The Egyptian government (under pressure from Britain) refused it permission to enter their airspace; the Egyptian journalist Mahmud Abu al-Fath , who was on board representing Al-Ahram newspaper, wrote that this was caused by British jealousy over the success of German technology.[27] Eckener sent a telegram to King Fuad from just outside Egyptian territory, expressing regret that "contrary winds prevent us from flying over the land of the wonders of a thousand years."[27] It then returned after a journey of 8,000 km (5,000 mi; 4,300 nmi) in 81 hours.[29]
Shortly after dark on 16 May 1929, on the first night of its second trip to the US, Graf Zeppelin lost power in two of its engines off the southeast coast of Spain, forcing Eckener to abandon the voyage and turn back. Flying against a strong headwind up the Rhône valley in France the next afternoon, two of the remaining three engines also failed, and the airship was blown towards the sea. With Eckener struggling for a suitable place to force-land, the French Air Ministry allowed him to land at Cuers-Pierrefeu , near Toulon . Barely able to control the ship on its one live engine, Eckener made an emergency landing.[34]
On 1 August 1929, the airship made a successful journey to Lakehurst, arriving on 4 August. Aboard both flights was Susie, an eastern gorilla who had been captured near Lake Kivu in the Belgian Congo and sold by her German owner to an American dealer. After a touring career in the US, Susie went to Cincinnati Zoo in 1931, where she died in 1947.[nb 4]
Hearst stipulated that the flight in August 1929 officially start and finish at Lakehurst;[49] the Germans considered that the trip began and ended at Friedrichshafen. Round-the-world tickets were sold for almost $3000 (equivalent to $53,000 in 2023[54] ), but most participants had their costs paid for them. The flight's expenses were offset by the carriage of souvenir mail between Lakehurst, Friedrichshafen, Tokyo , and Los Angeles. A US franked letter flown on the whole trip from Lakehurst to Lakehurst required $3.55 (equivalent to $63 in 2023[54] ) in postage. The $100,000 Hearst paid for exclusive media rights would be the equivalent of $1,800,000 in 2018.[54]
After five days in Tokyo, at a former German airship shed that had been removed from
tail strike and barely cleared electricity cables at the edge of the field.
[10] The 4,822 km (2,996 mi; 2,604 nmi), 51-hour-13-minute flight across the US took Graf Zeppelin over 13 states and El Paso, Kansas City, Chicago, Cleveland, and Detroit, before arriving back at Lakehurst from the west on the morning of 29 August, three weeks after it had departed to the east.
Flying time for the four Lakehurst to Lakehurst legs was 12 days, 12 hours, and 13 minutes; the entire circumnavigation (including stops) took 21 days, 5 hours, and 31 minutes to cover 33,234 km (20,651 mi; 17,945 nmi).[68] It was the fastest circumnavigation of the globe at the time.[69] Eckener remained in the US for discussions with the Goodyear Zeppelin company about plans for a future world airship network,[70] leaving Lehmann in command for the last leg back to Germany. A passenger was caught smoking, which was very strictly forbidden on board; the culprit was held in contempt by the other passengers, but Lehmann had no means of punishing or confining him. At the end of the flight, on 4 September, the Graf Zeppelin was losing no more lifting gas than when it had departed.
Eckener became the tenth recipient and the third aviator to be awarded the Gold Medal of the National Geographic Society , which he received on 27 March 1930 at the Washington Auditorium.[73] Before returning to Germany, Eckener also met President Herbert Hoover and successfully lobbied the US Postmaster General for a special three-stamp issue (C-13, 14 & 15) for mail to be carried on the Europe-Pan American flight due to leave Germany in mid-May.[74] [75] Germany issued a commemorative coin celebrating the circumnavigation.
