AIRSHIP SCRAPPED.

Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 494, 1 July 1932, Page 1

AIRSHIP SCRAPPED.

U.S. Navy to Lose the Giant Los Angeles. “ OLD AGE AND ECONOMY.” United Press Assn. —By Electric Telegraph—Copyright. (Received July 1, 8.50 a.m.) ' NEW YORK, June 30. A message from Lakehurst (New Jersey) states that the giant dirigible Los Angeles, the training ship of the United States Navy flyers, was ordered to be decommissioned to-day, the reasons given being old age and economy. It will be immediately shorn of its helium gas, engines and name. The dirigible was delivered here in 1024 by Dr Eckener, after a seventy-four hours’ flight from Friedrichshafen. In scrapping the Los Angeles the | United States Government is following the lead given by the British Government, which, after the disaster in which the RlOl was wiped out, scrapped her sister ship, the RIOO. But unlike Britain, the United States still has one dirigible, the Akron, which is the largest in the world. The main j dimensions of the Akron, Los Angeles and Graf Zeppelin are:— Graf Lo's ZeppeAkron. Angeles, lin. Length, ft 785 658.3 776 Max. diameter .. 132.9 90.7 100 No. engines .... 8 5 5 Max. speed, m.p.h. 84 73.1 80 j Cruising r’ge, m. 10,580 4000 6125 ! Germany and America are the only nations possessing dirigibles. While the United States has not made commercial use of airships, Dr Eckener, in the Graf Zeppelin, has demonstrated in the most forceful manner the success of such craft for this class of work.