Editing USS Shenandoah (ZR-1)

{{Short description|United States Navy rigid airship destroyed in 1925}}
{{Other ships|USS Shenandoah}}
{{Redirect|ZR-1|the automobile trim|Chevrolet Corvette ZR-1 (disambiguation){{!}}Chevrolet Corvette ZR-1}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2021}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin
| infobox caption = yes
}}
{{Infobox ship image
| Ship image = USS Shenandoah NAS San Diego.jpg{{!}}border
| Ship caption = USS ''Shenandoah'' moored at NAS San Diego
}}
{{Infobox ship career
| Hide header = 
| Ship country = United States
| Ship flag = {{USN flag|1912}}
| Ship name = USS ''Shenandoah''
| Ship namesake = [[Shenandoah Valley]]
| Ship ordered = 11 July 1919
| Ship builder = *Naval Aircraft Factory, [[Philadelphia]]
*Hangar No. 1, [[Joint Base McGuire–Dix–Lakehurst|NAS Lakehurst]]
| Ship laid down = 24 June 1922
| Ship launched = 20 August 1923
| Ship commissioned = 10 October 1923
| Ship christened = 10 October 1923
| Ship maiden voyage = 4 September 1923
| Ship struck = 5 September 1925
| Ship honors = First transcontinental U.S. flight
| Ship fate = Crashed during a thunderstorm near [[Caldwell, Ohio]], 3 September 1925
| Ship notes = *First [[rigid airship]] commissioned into U.S. Navy
*World's first helium-filled rigid airship
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
| Hide header = 
| Header caption = 
| Ship class = ''Shenandoah''-class rigid airship
| Ship tonnage = {{convert|77500|lb|kg|abbr=on}}
| Ship length = {{convert|680|ft|m|2|abbr=on}}
| Ship beam = {{convert|78|ft|9|in|m|abbr=on}} (maximum diameter)
| Ship height = {{convert|93|ft|2|in|m|1|abbr=on}}
| Ship propulsion = Six (later five) {{convert|300|hp|kW|abbr=on}} eight-cylinder [[Packard]] gasoline engines
| Ship speed = {{convert|60|kn|mph km/h|lk=in|abbr=on}}
| Ship range = {{convert|5000|mi|nmi km|lk=on|abbr=on}} <!-- At what speed? -->
| Ship capacity = *'''Useful lift''' {{convert|53600|lb|kg|abbr=on}}
*'''Nominal gas volume:''' 2,100,000&nbsp;ft³ (59,465&nbsp;m³) (at 95% inflation)
| Ship complement = 25
| Ship armament = *6× {{convert|0.30|in|mm|2|abbr=on}} [[Lewis gun|Lewis]] machine guns
*8× {{convert|500|lb|kg|abbr=on}} bombs
}}
{{Infobox designation list
|embed                  =yes
|designation1           =HD
|designation1_offname   =''Shenandoah'' Crash Sites
|designation1_date      =25 July 1989
|designation1_number    =89000942<ref name="focus">{{Cite web|title=NPS Focus|work=National Register of Historic Places|publisher=National Park Service|url=http://nrhp.focus.nps.gov|access-date=3 August 2013}}</ref>
|designation1_free1name =Coordinates
|designation1_free1value=Site #1: {{Coord|39|50|21|N|81|32|22|W|region:US-OH_type:event|display=title,inline}}<br>Site #2: {{Coord|39|50|7|N|81|32|46|W|region:US-OH_type:event|display=inline}}<br>Site #3: {{Coord|39|44|29|N|81|35|36|W|display=inline|region:US-OH_type:event}}
}}
|}
'''USS ''Shenandoah''''' was the first of four [[United States Navy]] rigid [[airship]]s. It was constructed during 1922–1923 at [[Joint Base McGuire–Dix–Lakehurst|Lakehurst Naval Air Station]], and first flew in September 1923. It developed the U.S. Navy's experience with rigid airships and made the first crossing of North America by airship. On the 57th flight,<ref name="p67">Hayward (1978) p. 67</ref> ''Shenandoah '' was destroyed in a [[squall line]] over Ohio in September 1925.<ref name="p66">Hayward (1978) p. 66</ref>