Europe-Pan American flight (1930)
Graf Zeppelin over Guanabara Bay , in Rio de Janeiro , Brazil, 25 May 1930
On 26 April 1930 Graf Zeppelin made a brief visit to England commanded by Lehmann; it flew low over the
the Spanish King, boarded on a goodwill visit to
Cuba . At 9:30 am on 20 May, a ceremony on board celebrated becoming the first airship to cross the
equator . Drinking and washing water ran low in the hot conditions. The ship arrived at
Recife (Pernambuco) in Brazil, docking at
Campo do Jiquiá on 22 May, where a temporary mooring mast and fuelling station had been set up, and 300 soldiers helped land it.
[79] It then flew to
Rio de Janeiro , where it arrived ahead of time and spent some hours flying around the city. When it landed, there was no post to tether to, so it was held down by the landing party for the two hours of the visit.
[79]
It flew north, via Recife, to Lakehurst; adverse weather led to the planned stop at Cuba being cancelled, to the annoyance of passengers who had booked to go there. Alfonso, an experienced flier, was philosophical about it. The storm damaged the rear engine nacelle, which had to be repaired in the hangar at Lakehurst. During ground handling of the airship there, it suddenly lifted, causing serious injury to one of the US Marines who was assisting.[85] From Lakehurst it flew over New York City, across the Atlantic on 2 June to Seville, where Alfonso disembarked, then back to Germany. A few hours from home, when the Graf Zeppelin flew through a heavy hailstorm over the Saône , the envelope was damaged and the ship lost lift. Eckener ordered full power and flew the ship out of trouble, but it came within 200 feet of hitting the ground.
The Europe-Pan American flight was largely funded by the sale of special stamps issued by Spain, Brazil, and the US for franking mail carried on the trip. The US issued stamps in three denominations : 65¢, $1.30, and $2.60, all on 19 April 1930. With the US in the depths of the Great Depression , only about 7% of the stamps had been distributed when the issue was withdrawn from sale on 30 June. Over three million unsold stamps were destroyed by the US Post Office, making the three Graf Zeppelin issues by far the USPOD's smallest of the 20th century. Despite the poor sales, the US Post Office Department paid Luftschiffbau Zeppelin $100,000 (equivalent to $1,824,000 in 2023[54] ) for the carriage of US franked mail on the flight.
Graf Zeppelin flew to Moscow and back on 9–10 September 1930 to make up for not going there the previous year. It landed briefly at Moscow's October Field to collect souvenir mail.[91] [92]
Graf Zeppelin above Helsinki , 24 September 1930 during its Baltic Sea excursion.[93]
In late September Graf Zeppelin toured the capitals around the Baltic Sea. The flight was planned to visit Riga , Tallinn , Helsinki and Stockholm and to drop mail during its visits. Three of its 15 passengers were meant to get off in Helsinki, but the planned landing had to be cancelled due to strong winds. The ship dropped flowers and chocolate to the wife of the German consul in Töölö district.[94]
In October Eckener and Hans von Schiller attended the funeral service in London for the 48 people killed in the R101 disaster.[95] [nb 6]
Middle East flight (1931)
Stereograph of Graf Zeppelin flying over the Great Pyramid of Giza on 10 April 1931
The second flight to the Middle East took place in 1931, beginning on 9 April. It carried Booth, now commander of the grounded, but not yet scrapped, R100. Al-Fath again covered the event for Al-Ahram . Graf Zeppelin was allowed to overfly France in daylight this time, and crossed the Mediterranean to Benghazi in Libya. It flew via Alexandria , to Cairo in Egypt, where it saluted King Fuad at the Qubbah Palace, then visited the Great Pyramid of Giza and hovered 70 feet above the top of the monument.[27] While in Cairo, Eckener met Flight Lieutenant H F Luck, from the British airship station at Ismailia , who had been sent there to receive the R101 on its maiden voyage to India, before its accidental destruction the previous October.[97] After a brief stop, the ship flew to Palestine where it circled Jerusalem, then returned to Cairo to pick up Eckener, who had stayed for an audience with the King. It returned to Friedrichshafen on 13 April.[27]
Polar flight (1931)
Graf Zeppelin lands on the Arctic Ocean, as seen from a boat from the Soviet icebreaker Malygin
Professor Samoilowich looking out from one of the windows of the airship
The idea of using airships to explore the
Dornier Wal flying boat to the Arctic in July 1925, and commented that an airship would have been a better vehicle for the journey. Arctic exploration was one reason used to justify the restoration of Germany's right to build airships. Eckener had taken
Graf Zeppelin on a three-day trip to Norway and
Spitsbergen in July 1930 to test its performance in the region. This was followed by a three-day flight to Iceland. Both trips were completed without technical problems.
