Don't want to hijack mahatmakanejeeves's Hindenburg thread in American History, so . . . [View all]

[Not Heidi]

. . . I'm posting this here. It's related, but not enough to include there.

I was 12 years old when the film The Hindenburg was released. I saw it once and became almost obsessed with airships. I read encyclopedias at home, and books that I was surprised to find in the library.

In the 1920s and '30s, the dirigible was in regular use by Nazi Germany and by the United States Navy. (Note: the US used helium to raise their ships.)

A few of the US Navy lighter-than-air ships were
USS Shenandoah, commissioned in 1923 and lost in 1925 in a storm, with the loss of 14 lives
USS Los Angeles, commissioned in 1924 and served until 1939; dismantled in 1940
USS Akron, aircraft carrier commissioned in 1931, lost in 1933 in a storm, with the loss of 73 lives
USS Macon, aircraft carrier commissioned in 1933, lost in 1935 due to structural failure, with the loss of 2 lives

Of course I don't remember all of this from my youthful research (I do remember the names of the ships), but reading about it today refreshes my memory and brings back a little of that sadness and strange excitement. What an odd thing for a 12-13 year old child to study as if a grade depended on it.

Adding to my fascination was the Goodyear Blimp. Living in Southern California, I was well acquainted with the blimp, which moored at a landing field about 15 or so miles from where I lived. It was just off the 405, so I saw it almost every time I went to Grandma's house in Long Beach. I also saw it in flight frequently; I knew the sound of its engines and I'd run out of the house and watch it until it sailed out of view. I'm 61 now and I still want to catch a ride in that blimp.