The USS Shenandoah and the USS Patoka
Click on the image below to see it in our online catalog.
In the early days of the 20th century, dirigibles – or as they were often called zeppelins for the Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin who developed the design in the 1890s – vied with the airplane for supremacy in the sky. The rigid frame, lighter-than-air airships were held aloft by hydrogen or helium gas. They were put in motion by propellers controlled from the gondola that hung below the gas bags and maneuvered by rudders. The Germans used zeppelins for reconnaissance and bombing during World War I (1914-1918), which attracted the interest of the U.S.Navy.
In 1923, the Navy built the first of four dirigibles, the USS Shenandoah, modeling on the design on the German airships. The airship was the first to use helium, a very rare and stable gas that was not flammable like the more easily obtainable hydrogen. At the time of its deployment, most of the helium known to exist in the United States was contained in the Shenandoah’sgasbags.
The Shenandoah was intended for reconnaissance service, but in order for it to be employed with the fleet, a method had to be devised to moor and replenish the airship at sea. In July 1924, the oiler USS Patoka was modified to become the Navy’s first airship tender. An experimental mooring mast 125 feet above the water was installed along with storage facilities for supplies necessary for the airship maintenance and accommodations for the crew. Both airship and tender were deployed to Narragansett Bay to practice mooring and unmooring. In early August 1924, people in Jamestown and Newport had front row seats at the experimental maneuvers.
For more about the USS Shenandoah, see USS Shenandoah, The United States Navy’s First Rigid Airship
For other images of the USS Shenandoah in the JHS Collection, click here.
