and only at eight o’clock in the evening the captain received permission to land. A few minutes before the passengers began disembarking, a fire occurred in the gas compartment, and the flaming airship crashed to the ground. Despite the fire and the fall from a great height, 62 of the 97 people survived. 13 passengers, 22 crew members and one base employee on the ground were killed.

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The frame of the Hindenburg, engulfed in fire. May 6, 1937 AP Images/TASS

The Hindenburg was filled with highly flammable hydrogen instead of the much safer helium, which is why the fire spread so quickly. In the first half of the 20th century, the main supplier of helium was the United States, but its export to Germany was prohibited. When the airship was originally designed in 1931, it was assumed that helium would be available by the start of operation, but after the Nazis came to power, US policy on this issue became even stricter, and the Hindenburg was modified to use hydrogen .

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The crash of the Hindenburg. May 6, 1937 Sam Shere/Getty Images

This photo, included by Time magazine in its list of the 100 most important photographs in human history, was taken by Sam Sher of International News Photos. He was one of two dozen reporters and photographers who greeted the Hindenburg at Lakehurst. Of the dozens of photographs taken at the scene of the tragedy, it was this photo that made it onto the cover of Life, and was then reprinted by hundreds of publications around the world. And 32 years later, in 1969, Cher's photo also became the cover of Led Zeppelin's debut album.

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Memorial service for the victims of the disaster. New York, May 11, 1937 Anthony Camerano / AP Images / TASS

A memorial service for the 28 victims of the disaster (all of whom were of German origin) was held in New York on May 11, 1937, at the pier from which ships departed for Germany. According to the American press, the ceremony was attended by more than 10 thousand members of various German organizations. After flowers were laid on the coffins of the victims and the Nazi salute was given to them, the coffins were ceremonially loaded onto the German steamship Hamburg and sent for burial in Germany.

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Wreckage of the Hindenburg airship Wikimedia Commons

At the end of 1937, the duralumin frame of the Hindenburg was sent to Germany and melted down for the needs of the Luft Waffe. Luftwaffe - Nazi Germany's air force.. Despite some conspiracy theories (the main one was the presence of a time bomb on board), both the American and German commissions came to the conclusion that the explosion of internal gas cylinders was caused by a cable break that damaged one of the cylinders.

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Frame of the Hindenburg at the crash site Murray Becker/AP Images/TASS

Immediately after the disaster, Germany stopped all passenger airship flights. In 1940, two other passenger airships - LZ 127 and LZ 130, the so-called "Graf Zeppelin" and "Graf Zeppelin II" - were dismantled, and their dura-aluminum frames were sent for melting down.

Victor Korshunov

Noah's Ark was built by an amateur. The Titanic was built by professionals

the largest disasters of the 20th century that occurred on water, on land and in the air: the tragedy of the ocean liner Titanic, the disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant and the death of the Hindenburg airship. Experts are still understanding the causes of these disasters.

Huge and majestic, the Hindenburg made the same contribution to the development of aviation as the mighty Titanic contributed to the development of shipping. But due to ill luck or irony of fate, the Hindenburg suffered the same consequences.

Some facts from the history of air disasters

At the end of the 30s of the 20th century, the airship was rightfully considered not only fashionable, but also one of the most modern technical achievements of mankind. One of the main advantages of airships was overcoming huge distances at that time - hundreds and thousands of miles - without refueling. At the same time, airships could transport several hundred tons of payload. In wartime, they could become reconnaissance aircraft and giant bombers. In addition, in unforeseen situations, if all engines stopped, the airships did not fall into a steep dive, but continued to glide, gradually descending, saving the lives of the crew and passengers.

In the history of aeronautics there have been many grandiose victories, achievements, discoveries, expeditions and travels related to aeronautics and aviation. But, alas, there were also tragic moments that put the development of this undoubtedly convenient means of transportation into question. Therefore, this type of transport began to lose its gained positions.

The main reason was several terrible disasters that resulted in the death of dozens of people. The accidents of giant airships especially shocked the whole world.

