USS Akron

USS Akron (ZRS-4)
Akron approaching the mooring mast at NAS Sunnyvale
Manufacturer	Goodyear-Zeppelin Corporation, Akron, Ohio
Manufactured	31 October 1929 (commenced) 8 August 1931 (launched)
Serial	ZRS-4
First flight	23 September 1931
Owners and operators	United States Navy
In service	27 October 1931 (commissioned)
Last flight	4 April 1933
Flights	73
Total hours	1695.8
Aircraft carried	5 × Curtiss F9C 'Sparrowhawk',[1] Consolidated N2Y-1, Waco XJW-1
Fate	Crashed off coast of New Jersey, 4 April 1933

USS Akron (ZRS-4) was a helium-filled rigid airship of the U.S. Navy, the lead ship of her class, which operated between September 1931 and April 1933. It was the world's first purpose-built flying aircraft carrier, carrying F9C Sparrowhawk fighter planes, which could be launched and recovered while it was in flight. With an overall length of 785 ft (239 m), Akron and her sister ship Macon were among the largest flying objects ever built. Although LZ 129 Hindenburg and LZ 130 Graf Zeppelin II were some 18 ft (5.5 m) longer and slightly more voluminous, the two German airships were filled with hydrogen, and so the two US Navy craft still hold the world record for the largest helium-filled airships.^[2]

Akron was destroyed in a thunderstorm off the coast of New Jersey on the morning of 4 April 1933, killing 73 of the 76 crewmen and passengers. The accident involved the greatest loss of life in any airship crash.