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On August
29, 1929, the LZ-127 Graf Zeppelin, piloted by Hugo
Eckener, completed the first circumnavigation or the world
in an airship when it returned to Lakehurst, NJ.
Completing
the journey in 21 days, it also set a record for the
fastest aerial circumnavigation of the world. |
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The LZ 127 Graf
Zeppelin was a large rigid airship (or dirigible) in the early
20th century. It was named after the German pioneer of
airships, Ferdinand von Zeppelin, who held the rank of Graf or
Count in the German nobility. It flew for the first time on
September 18, 1928 and, with a total length of 236.6 m (776 ft)
and volume of 105,000 m³ (3,708,040 ft³), was the largest
airship up to that time.
Initially it was to
be used for experimental and demonstration purposes to prepare the
way for regular airship traveling, but also carried passengers and
mail to cover the costs. In October 1928, the first
long-range voyage led the craft to Lakehurst, New Jersey, and the
crew was welcomed enthusiastically with confetti parades in New
York and invitations to the White House.
In August 1929, LZ
127 departed for another daring enterprise: a complete
circumnavigation of the globe. The growing popularity of the
“giant of the air” made it easy for Zeppelin company chief Dr.
Hugo Eckener to find sponsors. One of these was the American
press tycoon William Randolph Hearst, who requested the tour to
officially start in Lakehurst. Starting there on August 8,
Graf Zeppelin flew across the Atlantic back to Friedrichshafen.
She stopped there to refuel before continuing across vast Siberia
to another stop in Tokyo. Dr. Eckener believed that some of
the lands they crossed in Siberia had never before been seen by
modern explorers. From Japan, the Graf Zeppelin continued
across the Pacific to San Francisco, before heading south to stop
at Los Angeles. This was the first ever nonstop flight of
any aircraft across the Pacific Ocean. The ship continued
thence across the United States, over Chicago and back to
Lakehurst on August 29. The entire voyage took 21 days, 5
hours and 31 minutes. The distance travelled between
departure from Lakehurst and return to Lakehurst was 31,400 km
(19,500 miles).
One of Hearst´s
guests onboard was the newlywed couple; the arctic explorer Sir
Hubert Wilkins and his bride Suzanne Bennett. The trip was
given to them as a wedding gift. In the following year, Graf
Zeppelin undertook a number of trips around Europe, and following
a successful tour to South America in May 1930, it was decided to
open the first regular transatlantic airship line. The ship
pursued another spectacular destination in July 1931 with a
research trip to the Arctic; this had already been a dream of
Count Zeppelin twenty years earlier, which could not, however, be
realized at the time due to the outbreak of war. In October
of 1933, the Graf Zeppelin made an appearance at the Century of
Progress World’s Fair in Chicago. Despite the beginning of
the Great Depression and growing competition by fixed-wing
aircraft, LZ 127 would transport an increasing number of
passengers and mail across the ocean every year until 1936.
IN FACT: Eckener
intended to supplement the successful LZ 127 with another, similar
Zeppelin, projected as LZ 128. However the disastrous
accident of the British passenger airship R 101 in 1931 led the
Zeppelin company to reconsider the safety of hydrogen-filled
vessels, and the design was abandoned in favor of a new
project.
LZ 129, which was to
eventually be named the Hindenburg, would advance Zeppelin
technology considerably and was intended to be filled with
helium. However, the embargo by the United States because of
the looming war prevented German access to the required large
quantities of helium, and the Hindenburg was fatefully converted
to a hydrogen design.