Here are some examples.

1928 After a very successful flight to the North Pole, the airship Italia crashed on the ice. A large number of planes and sea vessels went in search of brave Arctic explorers, and soon the expedition of U. Nobile was found: a Swedish pilot and the Soviet icebreaker "Krasin" helped.

1930. New accident - the airship R-101 crashed. It was intended to serve flights on the routes "England - Canada", "England - Egypt - India - Australia". The R-101 crashed on its first flight. It was the largest English airship (volume more than 140,000 m3). But its size did not save it: having lost most of its hydrogen reserves, the flying ship began to sharply decline and crashed into a hill. Then a fire and explosion occurred. At the same time, of the 57 people on board, 48 died.

1930, February 5. "Osoviakhim" ("USSR V-6"), the best Soviet airship at that time, rushing to the rescue of the Papaninites stuck on an ice floe, crashed in the Arctic, not far from Kandalaksha (Murmansk region). He crashed into a rock not marked on the map.

American balloonists were also unlucky. In the mid-thirties, two airships died - Akron and Mekon. These hulks had a volume of 180,000 m3, a length of 239 m and a diameter of 40.5 m. Several versions are known about these disasters: unfavorable weather conditions (storm), technical problems (breakage of rudders, fractures of the hull due to large bending moments). The most tragic was the death of the Akron airship. Of the 76 people, only three were lucky to survive.

But, despite the statistics of deaths in accidents that were described above, the first place among aeronautics tragedies belongs to the disaster of the airship LZ-129 "Hindenburg", in which 35 people died out of 97 passengers and crew members.

Hindenburg - Hitler's flagship

In Germany, the airship with the number LZ-129 was rightfully the pride of the Third Reich. The Hindenburg was a modern embodiment of the triumph of German engineering, technology and scientific thought. With a swastika on its stern, it proudly soared in the skies of Germany.

As a symbol of the revival of the "Third Reich", the airship became an indicator of national wealth: the largest and most expensive aircraft ever built by human hands. Hitler considered it irrefutable proof of the superiority of the Aryan race. “The proud angel of the new Germany” - that’s what one of the Bavarian poets called him

However, “Hindenburg” for designers meant more than just an advertising symbol of Nazi Germany. It was the safest means of aeronautics, equipped with the most modern navigation instruments and equipment at that time.

As of the end of May 1937, the Hindenburg carried more than 3,000 people to their destinations. It completed 21 flights across the North Atlantic and 16 across the South.

The first flights of the Hindenburg

The largest aircraft, the Hindenburg (Zeppelin LZ 129), saw its first “white light” on March 4, 1936. He was solemnly taken out of the boathouse - the place for assembling airships. The airship received its name in honor of Paul von Hindenburg, the Reich President of Germany. It was the largest aircraft that had ever risen above the ground until that time.

The airship was first seen in the skies over Germany during the Reichstag elections.

Simultaneously with its “colleague” - the airship - "Graf Zeppelin" - it operated flights from Garmisch-Partenkirchen to Konigsberg (present-day Kaliningrad). Nazi pennants flew on the sides of the ship. The tail was decorated with a swastika. Thousands of leaflets with Hitler's propaganda rained down from the sky on those who were on the ground, and loudspeakers trumpeted: “Fulfill your duty - choose the Fuhrer!” Perhaps this action played its intended role: according to the single-mandate list, the NSDAP party received almost 99 percent of the votes. These are the official election statistics of March 29, 1936.

The Hindenburg began its first flights with passengers in May 1936.

He flew to America: North (Lakehurst) and South (Rio de Janeiro). At the same time, the Hindenburg set a speed record, crossing the North Atlantic in 43 hours. By the end of May 1937, the airship had made 37 successful flights across the Atlantic. He delivered about 3,000 people to their destinations.