==Design and construction==
[[File:Zeppelin L 49.jpg|thumb|left|L-49/LZ-96, the airship that would serve as the basis for ''Shenandoah'']]

''Shenandoah'' was originally designated FA-1, for "Fleet Airship Number One" but this was changed to ZR-1. The airship was {{convert|680|ft|m|2|abbr=on}} long<ref name="p64">Hayward (1978) p. 64</ref> and weighed 36 tons (32,658 kg). It had a range of {{convert|5000|mi|nmi km|lk=on|abbr=on}}, and could reach speeds of {{convert|70|mph|kn km/h|lk=out|abbr=on}}. ''Shenandoah'' was assembled at [[Joint Base McGuire–Dix–Lakehurst|Naval Air Station Lakehurst]], New Jersey in 1922–1923, in Hangar No. 1, the only hangar large enough to accommodate the ship; its parts were fabricated at the [[Naval Aircraft Factory]] in Philadelphia. NAS Lakehurst had served as a base for Navy blimps for some time, but ''Shenandoah'' was the first rigid airship to join the fleet.
[[File:Shenandoah controls.jpg|left|thumb|1923 photo of the airship control gondola of USS ''Shenandoah''. Commander McCrary, the ship's commander, is shown at the wheel. Called "Empress of the Clouds"<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/archive/8/8d/20141123185616%21Shenandoah_controls.jpg|title=Photo of the control gondola of the US airship Shenandoah. Commander McCrary, the ship's commander, is shown at the wheel.|date=23 November 2014|website=Wikipedia Commons|access-date=13 April 2017}}</ref>]]
The design was based on captured [[List of Zeppelins#LZ 96|Zeppelin bomber ''L-49'' (LZ-96)]], built in 1917.<ref name="proceedings">Hayward (1978) p. 62</ref><ref>Swanborough, G. and Bowyers, P. M. ''United States Navy Aircraft Since 1912''. London: Putnam, 1976 (2nd ed.) {{ISBN|0 85177 838 0}}, p. 586</ref> ''L-49'' was a lightened Type U "height climber", designed for altitude at the expense of other qualities. The design was found insufficient and a number of the features of newer Zeppelins were used, as well as some structural improvements.<ref name="proceedings"/> The structure was built from a new alloy of aluminum and copper known as [[duralumin]], supplied by [[Alcoa]]. Girders were fabricated at the Naval Aircraft Factory.<ref name="p64"/><ref name="wt">{{cite book |last1=Trimble |first1=William |title=Wings for the Navy: a history of the Naval Aircraft Factory, 1917-1956 |date=1990 |publisher=United States Naval Institute |location=Annapolis |isbn=9780870216633 |pages=56–59}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Smith |first1=Richard |title=The Airships Akron & Macon, The Flying Aircraft Carriers of the United States Navy |date=1965 |publisher=Naval Institute Press |location=Annapolis, Maryland |isbn=0870210653 |page=178}}</ref> Whether the changes introduced into the original design of ''L-49'' played a part in ''Shenandoah''{{'}}s later breakup is a matter of debate. An outer cover of high-quality cotton cloth was sewn, laced or taped to the duralumin frame and painted with aluminum [[Aircraft dope|dope]].<ref name="p64"/>

The gas cells were made of [[goldbeater's skin]]s, one of the most gas-impervious materials known at the time.<ref name="proceedings"/> Named for their use in beating and separating gold leaf,<ref name="proceedings"/> goldbeater's skins were made from the outer membrane of the large intestines of cattle.<ref name="proceedings"/> The membranes were washed and scraped to remove fat and dirt, and then placed in a solution of water and glycerine in preparation for application to the rubberized cotton fabric providing the strength of the gas cells.<ref name="proceedings"/> The membranes were wrung out by hand to remove the water-glycerine storage solution and then rubber-cemented to the cotton fabric and finally given a light coat of varnish.<ref name="proceedings"/> The 20 gas cells within the airframe were filled to about 85% of capacity at normal barometric pressure.<ref name= "p63">Hayward (1978) p. 63</ref> Each gas cell had a spring-loaded relief valve and manual valves operated from the control car.<ref name="p64"/>