[103]
The International Society for the Exploration of the Arctic by Air (Aeroarctic) was interested in getting Eckener involved in a polar flight.
Nautilus (SS-73), the submarine in which Wilkins was attempting a trip under the polar ice. The submarine suffered technical problems and was later scuttled off
Bergen , Norway.
[nb 7]
The polar flight (Polarfahrt 1931 ) lasted from 24 to 31 July 1931. Graf Zeppelin carried emergency equipment including tents, inflatable boats, fishing equipment, petrol stoves, and 4,100 kg (9,000 lb) of food. To save weight, luxury fittings were removed and the beds were replaced by lightweight bunks. The ship rendezvoused with the Soviet icebreaker Malygin , which had the Italian polar explorer Umberto Nobile aboard.[nb 8] It exchanged 120 kg (260 lb) of souvenir mail with the airship, which Eckener landed on the Arctic Ocean , using canvas buckets of sea water to descend to the surface, flotation aids, and a sea anchor to hold position. Fifty thousand cards and letters, weighing 300 kg (660 lb), were flown. The costs of the expedition were met largely by the sale of special postage stamps issued by Germany and the Soviet Union to frank the mail carried on the flight.
The writer Arthur Koestler was one of two journalists on board, along with a multinational team of scientists led by the Russian Professor Samoilowich , who measured the Earth's magnetic field , and a Russian radio operator, Ernst Krenkel . The expedition photographed and mapped Franz Josef Land accurately for the first time, and came within 910 kilometres (570 mi; 490 nmi) of the North Pole . It deployed three early radiosondes over the Arctic to collect meteorological data from the upper atmosphere; they were released through a specially built large hatch in the keel, with a weight that dropped away, allowing them to climb.
South American operations (1931–1937)
Century of Progress cover franked with C-18
From the beginning Luftschiffbau Zeppelin had plans to serve South America; there was an early failed plan to charter the ship to a Spanish company to carry mail from Seville to Buenos Aires in Argentina.[114] [nb 9] There was a large community of Germans in Brazil , and existing sea connections were slow and uncomfortable. Graf Zeppelin could transport passengers over long distances in the same luxury as an ocean liner, and almost as quickly as contemporary airliners .
