The Hindenburg was the largest man made object ever placed in the atmosphere. The ship was much larger than the multi stage Saturn Five Rocket built by Werner Von Braun which took mankind to the Moon.
The failure of this ship was one of the worst aviation disaster's in history. This accident was on the same scale as the Challenger Disaster of 1986 which devastated the aerospace industry.
The failure of the Hindenburg ended the era of ridged air ships.
It was also the first time a failure of this level was caught on film by Herb Morisson and his camera man.
Numbered the LZ-126 for Luft Zeppelin , the Hindenburg was manufactured by the Zeppelin Company of Germany. The Zeppelin Company was founded by Count Ferdinand Von Zeppelin and was under the direction of Dr. Hugo Eckener .
Eckener was an aerospace genius and had already designed and built the Graf Zeppelin, which was slightly smaller than the Hindenburg. Eckener wanted an even faster more powerful ship than the Graf. The new ship would be the 126th ridged air ship designed by the company and also it's last.
The Hindenburg when finished was considered state of the art with ever safety feature available at that time. The ship was considered to be just as luxurious as an ocean liner and could make the crossing much faster taking only two days to reach New Jersey where her landing bay was located.
The Hindenburg's maiden voyage was on January, 30th 1936.
When the Nazi Party came to power on January 30th, 1933, many companies were nationalized, including the Zeppelin Company. The new government realized that the airships could be used as a terrifying weapon, which other countries did not have.
Eckener wanted the Hindenburg filled with Helium, which is a very stable gas. Helium is so inert that it is able to actually smother a flame, where as Hydrogen is one of the most volatile
substances known to man. A single spark is able to ignite Hydrogen.
The German's used every safety measure available, but still the accident occurred . The reason for not using Helium is due to the United States holding the monopoly on the gas and refusing to sell it to Germany fearing they would use the airships for war.
On this crossing there would be two captain's on board. Max Pruss, who was considered one of the countries top pilot's and Ernst Leeman. Leeman was on this flight representing the Nazi Government.
The Hindenburg was 882 feet in length and was almost the same size as the Queen Mary. The ship had sixteen individual gas units for containing the Hydrogen. The Hydrogen provided lift for the ship.
The Hindenburg and the Graf Zeppelin were the first Ridged Airships to go into Trans-Atlantic service and also too make the Atlantic crossing . Both ships could reach an air speed of over 100 knots or about 100 miles an hour. The Hindenburg was the more luxurious and even had an Aluminum Piano to avoid anything flammable on board.
May - 7th- 1937
Lakehurst, New Jersey
After several hours delay due to storms the Hindenburg finally received clearance to come in for landing and mooring . As she approached the Mooring Mast , the ship suddenly burst into flames from the aft section of the ship. It took only 30 seconds for the Hindenburg to be engulfed with flames and slamming into the landing area.
Of the two Captain's on board, only Max Pruss survived staying with the ship all the way down. Pruss was horribly burned over most of his body. Leeman was so badly burned, he had no chance for survival and died hours later from severe burns to his back.
At the inquest for the disaster, the committee determined the cause of the disaster to have been from leaking Hydrogen and Static Electricity, sometimes called "St. Elmo's fire.
Pruss had felt all along that the ship had been sabotaged along with Eckener who also felt this was not enough electricity to cause this type of explosion.
Pruss died in 1957 still convinced that the ship had been tampered with.
Today in Lakehurst, there is a memorial to the Hindenburg. It is the site where the control section or Gondola set down.
Of all the ground crew and passenger's only 36 people died, most survived by jumping from the burning ship. The era of the Ridged Airships came to an end on that rainy evening in Lakehurst. Only the much smaller blimps of today are reminders of the Great German Zeppelin's.
It is probably safe to say - Most likely this accident will never be fully understood.
Ken Lafler
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