===Pioneer of helium-filled rigids===
As the first rigid airship to use [[helium]] rather than [[hydrogen]], ''Shenandoah'' had a significant edge in safety over previous airships. Helium was relatively scarce at the time, and ''Shenandoah'' used much of the world's reserves just to fill its {{convert|2100000|ft3|m3}} volume.<ref name="p64"/> {{USS|Los Angeles|ZR-3|2}}—the next rigid airship to enter Navy service, originally built by ''[[Luftschiffbau Zeppelin]]'' in Germany as ''LZ 126''—was at first filled with the helium from ''Shenandoah'' until more could be procured.

''Shenandoah'' was powered by {{convert|300|hp|kW|abbr=on}}, eight-cylinder [[Packard]] gasoline engines. Six engines were originally installed, but in 1924 one engine (aft of the control car) was removed. The first frame of ''Shenandoah'' was erected by 24 June 1922; on 20 August 1923, the completed airship was floated free of the ground. Helium cost $55 ({{Inflation|US|55|1922|2019|fmt=eq}}{{Inflation/fn|US|2019}}) per thousand cubic feet at the time, and was considered too expensive to simply vent to the atmosphere to compensate for the weight of fuel consumed by the gasoline engines.<ref name="p67"/> Neutral buoyancy was preserved by installing condensers to capture the water vapor in the engine exhaust.<ref name="p67"/>

==Service history==

===Early naval service===
[[File:Damage ZR-1 h92612.jpg|thumb|left|''Shenandoah''{{'}}s damaged bow following the storm in January 1924]]
''Shenandoah'' made her maiden flight on 4 September 1923. The airship was christened on 10 October 1923 by [[Marion Bartlett Thurber]], wife of the Secretary of the Navy, and commissioned on the same day. She named the airship after her home in the [[Shenandoah Valley]] of Virginia, and the word "shenandoah" was said to be a Native American word meaning "daughter of stars".<ref name="disaster">"America's Forgotten Airship Disaster", p. 21</ref>

''Shenandoah'' was designed for fleet reconnaissance work of the type carried out by German naval airships in World War I. Her pre-commissioning trials included long-range flights during September and early October 1923, to test her airworthiness in rain, fog and poor visibility. On 27 October, ''Shenandoah'' celebrated Navy Day with a flight down the Shenandoah Valley and returned to Lakehurst that night by way of Washington and Baltimore, where crowds gathered to see the new airship in the beams of searchlights.

At this time, [[Rear admiral|Rear Admiral]] [[William A. Moffett]], Chief of the [[Bureau of Aeronautics]] and staunch advocate of the airship, was discussing the possibility of using ''Shenandoah'' to explore the Arctic. He felt such a program would produce valuable weather data as well as experience in cold-weather operations. With its endurance and ability to fly at low speeds, the airship was thought to be well suited to such work and [[President of the United States|President]] [[Calvin Coolidge]] approved Moffett's proposal. On 16 January 1924, the upper tail fin of the ''Shenandoah'' was damaged during a high gale while moored to the mast at Lakehurst. The sudden rolling of the airship tore her away from the mast, ripping out her mooring winches, deflating the first helium cell and puncturing the second.<ref name="p66"/> The airship was blown across the field and disappeared  into the darkness. Zeppelin test pilot and commander Anton Heinen, who was aboard when the incident occurred, rode out the storm for several hours and landed the airship safely the next morning, while being blown backwards.<ref>''Flight'' 1924, p. 102</ref> Extensive repairs to the ''Shenandoah'' took nearly 4 months, and the Arctic expedition was scrapped.