After its single trip to Brazil in 1930, Graf Zeppelin made three in 1931.[118] On 7 September it completed its eighth transatlantic flight, to Recife and back, in under nine days; it had left home on 29 August.[119] In December 1931 it was laid up for a complete overhaul in preparation for regular transatlantic service.[120] All nine round trips during 1932 were made on schedule. The final one returned to Germany on 3 November.[121]
The route to Brazil meant flying down the Rhône valley in France, a cause of great sensitivity between the wars.[nb 10] The French government, concerned about espionage, restricted it to a 12 nmi (22 km; 14 mi)-wide corridor in 1934. Turning right at the Mediterranean, it followed the coast of Spain to Gibraltar , then the coast of North Africa as far as Río de Oro , turning right again over the ocean to the Cape Verde islands, then Fernando de Noronha and direct to Recife where it could be replenished with fuel and lifting gas. The service initially terminated there, and was later extended to Rio de Janeiro to meet demand.[118]
Graf Zeppelin was too small and slow for the stormy North Atlantic route, but because of the Blau gas fuel, could carry out the longer South Atlantic service. The Great Depression led to a reduction in its flights from almost 200 in 1930–31 to fewer than 60 in 1932. On 2 July 1932 it left for another visit to Britain; it arrived with a Junkers G.38 , moored at Hanworth Air Park assisted by Rover Scouts , then flew a 24-hour tour of Britain, flying over Portsmouth , Edinburgh , Glasgow , Liverpool , Cardiff and Bristol .[18]
While returning from Brazil in October 1933, Graf Zeppelin stopped at Miami (NAS Opa Locka ) and then in Akron, Ohio , where it moored at the Goodyear Zeppelin airdock , the only time the airdock's international facilities were used. The airship then appeared at the Century of Progress World's Fair in Chicago. It displayed swastika markings on the left side of the fins, as the Nazi Party had taken power in January . Eckener, aware that the Nazis were unpopular in America, circled the fair clockwise so that the swastikas would not be seen by the spectators. The ship returned to Akron for two days, visited Canada, overflew the White House, then left for home with an overnight stop in Seville. The United States Post Office Department issued a special 50-cent airmail stamp (C-18) for the visit, which was the fifth and final one the ship made to the US. It made twelve return trips to South America in 1934; on the third one it flew to Buenos Aires to gauge interest in starting an airship service there. This did not materialise, and connecting services were provided by aeroplane from Rio de Janeiro.
Graf Zeppelin over Buenos Aires in 1934
In spite of the dope, the cotton envelope absorbed moisture from the air in humid tropical conditions. When the
approach to land and the added weight of several tons of water caused it to sink to the ground. The lower rudder was lost, the outer envelope was ripped in several places, and a petrol tank was punctured by a palm tree. A crewman extinguished a cooking fire close to the landing site. The damage was repaired on return to Friedrichshafen.
In late 1935 the existing postal shuttle service between Recife and Bathurst , in the British African colony of the Gambia , had to be suspended so that the ships supporting the Dornier Wal flying boats which operated it could be serviced. Graf Zeppelin was put into service as a replacement, carrying mail only. There was no landing facility at Bathurst, so mailbags were exchanged by rope. The first of three return journeys left Recife on 15 November. On 24 November, during the second trip, the crew learned of an insurrection in Brazil, and there was some doubt whether it would be possible to return to Recife. Graf Zeppelin delivered its mail to Maceió , then loitered off the coast for three days until it was safe to land, after a flight of 118 hours and 40 minutes. It returned to Germany on 10 December, having made 19 South American trips in a year.
In May 1936 the new airship base at Frankfurt am Main opened, and Graf Zeppelin started operating from it; higher payloads could be carried as it was nearer sea level than Friedrichshafen.[nb 11] Brazil also built a hangar for airships at Bartolomeu de Gusmão Airport , near Rio de Janeiro, at a cost of $1 million (equivalent to $22 million in 2018 [54] ).[nb 12] Brazil charged the DZR $2000 ($44,000[54] ) per landing, and had agreed that German airships would land there 20 times per year, to pay off the cost. The hangar was constructed in Germany and the parts were transported and assembled on site. It was finished in late 1936,[143] and was used four times by Graf Zeppelin and five by Hindenburg . It now houses units of the Brazilian Air Force .[143]
Graf Zeppelin made 64 round trips to Brazil, on the first regular intercontinental commercial air passenger service, and it continued until the loss of the Hindenburg in May 1937.
Propaganda (1936)
Preparing to release a glider over Berlin
In 1932 Eckener had declined permission for Graf Zeppelin to endorse Hindenburg's electoral campaign against
Deutsche Zeppelin Reederei (DZR). The Nazis sidelined Eckener by putting the more sympathetic Lehmann in charge of DZR, and used
Graf Zeppelin as a propaganda tool. On 14 May 1934 over Berlin, it released a glider from under its hull.
[153]
On 7 March 1936, in violation of the Treaty of Versailles and the
Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda.
[154] The airships flew in tandem around Germany before the vote, with a joint departure from Löwenthal on the morning of 26 March.
