DOGGED BY ILL-LUCK.

Hawera Star, Volume XLV, 8 September 1925, Page 10

DOGGED BY ILL-LUCK.

PATE OF THE SHENANDOAH.

111-fortune aas followed tli© dirigible Shenandoah, or ZRI, ever since she was launched in 1923. Primarily designed to test the capabilities of a dirigible for airworthiness, the vessel has undergone many tests that were not suggested by man. It was" early in 1924 that she met with her first serious encounter with the elements. It had been decided that she would be used for an American attempt to fly over the North Pole, and great preparations were made. A couple of days before she was due for her first trial prior to leaving for the Arctic, news' was received of the loss of the French dirigible Dixmude, which was struck by lightning over the Mediterranean Sea, when on an endurance flight, to Morocco. Immediately there was an outery in America as to the strength of the Shenandoah. While the senators in Washington were discussing the matter, a telegram was received from the ngval air station at Lakehurst that the vessel had broken away from her mast in a fifty-five mile an hour gale. At this time, she was undergoing a test of ten days in order to ascertain her power in resisting the elements. She rapidly was lost to sight and for some hours, no word was received from her. This was on January 16, 1924, and late that night a •wireless message was received from the airship, stating that she was over New Brunswick, Canada. -

The air experts announced that there was little hope for the vessel, as it was believed that her structure had been damaged when shei was torn away from the 400-foot mast to which she was moored.

On this occasion, however, the Shenandoah was destined to out-ride the gale, and she returned to Lakehurst undamaged, with, her crew of thirty. But. public feeling was raised, and after a statement that a polar flight was an invitation to .the officers and crew to commit suicide, the flight to the Pole was postponed. The matter was revived^a couple of weeks later, but Congress held up the appropriation of the money necessary for the flight until it was too late for the expedition to leave during the 1924 season for flying in the Arctic. President Coolidge was unfavourable to the flight, and for the next few months the matter was frequently discussed. Later in the year, after the dirigible had undergone an extensive overhaul, a flight across the continent to the Pacific coast and down the coast as far as Panama was undertaken. This was carried out successfully and restored confidence in the airship. As a result, the polar flight project was again revived, but a good deal of opposition was received from those who favoured aeroplanes. The Dixmude disaster was? also revived, and the matter was. again postponed, the Navy Department preferring to wait until Congress was in a favourable mood towards the flight.

In June of the same year, another lengthy flight was undertaken, a heavy wind and rain storm being experienced. This the vessel weathered safely, and public confidence was again restored in its capabilities.

The vessel was the first large dirigible built in the United States, and, although further ships of her type have been discussed, no others have been built yet. She was one of the largest airships in the world, being 700 feet in length, and eighty-five feet in diameter. Her lifting power is provided by nineteen balloonettes, which are inside the hull, and these hold many thousands of cubic feet of hel-. ium gas.

The Shenandoah was the first vessel to use helium gas instead of hydrogen, the former being used on account of its non-inflammability. The use of helium improved the safety factor of the vessel a great deal, and its discovery .was hailed as an important advance in heavier-thlan-air Aiding. . v essel had a lifting power of eighty-five tons, and 'was designed as a fighting craft, having ample space for large supplies' of bombs and a machine gun platform on top. She. had a cruising speed of fifty to seventvfive miles an hour, and a radius of a lout 4000 miles. Accommodation was provided for forty-four officers and men. and electric ranges were used for cooking*.

The hull was constructed of duralumid.fi an .alloy of aluminuim, this bein" a. very light, but strong metal. The outer covering was of staple, blackspun cotton, this material being an inch in thickness. Specially prepared varnish made the hull sun-proof and waterproof.