''Shenandoah''{{'}}s repairs were completed in May, and in mid-1924 was working up its engines and radio equipment to prepare for fleet duty. In August 1924, the airship joined the Scouting Fleet and took part in tactical exercises. ''Shenandoah'' succeeded in discovering the "enemy" force as planned but lost contact with it in foul weather. Technical difficulties and lack of support facilities in the fleet forced the ship to depart the operating area ahead of time to return to Lakehurst. Although this marred the exercises as far as airship reconnaissance went, it emphasized the need for advanced bases and maintenance ships if lighter-than-air craft were to take any part in operations of this kind.

===Flight across North America===
[[File:USS Shenandoah over USS Patoka 1924-25.jpg|thumb|''Shenandoah'' flies over the {{USS|Patoka|AO-9|2}}, the airship's supply tender]]
In July 1924, the oiler {{USS|Patoka|AO-9|6}} put in at [[Norfolk Naval Shipyard]] for extensive modifications to become the Navy's first airship tender. An experimental mooring mast {{convert|125|ft|m|abbr=on}} above the water was constructed; additional accommodations both for the crew of ''Shenandoah'' and for the men who would handle and supply the airship were added; facilities for the helium, gasoline, and other supplies necessary for ''Shenandoah'' were built, as well as handling and stowage facilities for three seaplanes. ''Shenandoah'' engaged in a short series of mooring experiments with ''Patoka'' to determine the practicality of mobile fleet support of scouting airships. The first successful mooring was made on 8 August.<ref name="p67"/> During October 1924, ''Shenandoah'' flew from Lakehurst to California and on to [[Washington (state)|Washington state]] to test newly erected mooring masts. This was the first flight of a rigid airship across North America.

===Later naval career===
1925 began with nearly six months of maintenance and ground test work. ''Shenandoah'' did not take to the air until 26 June, when it began preparations for summer operations with the fleet. In July and August, it again operated with the Scouting Fleet, successfully performing scouting tasks and being towed by ''Patoka'' while moored to that ship's mast.<ref>{{Cite DANFS|title=Shenandoah II (ZR-1)|url=https://www.history.navy.mil/content/history/nhhc/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/s/shenandoah-ii.html}}</ref>

==Crash of ''Shenandoah''==
{{more citations needed|section|date=September 2017}}<!--only one citation in section-->
On 2 September 1925, ''Shenandoah'' departed Lakehurst on a promotional flight to the [[Midwestern United States|Midwest]] that would include flyovers of 40 cities and visits to [[state fair]]s. Testing of a new mooring mast at [[Dearborn, Michigan]], was included in the schedule. While passing through an area of thunderstorms and turbulence over [[Ohio]] early in the morning of 3 September, during its 57th flight,<ref name="p67"/> the ''Shenandoah'' was caught in a violent updraft that carried the ship beyond the pressure limits of its gas bags. The turbulence tore the airship apart, and it crashed in three main pieces near [[Caldwell, Ohio]]. Fourteen crew members, including Commander [[Zachary Lansdowne]], were killed. Lansdowne and eight crew members in the control car (except for Lieutenant Anderson, who escaped) died when the car detached and fell from the airship; two men died after falling through holes in the hull; and four mechanics who fell with the engines were killed. There were twenty-nine survivors, who succeeded in riding the three sections of the airship to earth. The largest group was eighteen men who made it out of the stern after it rolled into a valley. Four others survived a crash landing of the central section. The remaining seven were in the bow section which Commander (later Vice Admiral) [[Charles E. Rosendahl]] managed to navigate as a free balloon. In this group was Anderson who—until he was roped in by the others—straddled the catwalk over a large hole.