Technical characteristics of the Hindenburg

length - 245 meters (according to other sources - 248 meters), for comparison - the length of the Titanic - 240 meters;
maximum diameter - 41.2 meters (according to other sources - 40 meters);
nominal volume - 200,000 cubic meters of gas in cylinders; aluminum tanks were typically 95% full - i.e. about 190,000 cubic meters of hydrogen;
engines - four Daimler-Benz diesel engines;
maximum engine power - 1200 hp. With. every;
carrying capacity - 242 tons (of which 100 tons were payload);
maximum speed - up to 135 kilometers per hour (and with a tailwind - up to 150 kilometers per hour);
The maximum flight range is more than 15,000 km with a payload of 90-100 tons.
For that time these were very high figures.

The covering of the Hindenburg was made of extra-strong cotton-based fabric. The fabric was pre-treated with a solution that included cellulose acetate butyrate, iron oxide, and an aluminum powder additive. With this, the designers wanted to ensure not only the strength of the shell, but also to protect the airship from a possible fire.

The cigar-shaped hull of the ship was divided into 16 compartments, which served as “tanks” for fuel - hydrogen.

You can't stop living beautifully

The Hindenburg's passenger accommodations were incomparably more comfortable than on any other aircraft that had ever existed before it. A real “flying palace” - that’s what its contemporaries called it. Wealthy clients not only flew from Europe to America and back, but also enjoyed a comfortable environment.
For this they were provided with:
26 double comfortable cabins, they were equipped with showers with running hot water (baths would be too heavy);
salon, in which there was a small, lightweight aluminum piano specially made for the airship;
reading room;
walking galleries;
observation platform, located at the bottom of the airship;
smoking lounge; 333
restaurant, in which passengers, sitting at comfortable tables, looked at the terrain passing below from a bird's eye view;

bar, which served their “signature drink,” a chilled Hindenburg cocktail;
magnificent kitchen, where the best German chefs prepared exquisite dishes and served them on gilded blue porcelain.

Most passengers spent their free time in the dome with large windows, or on the observation deck.
10 staff and 40 teams served wealthy clients.
How much did this trip cost?
In different sources, the figures differ significantly: from 400 to 800 dollars. More likely, apparently, the first.

Security measures

Ah, you can’t forbid living beautifully.

But, nevertheless, with all its equipment, numerous cabins, bars, marble bathrooms and other things, the Hindenburg was, in fact, a huge flying hydrogen bomb. The cylinders placed inside the giant airship contained almost 200,000 cubic meters of the most explosive gas - hydrogen. A small spark would be enough for a powerful explosion to occur.

As calculations by Hugo Eckner, one of the creators of the airship, showed, the Hindenburg could have become safe if its cylinders had been filled not with hydrogen, but with non-flammable helium. But the only developed natural helium deposit at that time was located in the United States, Texas. Circumstances so happened that the Americans became a monopoly in this area. That's why they were able to dictate their terms. Germany agreed to make any concessions in order to buy about a million cubic meters of this necessary gas. But, contrary to the wishes of the Nazis, US congressmen passed a special law prohibiting the sale of helium to them.

It was the safest aircraft, equipped with the most modern (at that time) navigation devices and other necessary equipment. The requirements for ensuring the safety of passengers and crew on the airship were much stricter than on other aircraft and ships, and they were observed with German pedantry.

The most stringent ban that was in effect on the Hindenburg was the ban on any open sources of fire, which on the Hindenburg literally posed a threat to life. Therefore, upon boarding, everyone, including the most eminent passengers, was required to hand over matches, lighters, electric torches and any other devices that could cause a spark.

The team wore outerwear made of antistatic fabric and shoes with hemp soles.

But, despite such strict restrictions, the Hindenburg had a specially equipped smoking room, which housed the only electric lighter on the airship. To prevent hydrogen from entering the smoking room, a slight increased air pressure was constantly maintained in it. It was possible to enter the room through a special “passport” - an airlock.
This is how the designers solved one of the problems of ensuring fire safety.

Last flight

nothing foreshadowed...

