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When the first airships took to the sky in the mid-19th century, the odd-looking vessels created an aviation sensation. Developed as a successor to the hydrogen balloon, the airship enjoyed its golden years in the 1920s and 1930s. But after the disaster that was the Hindenburg explosion in 1937, airship passenger travel effectively ended. Recently, however, the airship has enjoyed somewhat of a comeback, both as a commercial and military mode of transport.
Click through for a uplifting flight through the history of the airship.
An early pioneer of airship flight theory was Francesco Lana de Terzi. In 1670, the Italian Jesuit priest, mathematician, naturalist, and aeronautics wizard came up with an idea for a flying boat.
In 1785, French inventor Jean-Pierre Blanchard and American physician and scientist Dr. John Jeffries distinguished themselves by successfully crossing the English Channel in a hydrogen balloon. They were the first humans to cross the Channel by air, and enthusiasts of airship design took note.
French engineer Henri Giffaud further explored the possibilities of airship flight. In 1852, he flew the first steam-powered hydrogen balloon airship. The milestone event also marked the first time a dirigible airship took to the air, where controlled flight by steering was achieved.
Influenced by Giffaud, French naval architect Henri Dupuy de Lôme developed a more sophisticated navigable balloon, the Dupuy de Lôme airship, launched in 1872 and capable of carrying 14 passengers in a gondola suspended below the envelope.
By the late 19th century, airship design developments had really taken off. In October 1883, the first electric-powered flight took place when Frenchman Gaston Tissandier and his brother Albert flew their airship fitted with a Siemens motor over Neuilly-Auteuil-Passy, the westernmost edge of Paris.
A pivotal moment in airship history arrived with the creation of the Zeppelin airship in 1885. Invented by Ferdinand von Zeppelin, for which it is named, the rigid airship was patented by the German general and built by Hungarian aviation pioneer David Schwarz.
The first Zeppelin airship, the LZ1, made its maiden flight on July 2, 1900 over Lake Constance, with Ferdinand von Zeppelin at the controls.
The following year, Brazilian inventor Alberto Santos-Dumont made his own contribution towards the development of airship flight by making a remarkable voyage in his dirigible No 6 on October 19, 1901 around the Eiffel Tower in Paris, an event that caught the imagination of the world.
But in the early 20th century, nothing could beat the Zeppelin's superior design and engineering. Its long, thin streamlined body with toughened skin was powered by two 15-horsepower engines, meaning it could keep pace with an express train (pictured). Small crew and passenger compartments were suspended under the elongated envelope, which was shaped for speed and durability. The vessels were mainly used for scenic sightseeing flights. But they were soon to take a different direction.
With the First World War looming, the airship was about to make its debut as a weapon. Pictured is a Zeppelin airship passing over Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, in 1914.
Twenty Zeppelins were built to carry out bombing raids on Allied targets. Raids on England began in January 1915 and peaked in 1916. Pictured is a group of women and children looking at a damaged building in Shoreditch in east London.
After initial success—but always dependent on fine weather conditions for successful bombing runs—the Zeppelins became increasingly vulnerable to attack by faster, more maneuverable British aircraft. The airship's highly flammable hydrogen lifting gas meant several Zeppelins were shot down in flames by increasingly accurate defensive fire. Pictured is the twisted wreckage of a Zeppelin shot down off the Essex coast in 1916.
The downing of enemy Zeppelins always made front page news. This headline reads: "Two Zeppelins Destroyed on East Coast."
The ending of hostilities in 1918 saw airships mostly revert to civilian use. In 1925, the first flight of the American-built Goodyear Pilgrim, a compact helium airship powered by a 80-horsepower engine, took place.
Pictured: a Goodyear airship making a flight over New York City in 1927. Airship flights afforded passengers spectacular aerial views, and the Big Apple proved a favorite destination.
Here, an airship takes on passengers transferred from a cruise ship anchored off Los Angeles in 1929.
By the 1930s, the United States military had started experimenting with airships as airborne aircraft carriers. The USS Los Angeles (ZR-3), seen in this US Navy Historic Center/USN photograph beside the tender USS Patoka in 1931, was used for initial trials.
In this classic US Navy Historical Center/USN image, the USS Macon, one of the world's largest airships at the time, is seen over Lower Manhattan in 1933, during a naval operation.
Meanwhile in Germany, Zeppelin had resumed production of its airships after restrictions placed at the end of the First World War were lifted. The LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin offered the first commercial transatlantic passenger flight service between Europe and the North and South American continents.
In March 1936, the world's largest passenger Zeppelin, the LZ 129 Hindenburg, was launched on its maiden flight.
The Hindenburg dazzled New York when it flew over the city in 1936.
The Hindenburg quickly became a byword for luxury air travel. Its functional but attractive interior contained modest double-berth passenger quarters flanked by spacious public areas.
Paintings on the lounge and dining room walls depicted a stylized world map and the Graf Zeppelin's voyages to South America.
Long slanted and hinged windows ran the length of the assembly halls on both decks, which provided some truly impressive views.
The airship's hold even provided cargo space for the transportation of automobiles.
But on May 6, 1937, as the Hindenburg approached Lakehurst Naval Air Station in New Jersey, the airship suddenly burst into flames and crashed to the ground.
The mighty vessel was immediately consumed by an inferno. Of the 36 passengers and 61 crew aboard, 13 passengers and 22 crew lost their lives. One member of the ground crew also perished in the fire.
The tragedy was caught on camera by dozens of still photographers and television crews. Radio commentary by Herbert Morrison broadcast live as the incident unfolded has become a classic of audio history.
The Hindenburg disaster effectively ended passenger airship flight. The day after the accident, the Graf Zeppelin (pictured) landed safely in Germany after its return flight from Brazil. This was the last international passenger airship flight.
Airships were seen as increasingly obsolete in the run up to the Second World War. However, the US military opted to deploy airships for reconnaissance purposes such as this non-rigid airship, K-type, sailing over an Atlantic convoy.
By the 1950s, airships were little used other than for military applications. But in time, the vessels were repurposed for use in advertising and promotional campaigns. The Goodyear Blimp is a familiar sight at sporting events, and besides publicity duties is used for capturing live-action aerial views for television.
A colorful and highly visible Ameriquest airship flies over Oakland in California in 2005.
In 2013, Goodyear and Zeppelin Luftschifftechnik joined forces to create a new fleet of super-fast, quiet Goodyear blimps, mainly to conduct scientific projects and experiments. Meanwhile, a new generation of pilots were being trained to fly Goodyear-Zeppelin airships for research flights and, increasingly, tourist sightseeing trips.
The Stella Artois airship Star Over London sets off from Essex on a sightseeing flight over central London.
A passenger looks out over central London from the Stella Artois airship. The Zeppelin-built vessel carries passengers on a one-hour sightseeing trip over the British capital at a height of 300 m (1,000 ft).
Meanwhile, the world's military continue to fund and develop airships and blimps to provide intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance support.
Sources: (Air Charter Service) (History) (Catholic Star Herald)
The up and down history of the airship
The Hindenburg disaster took place on May 6, 1937
LIFESTYLE Aviation
When the first airships took to the sky in the mid-19th century, the odd-looking vessels created an aviation sensation. Developed as a successor to the hydrogen balloon, the airship enjoyed its golden years in the 1920s and 1930s. But after the disaster that was the Hindenburg explosion in 1937, airship passenger travel effectively ended. Recently, however, the airship has enjoyed somewhat of a comeback, both as a commercial and military mode of transport.
Click through for a uplifting flight through the history of the airship.