{{multiple image
| footer    =
| align     = right
| image1    = Shenandoah Crash Site 1.jpg
| width1    = 220
| caption1  = Memorial at ''Shenandoah'' Crash Site 1
| image2    = Shenandoah1.jpg
| width2    = 275
| caption2  = Aft section of ''Shenandoah'' at Crash site No 2
| image3    = USS Shenandoah Wreck.jpg
| width3    = 220
| caption3  = Front section of ''Shenandoah'' at Crash Site No 3

}}

The ''Shenandoah'' Crash Sites are located in the hillsides of [[Noble County, Ohio|Noble County]]. Site No. 1, in [[Buffalo Township, Ohio|Buffalo Township]], surrounded the Gamary farmhouse, which lay beneath the initial break-up. An early fieldstone and a second, recent granite marker identifies where Commander Lansdowne's body was found. Site No. 2 (where the stern came to rest) is {{convert|1/2|mi|spell=in}} southwest of Site No. 1 across [[Interstate 77]] in [[Noble Township, Noble County, Ohio|Noble Township]]. The rough outline of the stern is marked with a series of concrete blocks, and a sign marking the site is visible from the freeway. Site No. 3 is approximately {{convert|6|mi|spell=in}} southwest in [[Sharon Township, Noble County, Ohio|Sharon Township]] at the northern edge of [[Ohio State Route 78|State Route 78]] on the part of the old Nichols farm where the nose of ''Shenandoah''{{'}}s bow was secured to trees. Although the trees have been cut down, a semi-circular gravel drive surrounds their stumps and a small granite marker commemorates the crash. The Nichols house was later destroyed by fire.<ref>[https://www.nps.gov/articles/shenandoah-crash-sites.htm Shenandoah Crash Sites], [[National Park Service]], n.d.  Retrieved 5 August 2012</ref>

Among the survivors was [[Frederick J. Tobin]], who later commanded the Navy landing party for the arrival of the zeppelin [[LZ 129 Hindenburg|''Hindenburg'']] on May 6, 1937, when the airship [[Hindenburg disaster|exploded into flames]], and led rescue operations in response.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Hindenburg Disaster |url=https://www.airships.net/hindenburg/disaster/ |website=Airships.net |access-date=25 October 2022}}</ref>

==Aftermath==

===Looting===
The crash site attracted thousands of visitors in its first few days. Within five hours of the crash, more than a thousand people had arrived to strip the hulk of anything they could carry. On Saturday, 5 September 1925, the ''St. Petersburg Times'' of Florida reported the crash site had quickly been looted by locals, describing the frame as being "[laid] carrion to the whims of souvenir seekers".<ref name=stpete>{{cite news|title=Shenandoah is looted of all valuable parts|newspaper=The St. Petersburg Times|date=5 September 1925|location=St. Petersburg, Florida|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=888&dat=19250903&id=WLpOAAAAIBAJ&sjid=7kwDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6219,4715844&hl=en| volume=43|issue=248}}{{rp|1}}</ref> Among the items believed to have been taken were the vessel's logbook and its [[barograph]], both of which were considered critical to understanding how the crash had happened. Also looted were many of the ship's 20 deflated silken gas cells, worth several thousand dollars each, most of them unbroken but ripped from the framework before the arrival of armed military personnel. Looting was so extensive it was initially believed that even the bodies of the dead had been stripped of their personal effects. That such looting was happening was denied by those publicly involved in the incident, however. Still, a local farmer on whose property part of the vessel's wreckage lay began charging the throngs of visitors $1 (equivalent to about ${{Inflation|US|1|1925}} in {{Inflation/year|US}}) for each automobile and 25¢ per pedestrian to enter the crash site, as well as 10¢ for a drink of water.<ref name=stpete/>{{rp|2}}

On 17 September the ''Milwaukee Sentinel'' reported that 20 Department of Justice operatives had been summoned to the site and that they, along with an unspecified number of federal and state prohibition agents, had visited private homes to collect four truck loads of wreckage along with personal [[wiktionary:gripsack|grips]] of several crew members and a cap believed to have belonged to Commander Lansdowne.<ref>{{cite news|title=U.S. raids private homes to recover loot from Shenandoah|date=17 September 1925|newspaper=Milwaukee Sentinel|page=3| url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1368&dat=19250917&id=LWBQAAAAIBAJ&sjid=QA8EAAAAIBAJ&pg=6888,5860720&hl=en}}</ref> Lansdowne's Annapolis class ring had also been thought to have been taken from his hand by looters, but it was found by chance in June 1937 near crash site #1.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1144&dat=19370627&id=cU0bAAAAIBAJ&sjid=HEwEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5758,3382965&hl=en |work=The Pittsburgh Press |date=27 June 1937 |title=Woman Finds Class Ring of Shenandoah Skipper |agency=United Press |volume=54 |issue=3 |page=14}}</ref> No one was charged with any crime.