It was this time for the Hindenburg that became the starting point of its last flight.
The airship, not for the first time, rose above the ground and headed for America.
There were 36 passengers on board. Almost 900 kg of hand luggage were loaded into the luggage compartments: suitcases, traveling bags and other small items. The ship's captain, Max Pruss, took his place in the control gondola. He was an experienced aeronaut, military pilot, and participated in the First World War. He knew his business by heart
Typically the journey to New York was 65 to 70 hours. But a fairly strong headwind blowing over the Atlantic forced the travelers to be almost 10 hours late.

The Hindenburg airship is the largest airship ever built in the world. It was built in Germany in 1936. It received its name in honor of the President of Germany named Paul von Hindenburg. There is a well-known tragic story associated with the airship. In 1937, while landing in the United States, it caught fire and crashed. Of the 97 people on board, 35 died. Another victim was a member of the ground crew.

The crash of the Hindenburg was not the most widespread airship disaster, but it caused a major

Construction of an airship

Construction of the Hindenburg airship began in 1931. It took about five years. The first flight took place in 1936. The characteristics of the airship "Hindenburg" impressed many.

At the time of construction it was the largest in the world. The design of the airship "Hindenburg" was the most advanced. Its length was 245 meters. The volume of gas in the cylinders was about 200 thousand cubic meters. The Zeppelin had four diesel engines producing approximately 900 horsepower. There were special fuel storage tanks with a capacity of two and a half thousand liters each.

The technical characteristics of the Hindenburg airship were impressive. It was capable of lifting up to 100 tons of payload and 50 passengers into the air. The maximum speed was 135 kilometers per hour. These technical characteristics of the Hindenburg airship were simply amazing for its time.

Helium instead of hydrogen

The history of the Hindenburg airship is interesting in that such large dimensions were due to the fact that it was planned to use helium as the carrier gas. It was planned to replace the highly flammable hydrogen that was used previously.

Interestingly, it was originally planned to build a hydrogen zeppelin, which would actually become the successor to the popular Graf Zeppelin airship. But due to the disaster of an English airship, the project was redone. Then, of the 54 people on board, 48 died. The cause was the ignition of hydrogen due to a leak.

At the time of the construction of the Hindenburg airship, the only major suppliers of helium in the world were the United States. But the country had an embargo on its export. Still, one of the developers of the Zeppelin, Hugo Eckener, hoped that it would be possible to obtain helium; for this purpose, he even met with the American president in the White House in 1929.

But these plans were not destined to come true. When the National War Products Control Board came to power in Germany, the United States refused to lift the ban on helium exports. The Hindenburg had to be converted to use hydrogen.

Zeppelin equipment

The German airship "Hindenburg" was equipped with everything necessary. There was a restaurant and kitchen on board. The deck was equipped with two walking galleries with windows located at an angle. Due to weight restrictions, showers were installed on board instead of bathtubs. Almost everything was made of aluminum, even the grand piano intended for the Zeppelin's saloon.

Before boarding, all passengers were required to hand over lighters, matches, and any other devices that could cause a spark. Interestingly, even despite such strict restrictions, the Hindenburg had a smoking room. There you could use the only electric lighter on board. To protect passengers and crew as much as possible from a possible fire, excess pressure was maintained in the room. This prevented hydrogen from entering the room. It was possible to get into it only through the airlock.

By 1937, passenger compartments, as well as public areas, were globally modernized. This made it possible to significantly increase capacity - from fifty to 72 passengers.

Airship flights

The Hindenburg airship made its first flight in 1936. He took off in Friedrichshafen. It made five test flights during the first few weeks, and on March 26, it took off on its first promotional flight. There were 59 passengers on board.

The airship began performing direct commercial flights on March 31. With 37 passengers on board, the zeppelin set off for South America. We also managed to lift more than a ton of cargo.

Since May 1936, the airship began to be used for regular passenger transportation. He flew across the Atlantic Ocean, making an average of two flights per month.

In September, the Hindenburg departed for Nuremberg, a flight that took less than a day, and from there to the east coast of America. By the end of the year, she made three more voyages to Recife and Rio de Janeiro. About ten commercial flights were made to the American Lakehurst.