[155] Millions of Germans watched from below as they toured the country for four days and three nights, dropping propaganda leaflets, playing martial music and slogans from large loudspeakers, and broadcasting political speeches from a makeshift radio studio on
Hindenburg . The vote, held under the new
Nuremberg Laws which disenfranchised the
Jews , resulted in overwhelming support for the Nazis. After Eckener complained publicly about the propaganda flights, Goebbels made him an "unperson"; his name was not to be mentioned nor his photograph published.
On 1 May 1936, Hitler ordered that Graf Zeppelin fly over Berlin again as part of the
Nuremberg Rallies.
References
Notes
^ Lehmann commanded most of Graf Zeppelin 's flights, 272 to Eckener's 133. Four other captains commanded a total of 100 flights.
SS
Ile de France along with six airship passengers.
[22]
^ The hangar had been removed from Düsseldorf as a war reparation.
^ Also aboard was the film-maker Merian Cooper , who was fascinated by the gorilla and the airship. One writer has speculated that Cooper may have been influenced to make the film King Kong as a result.
^ A semidocumentary film titled Farewell was released in 2009 which featured much of Hartmann's newsreel footage of her. The film was later aired on BBC under the title Around The World by Zeppelin .[47]
^ Britain withdrew from building rigid airships, cancelled the Imperial Airship Scheme, and scrapped the R100 within a year of the crash.
^ The scuttling was mandated by the London Naval Treaty .[105]
Italia in the Arctic three years previously.
[108]
^ It was intended in 1928 to offer passage between Friedrichshafen and Rio de Janeiro for ℛℳ 1,500 ($356, equivalent to $6,000 in 2023[54] ).
^ In 1929 the Schneider-Creusot company complained that Graf Zeppelin had flown low over their weapons factory.
^ Initially there was only one hangar at the new base; Hindenburg was based there and Graf Zeppelin was ferried there from Friedrichshafen for each flight.
^ To help persuade Getúlio Vargas , the Brazilian president, to build the facility, Eckener had flown Graf Zeppelin over his yacht, the Almirante Jazequay , and lowered him a package containing two bottles of Rhine wine and a note.
Citations
^ "Zeppelin Speeds North of Bermuda and is Expected Here This Afternoon; Damaged Fin is Repaired in the Air". New York Times . 14 October 1928.
^ a b Niderost, Eric (21 August 2019). "Globetrotting Leviathan: Graf Zeppelin's amazing voyage" . Aviation History (July 1993).
^ "Zeppelin Safe at Lakehurst after 111-Hour Flight; Soars Over the White House and then Over New York; Moored to Mast till Wind Drops at 2 am; Now in Hangar". New York Times . 16 October 1928.
^ "Graf Zeppelin's Atlantic Voyage" . Flight : 903. 18 October 1928.
^ a b "Visit of the Graf Zeppelin to England" . Flight : 624. 8 July 1932.
.
^ "First Stowaway Home From Germany". New York Times . 14 November 1928.
^ "Bells, Bands, Guns Welcome Zeppelin: Airplanes Fly Overhead and Searchlights Play on Returning Silvery Aircraft". New York Times . 2 November 1928. p. 3.
^ "Zeppelin's Flight Over Mediterranean". News. The Times . No. 45160. London. 25 March 1929. col C, p. 12.
^ a b c d McGregor, Alan (July–August 1994). "Contrary Winds: Zeppelins Over the Middle East" . Saudi Aramco World . 45 (4). Retrieved 27 October 2019 .
^ "Zeppelin's Voyage Ended – 5,000 Miles Flight". News. The Times . No. 45164. London. 30 March 1929. col C, p. 13.
^
"Zeppelin's Flight – Second Mediterranean Cruise". News in Brief. The Times . No. 45185. London. 24 April 1929. col F, p. 15.
^ "Graf Zeppelin". News in Brief. The Times . No. 45187. London. 26 April 1929. col E, p. 16.