===Inquiry===
[[File:Navy board investigating Shenandoah disaster, 10-8-25 LCCN2016850604.tif|thumb|United States Navy board investigating the ''Shenandoah'' airship crash]]
The official inquiry brought to light the fact that the fatal flight had been made under protest by Commander Lansdowne (a native of [[Greenville, Ohio]]), who had warned the Navy Department of the violent weather conditions that were common to that area of Ohio in late summer. His pleas for a cancellation of the flight only caused a temporary postponement: his superiors were keen to publicize airship technology and justify the huge cost of the airship to the taxpayers. So, as Lansdowne's widow consistently maintained at the inquiry, publicity rather than prudence won the day.<ref>[http://www.americanheritage.com/content/death-dirigible Death of a Dirigible] www.americanheritage.com</ref> This event was the trigger for [[United States Army|Army]] Colonel [[Billy Mitchell]] to heavily criticize the leadership of both the Army and the Navy, leading directly to [[Billy Mitchell#Court-martial|his court-martial]] for insubordination and the end of his military career. Heinen, according to the ''Daily Telegraph'', placed the mechanical fault for the disaster on the removal of eight of the craft's 18 safety valves, saying that without them he would not have flown on her "for a million dollars".  These valves had been removed in order to better preserve the vessel's helium, which at that time was considered a limited global resource of great rarity and strategic military importance; without these valves, the helium contained in the rising gas bags had expanded too quickly for the bags' valves' design capacity, causing the bags to tear apart the hull as they ruptured (the helium which had been contained in these bags became lost into the upper atmosphere).<ref>{{cite journal|title=The Shenandoah disaster|journal=Flight|date=10 September 1925|page=580|url=http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1925/1925%20-%200580.html}}</ref>

After the disaster, airship hulls were strengthened, control cabins were built into the keels rather than suspended from cables, and engine power was increased. More attention was also paid to weather forecasting.<ref>[http://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/aviation/she.htm Shenandoah Crash Site] www.nps.gov</ref>

==Memorials==
{{See also|Cathedral of the Air}}

Several memorials remain near the crash site. There is another memorial at Moffett Field, California, and a small private museum in [[Ava, Ohio]].<ref>[http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/10432 Shenandoah Airship Disaster] www.roadsideamerica.com</ref>

The Noble Local School District—which serves the area where ''Shenandoah'' crashed—has named its elementary, junior high, and [[Shenandoah High School (Ohio)|high school]] after ''Shenandoah''. Their sports teams are named "The Zeps," an abbreviation of "Zeppelin."<ref name="Noble Local School District">{{cite web|url=http://www.gozeps.org/|title=Noble Local School District|publisher=Noble Local School District|access-date=24 June 2009}}</ref> A truck stop located about {{convert|15|mi|km|abbr=on}} away in [[Old Washington, Ohio]] was named Shenandoah Plaza after the airship. The truck stop has since closed and has been torn down.<ref>[http://www.dalejtravis.com/barn/ohio/jpg/oh03002.jpg Picture of the Shenandoah Plaza]</ref>