It is worth emphasizing that at that time the airship was one of the most popular ways to cross the Atlantic. Tickets sold out almost immediately; there were simply no empty seats.

In winter, modernization was carried out, after which flights across the Atlantic Ocean to Brazil continued. The Hindenburg also carried passengers on a promotional tour over western Germany and Rhineland-Palatinate.

In total, the airship made 63 successful flights.

Last flight

The zeppelin took off on its last flight on May 3, 1937. There were 97 people on board. Among them are 61 passengers and 36 crew members. The flights took place in fairly comfortable conditions; to ensure the convenience of passengers, a large number of service personnel were always present on board. The tickets were not cheap - on average about four hundred dollars.

The luggage compartments were also filled. The airship received more than 17 thousand mail, the total volume of luggage and cargo was approximately one ton. The place on the captain's bridge was taken by Max Pruss, an experienced pilot and veteran of the First World War.

The Hindenburg airship disaster

The airship took off from Germany at 20:15 local time. Having crossed the Atlantic Ocean, he found himself over Manhattan.

The crew has traditionally cared not only about the comfort of passengers, but also about creating an unforgettable experience. Captain Pruss decided to show the passengers the sights of America, and at the same time show the Americans the famous German airship. To do this, he flew so close to the observation deck of the Empire State Building that visitors and passengers could get a good look at each other and wave.

After this, the Hindenburg briefly circled over the city itself and headed to the air base at Lakehurst. It was there that the landing was planned. At about 16:00 the zeppelin was not far from its landing site.

Landing at Lakehurst

In Lakehurst, weather conditions have deteriorated significantly. A thunderstorm front was rapidly approaching from the west, which could soon reach the landing field. The weather was so unpredictable that the head of the air base, Charles Rosendahl, even strongly recommended that Pruss postpone the landing of the airship.

Zeppelin sailed along the coast. By this time, the storm front began to move north. At 18:12, a radiogram arrived on board the Hindenburg, which reported that weather conditions had become favorable, it was possible to set course for the base again and land. At 19:08 another message arrived. In it, the crew was urged to land as soon as possible, because the weather could worsen again.

At 19:11 the airship began its descent, dropping to 180 meters. At that time, he was being followed by the American journalist Herbert Morrison, who was reporting from the ground about the arrival of the Hindenburg in the United States.

At 19:20 the zeppelin was balanced and two were dropped from its nose. Direct preparations for landing began. The situation began to get out of control at 19:25 when a fire started in the rear section. In just 15 seconds, the fire spread towards the bow for several tens of meters. Immediately after this, the first explosion occurred on the Hindenburg airship.

Exactly 34 seconds after this, the zeppelin crashed to the ground.

Victims of the tragedy

In the Hindenburg airship disaster, 36 people died: 22 crew members and 13 passengers. Another victim was a ground service employee.

Most of them died in the fire or suffocated from carbon monoxide. Several people managed to jump out of the burning airship, but were broken when they fell to the ground.

Directly in the disaster itself, 26 people died, of which 10 were passengers. The rest died later from their injuries.

Disaster investigation

The investigation into the disaster of the Hindenburg airship was carried out by a commission of inquiry from Germany. It was established that a steel wire brace, which ran along the inside of the entire frame, exploded in the rear part of the hull. At the same time, it served to transfer pressure to gas cylinders.

Two cylinders were damaged due to rupture. This caused a hydrogen leak, resulting in an explosive mixture formed in the space between the cylinders and the outer shell.

After the landing ropes were dropped, the zeppelin shell was not as well grounded as the hull material. This led to a potential difference. The weather also played a role. The humidity was high and a recent thunderstorm front had sparked. As a result, the air-hydrogen mixture instantly ignited. American experts also conducted their investigation and came to similar conclusions.

Conspiracy version

Interestingly, there is also a conspiracy theory about the death of the Hindenburg airship. It was put forward by an amateur historian from the United States, Adolf Heling.

