Editing USS Akron (section)

===Maiden voyage===
On 2 November 1931, ''Akron'' departed on her first cruise down the eastern seaboard to [[Washington, DC]]. On 3 November, she took to the air with 207 persons on board. This demonstration was to prove that in an emergency, airships could provide limited but high-speed airlift of troops to outlying possessions. Over the weeks that followed, some 300 hours aloft were logged in a series of flights, including a 46-hour endurance flight to [[Mobile, Alabama]], and back. The return leg of the trip was made via the valleys of the [[Mississippi River|Mississippi]] and [[Ohio River]]s.<ref name=rs/>{{rp|47–49}}