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America's Forgotten Airship Disaster

Cover image shows the stern of the Shenandoah soon after the crash.
  • Cover image shows the stern of the Shenandoah soon after the crash.
  • A Navy photo of the official christening of the USS Shenandoah in 1923.
  • A view of the Shenandoah passing over the capitol in Washington DC., where it dropped flowers onto the tomb of the unknown soldier.
  • A diagram printed in National Geographic Magazine a few months before the crash.
  • The news of the crash made headlines across the country and around the world.
  • Thousands of people swarmed the wreckage to see this historic sight. Souvenir hunters nearly stripped the great airship bare. The Army had to be called in to control the crowds.
  • One of the Shenandoah's 300-hp Packard engines lies where it fell.
  • Lieutenant Commander Zachary Lansdowne, captain of the airship, was a native of Greenville Ohio. He and 13 of his crewmen were killed in the crash.
Price:
$19.95
ISBN:
978-0-9647800-5-7
Rating:
( 1 product review )

Product Description

On a stormy September morning in 1925, the giant Navy airship Shenandoah tumbled out of a turbulent sky and crashed into aviation history. The 682-ft. dirigible fell in pieces into the hills of rural Ohio. Her captain and 13 other crewmen were killed in the crash.

Thousands of curiousity-seekers swarmed the crash sites, trampling crops, flattening fences and stripping the carcass of the great ship almost bare. Army troops had to be called in to maintain control. As the years have passed, this historic event has all but faded from our collecting memory.

Now this tragic story is told anew with over 100 fascinating photographs and illustrations.

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Product Reviews

  1. Disaster Shared

    Posted by Chriss Lyon "Historical Research Writer" - St. Joseph MI on 30th Aug 2010

    When the USS Shenandoah was torn apart in a storm one September day in 1925 in the heart of rural Ohio, it was one of heartbreak and spectacle. Not only did 14 men lose their lives on board the airship, but people from all over the area flooded Noble County to see the three differrent crash sites where this massive, once larger than life airship lie in pieces. The photographs are spectactular and obviously relay the fact that many people were present to document this site. In fact, my original interest in this book was that my great-grandparents were also witnesses to this crash site and I now have those original, never before published photographs. This is a great book for lovers of the airship era and historical disasters.

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