He believes that the Hindenburg was destroyed by a timed mine. It was deliberately installed by one of the crew members, technician Erich Spehl, at the bottom of the cylinder number four. It was assumed that the explosion would occur immediately after landing, when both passengers and crew had left the ship. Heling thinks so. But due to the fact that the Hindenburg made an extra circle, which was caused by bad weather conditions, the clockwork mechanism worked before everyone on board the airship disembarked.

Spehl himself jumped out of the burning zeppelin, but soon died in the hospital from his burns. Interestingly, the same version was put forward by the head of the German Gestapo, Heinrich Müller.

Consequences of the crash

The crash of the Hindenburg airship marked the beginning of the end of the era of airships in the world. Soon after this incident, the German leadership officially banned passenger transportation on airships, as well as their use for foreign flights for any purpose.

An exception was made only for mail and air shows that were organized in Germany.

Farewell to airships

After the Hindenburg disaster, the commercial use of airships virtually ceased. German companies have canceled all flights to Brazil and the USA. The German government has introduced a ban on passenger transportation on zeppelins.

The airship "Graf Zeppelin" was transferred to Frankfurt. There it was placed in the museum as a huge exhibit in an exhibition that was dedicated to von Zeppelin himself and his creations.

The next airship in this series was completed, but it was used exclusively for propaganda and military purposes. Already in 1940, German Aviation Minister Goering ordered both airships to be scrapped.

The death of the Hindenburg in culture

The Hindenburg disaster is reflected in world culture. For example, in 1975, American director Robert Wise made a feature film called The Hindenburg, which won two Oscar awards. In it, the main version of what happened was sabotage.

One of the episodes of the popular documentary series “Seconds to Disaster” tells in detail about what happened on the airship in May 1937. The filmmakers conducted their own investigation, which came to the conclusion that the initial version of a hydrogen fire on board is more likely than the versions of an explosion or deliberate arson.

The Hindenburg is also mentioned in the documentary series Life After People. It shows faded photographs of the airship, supposedly kept in archives three centuries after the extinction of humanity.

In the fictional fantasy series "Out of Time", in the very first episode of the first season, the heroes go back in time just at the moment of the destruction of the Hindenburg. They intend to catch a terrorist whose goal is to change the course of history.

The Hindenburg airship leaves its hangar in the spring of 1936. The perfect airship was the pride of Nazi Germany. The length of the gigantic airship was 804 feet, that is, longer than the length of any warship. Refilling it required more than 7 million cubic feet of gas. The largest airship, the Hindenburg (there were no others like it in the world), was intended for regular air flights across the Atlantic Ocean.

Unprecedented comfort and gourmet cuisine

The spacious cabin of the airship, made of duralumin, comfortably accommodated 72 passengers. They all enjoyed a delicious meal. In the passenger compartment they had a specially made aluminum grand piano at their disposal, which weighed only 360 pounds. The Hindenburg airship, whose design was striking in its unprecedented chic, had specially designed observation windows, protected from possible damage, which opened up a panorama of the earth floating below. The airship even had its own postmark. The kitchen on the Hindenburg was completely electrified. The smoking area was carefully isolated and only electric lighters were allowed. The designers' greatest fear was fire, since the airship was filled with millions of cubic feet of highly flammable hydrogen. The slightest spark could lead to disaster.

Flying hotel

The Hindenburg airship looked as safe as home. In 1936, it symbolized the future of air transport. With a speed of 80 miles per hour, it could cross the Atlantic Ocean in two days, twice as fast as a steamship. Four diesel engines allowed the Hindenburg to cover a distance of 8.5 thousand miles. There was a feeling of confidence on board. But soon everything changed. What should have been another transatlantic flight ended in the worst disaster in aviation history. The huge airship was destroyed under circumstances that were never clarified. The final flight and crash of the Hindenburg airship is still shrouded in mystery.