==In popular culture ==
The crash of the ''Shenandoah'' was popularized by the songs ''The Hand of Fate'', written in 1925 by Eugene Spencer and Don Drew,<ref>Spencer, Eugene, and Don Drew. ''The hand of fate: In memory of the heroes of the ill-fated "Shenandoah"''. New York: Joe Morris Music Co, 1925. {{OCLC|798786331}}</ref> and ''The Wreck of the Shenandoah'' which was written by [[Vernon Dalhart]] and Carson Robison.<ref>Dalhart, Vernon, Carson Robison, and Elmer S. Hughes. ''The Wreck of the Shenandoah: Song''. New York: Shapiro, Bernstein & Co, 1925. {{OCLC|43456313}}</ref> The latter song was also issued as a record with Vernon Dalhart performing it.<ref>Dalhart, Vernon. ''The Wreck of the Shenandoah''. [Orange, NJ]: Bell, 192?. {{OCLC|47709602}}</ref><ref>Massey, Guy, and Carson Robison. ''Wreck of the Shenandoah''. [U.S.]: Pathé Actuelle, 1925.</ref> Also, the Shenandoah disaster is referenced in a line of dialogue from the 1930 film ''[[Madam Satan]]'', the plot of which also concerns a zeppelin crash.

==See also==
*[[List of airships of the United States Navy]]

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Further reading==
*{{DANFS}}
*MacSwords, J. R. "15 dead in blimp disaster: lightning flash, terrific storm; Shenandoah wages losing battle with elements." ''The Times Recorder'', Zanesville, Ohio 4 September 1925
*Wood, Junius B., "Seeing America from the 'Shenandoah'", ''[[National Geographic (magazine)|National Geographic]]'', January 1925
*''Ill Wind: The Naval Airship Shenandoah in Noble County, Ohio.'' Gray, Lewis.  Gateway Press: Baltimore, 1989
*Robinson, Douglas H., and Charles L. Keller. ''"Up Ship!": U.S. Navy Rigid Airships 1919–1935.'' Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1982. {{ISBN|0-87021-738-0}}
*Keirns, Aaron J. ''"America's Airship Disaster": The Crash of the USS Shenandoah'' Howard, Ohio: Little River Publishing. {{ISBN|978-0-9647800-5-7}}
*Hayward, John T., VADM USN "Comment and Discussion" ''United States Naval Institute Proceedings'' August 1978
*[http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1924/1924%20-%200101.html "The Shenandoah Adventure" A Brief Official Account of the Accident] ''Flight'' 21 February 1924, pp.&nbsp;101–102

==External links==
{{Commons and category|ZR-1 USS Shenandoah|USS Shenandoah (ZR-1)}}
{{GeoGroup}}
*[http://www.airships.net/us-navy-rigid-airships/uss-shenandoah USS ''Shenandoah'' at Airships.net: Photos and History]
*[https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/s/shenandoah-ii.html history.navy.mil: USS ''Shenandoah'' (ZR-1)]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20160303192134/https://www.history.navy.mil/photos/ac-usn22/z-types/zr1-v.htm Naval Historical Center Article and Images of Construction]
**[https://web.archive.org/web/20120325162522/http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/ac-usn22/z-types/zr1.htm Article and Images during Service]
*[http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/travel/aviation/ Aviation: From Sand Dunes to Sonic Booms, a National Park Service ''Discover Our Shared Heritage'' Travel Itinerary]
*[http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=15327 'The Wreck of the ''Shenandoah''', 1925 song] by [[Vernon Dalhart]]
*[http://www.noblecountyohio.com/shenandoah4.html Noble County Ohio page on the USS ''Shenandoah'' disaster] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080724183121/http://www.noblecountyohio.com/shenandoah4.html |date=24 July 2008 }}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20120329063851/http://www.littleriverpublishing.com/products/America%27s-Forgotten-Airship-Disaster.html America's Forgotten Airship Disaster: The Crash of the USS ''Shenandoah'']

{{Aviation accidents and incidents in the 1920s|year=1925}}
{{Aviation accidents and incidents in the United States before 1930}}
{{Shenandoah class airship}}
{{USN rigid airships}}
{{NRHP in Noble County, Ohio}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shenandoah (Zr-1)}}
[[Category:Rigid airships of the United States Navy]]
[[Category:Noble County, Ohio]]
[[Category:1923 ships]]
[[Category:1920s United States military trainer aircraft]]
[[Category:National Register of Historic Places in Noble County, Ohio]]
[[Category:Accidents and incidents involving balloons and airships]]
[[Category:1925 in Ohio]]
[[Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in the United States in 1925]]