^ "Zeppelin Battles Gale to Safety; Reaches Cuers, France, on One Motor; Eckener and Crew Avert Disaster". New York Times . 18 May 1929.
^ "In pictures: Britain's female adventurers" . Daily Telegraph . 12 January 2016.
^ "BBC Four - Around the World by Zeppelin" . BBC .
^ on June 3, 2008.
^ a b c d e f g 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF) . American Antiquarian Society . 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF) . American Antiquarian Society . 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–" . Retrieved February 29, 2024 .
^ a b c "Graf Zeppelin visits England" (PDF) . Flight : 474. 2 May 1930.
^ "Graf Zeppelin Reaches Pacific Coast; Passes San Francisco, Nearing Goal; Thousands Wait at Los Angeles Field". New York Times . 26 August 1929. p. 1.
^ "Graf Zeppelin's World Flight" . Flight : 992. 6 September 1929.
^ "Around the World with the Graf Zeppelin" . Modern Mechanics . November 1929. pp. 64–65.
^ "Goodyear-Zeppelin Developments" . Flight : 1239. 22 November 1929.
^ "Aeronautics: Zeppelin Pool" . Time . 7 April 1930.
^ "Eckener Receives Geographic Medal: 5,000 at Capital Witness the Bestowal of World Honor on Zeppelin Commander". New York Times . 28 March 1930. p. 6.
^ "Hugo Eckener receives a gold medal by the National Geographic Society in Washington DC" . www.criticalpast.com .
^ a b "The Graf Zeppelin" . Flight : 576. 30 May 1930.
^ "Progress of the Graf Zeppelin" . Flight : 608. 6 June 1930.
^ "Graf Zeppelin Makes First Trip to Moscow: 100,000 Pack October Field to Get View". New York Times . 11 September 1930. p. 5.
^ "Graf Zeppelin's Trip to Moscow" . Flight : 1050. 19 September 1930.
^ Sääski Oy, valokuvaaja. Ilmalaiva Graf Zeppelin Helsingin yllä, alapuolella Pohjoisranta ja vasemmalla Katajanokka . Retrieved 2019-12-22 .
^ "Ihmeellinen ilmalaiva leijui Helsingin yllä syksyllä 1930" . yle.fi (in Finnish). Retrieved 2019-12-22 .
^ "R101: Funeral of Victims" . Flight : 1141. 17 October 1930.
^ "Graf Zeppelin at Cairo" . Argus (Melbourne, Victoria) . 13 April 1931. p. 10.
^ "Into the Arctic Wastes with the Graf Zeppelin" . Popular Mechanics . Hearst Magazines. 16 November 1931. p. 753.
^ "Graf Zeppelin" . Flight : 671. 10 July 1931.
^ Ahern, J.J. (2000). "Finally sunk on November 20, 1931" . The Nautilus. American Philosophical Society. Archived from the original on 6 October 2008.
.
^ "New Zeppelin's Flight Postponed. Airship Service To South America". News. The Times . No. 45000. London. 17 September 1928. col C, p. 11.
^ a b "Some Graf Zeppelin Statistics" . Flight : 1095. 17 November 1932.
^ "Graf Zeppelin's Atlantic Flight" . Flight : 928. 11 September 1931.
^ "Graf Zeppelin's Well-earned Rest" . Flight : 1217. 11 December 1931.
^ "Graf Zeppelin's Last Trip for the Season" . Flight : 1132. 3 November 1932.
^ a b Watts, Jonathan (27 November 2016). "Dead zeppelins: Brazilian gravesite is airships' stairway to heaven" . The Guardian . Retrieved 26 October 2019 .
^ "The Graf Zeppelin's Glider" . The Aeroplane . 46 . Temple Press: 853. 1934.
^ "Propaganda 'attack' made by Zeppelins". New York Times . 29 March 1930.
^ "Two Reich Zeppelins on Election Tour". New York Times . 27 March 1936.
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