How it all began

At that time, the era of aeronautics was less than fifty years old. The first were semi-rigid airships like the Santos-Dumont, built in the late 19th century. The father of rigid airships was the German Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin.

His first model of this type, LZ 1, took to the skies in July 1900. And the fourth airship - LZ 4 - in July 1906 made a twelve-hour flight from Germany to Switzerland. Overnight, Count von Zeppelin became a world celebrity, and the aircraft he created became known as Luftschiffbau-Zeppelin. Despite their large size, these devices were fragile. Pilots had to not only control the latest technology, but also be able to adapt to weather conditions. Controlling the Luftschiffbau-Zeppelin was similar to steering a sailing ship, but the airship pilots were at their best. During the first four years, accidents occurred, but there were no casualties. Germany was the world leader in the construction of airships.

The first record holders

The transatlantic flight, which opened the way to commercial flights, was made by the English airship R-34. The aircraft spent 109 hours in the air, breaking all world records. As the R-34 landed, dumping its water ballast to slow its rate of descent, the future of airships seemed bright. But with each new disaster, hopes faded. In August 1921, the British airship R-38, undergoing testing in the United States, broke in half and crashed into the waters of the Humber River (England), killing forty-four crew members. After this, the US Navy abandoned British participation and began creating its own airships.

Design rivalry

In the 20s of the last century, a competition was held for the best model. Two airships were to be built: one, the R-100, at a Vickers subsidiary, the other, the R-101, at the state aircraft plant in Cardington. It was a classic rivalry between private and public enterprise. Unfortunately, it all ended badly. There were simply no high-quality designers and engineers in the UK to implement both projects. Most of the talented specialists gathered at the Vickers company, the head of this group was Barnes Wallis, who created the famous bouncing bomb during the Second World War.

In the summer of 1930, the R-100 successfully crossed the Atlantic Ocean twice, but not everything went smoothly in Cardington. It was assumed that the R-101 would open an air line from the Metropolis to India. The airship was supposed to make its route in October 1930 and return to London in time for the conference, to which the premiers of all the British Dominions were invited. But the R-101 was plagued by setbacks; at the last moment, it was even necessary to reduce the length of the airship and attach an additional gas cylinder to its belly. The shell of the airship began to crack. The R-101 was not tested at high speed or in bad weather, its power was insufficient, and it was overloaded with fuel. Catastrophe seemed inevitable. Experts did not advise lifting the airship into the air, but politicians insisted.

Disaster of the British apparatus

The R-101 was prepared for takeoff and was additionally loaded with a huge red carpet, intended to welcome VIPs aboard the airship after landing. On October 2, a final meeting was held at the Air Ministry, Lord Christopher Thomson, the same one who put forward the idea of ​​​​competing models, insisted on a speedy departure. The flight was finally scheduled for October 4th. The head of the Civil Aviation Department, Sir Sefton Branker, expressed his doubts - he was aware of the design flaws of the R-101, but Thomson told him: “If you're afraid, don't fly.” However, Sefton Branker went flying. At 20.00 the huge airship left London, with rain and strong winds raging over French territory. In bad weather, the airship became uncontrollable, and tons of water accumulated in its skin, and the R-101 crashed near Beauvais in northern France. Lord Thomson was burned alive, only six crew members managed to escape. After the funeral, the finished R-100 was scrapped. Britain abandoned the construction of airships forever.

German air supremacy

Meanwhile, Germany again began building aircraft. The airship program was headed by Hugo Eckener, Zeppelin's successor. After World War I, Germany was prohibited from creating new devices, but in 1926 it returned to airship construction. The first to be built was the LZ 127 "Graf Zeppelin". It made its first flight in September 1926, followed by nine years of continuous operation, during which the LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin airship flew more than a million miles. In 1929, a German airship set a world record by circling the globe. It sailed majestically over Siberia, then crossed the Pacific Ocean. It seemed that only the Germans knew the secret of successful accident-free flights.

First appearance

In 1936, they created the R-129 project - the Hindenburg airship. Funding for construction was provided by the Nazi government of Adolf Hitler. Hugo Eckener wanted to lift an airship into the air using helium, but only the USA produced this non-flammable gas. The American government refused to export helium, fearing that it could be used for military purposes. Therefore, the Hindenburg airship had to be filled with flammable hydrogen. But this was not what worried Eckener; he believed that the more serious risk of fire was associated with the fuel for the engines, and not with the danger of a gas leak. The German airship “Hindenburg” performed its first flight “excellently,” which brought it great success. By September 1937, it was planned to create another airship of this type. There was only one competitor looming on the horizon - American flying boats, which had mastered the transatlantic route to the west coast of Ireland. But these planes could not offer the luxury that the German airship Hindenburg was distinguished by.

There were no signs of trouble

On May 3, 1937, the airship Hindenburg left its hangar in Frankfurt, preparing for the first transatlantic voyage of the new season. The final destination was the airfield in Lakehurst, New Jersey. The Zeppelin company received several letters from anti-Nazi groups threatening sabotage if the Hindenburg continued to fly to the United States. Some of the letters were transferred to American authorities through the German Embassy in Washington. But there is no evidence that the company took these threats seriously. After all, airships have been flying since 1900, and during this time not a single passenger has died. Preparations for the flight continued. This time only 36 of the 72 seats were filled, but all tickets for the return flight from America were sold out.

The voyage across the ocean is over

The flight to the USA was successful, visibility was poor, the passengers spent most of the time relaxing in the bar, dozing or discussing the internal political situation in Germany. The Hindenburg flew over floating ice floes and icebergs, and some of the passengers remembered the sad fate of the Titanic. The airship began its descent off Long Island. The craft flew so low over New York that passengers were able to see the press photographers gathered on the roof of the Empire State Building. Landing at Lakehurst Airfield was scheduled for 4 p.m., but was postponed as dark rain clouds gathered over the airfield. The airship commander Max Pruss decided to return to the ocean coast and wait until the thunderstorm passed. At 16.30, passengers were served tea and sandwiches, and the airship continued to circle over the deserted coast of New Jersey. The passengers whiled away the time looking at the forests below. Finally the sky over Lakehurst cleared and Captain Pruss began preparing to land.

Last minutes of life

At 19.10 the airship appeared over the airfield, passengers gathered in the waiting room below, ready to take off on the return flight from America. Press photographers gathered on the roof to document the landing, and journalists prepared to dictate their reports. The Hindenburg approached the mooring mast. Having dropped ballast, the airship descended to a height of 200 feet, the crew prepared to throw ropes to the ground. Everything looked as usual upon landing. Passengers craned their necks to better see everything from the window, because now they would set foot on American soil. As the steel cable to secure the airship emerged from the bow, it began to rain lightly, and then disaster struck. Radio reporter Herbert Morrison reported from the scene: “The airship caught fire. God, he's on fire. What a terrible disaster. Everything around is on fire, the airship falls onto the landing mast. That's just terrible. The flames rise 400-500 feet into the sky. All that was left of the Hindenburg was the frame, people were burning alive. They are dying."

Investigation into the death of the airship

Witnesses to the events spoke of a small stream of flame near the upper stabilizer. Seconds after this, the largest airship, the Hindenburg, died - it turned into a giant torch. It took only 32 seconds for this small fire to destroy the huge aircraft. 36 people died in the fire, including 22 crew members, 13 passengers and one ground crew member. Surprisingly, 61 people managed to escape.

Why did the Hindenburg airship disaster happen? This airship had just been hovering in the sky when it suddenly turned into a pile of rubble. The US Department of Commerce has launched an investigation into the incident. After 18 days of hearing testimony, the investigation established the probable cause of the disaster that caused the death of the Hindenburg airship. Excessive static voltage caused a fire in the stabilizer of the device. The surviving captain of the ship, Max Pruss, believed that sabotage had been committed on board the airship. Whether the airship was the victim of sabotage or an accident, we will never know. The mystery of the death of the Hindenburg airship remains unsolved.