# I'm watching The Hindenburg **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 20, 2009, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-watching-the-hindenburg/510790 "2009-09-20T02:43:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![sparky\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/77aa72/32.png) [@sparky\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sparky_1)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2009, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-watching-the-hindenburg/510790/1 "2009-09-20T02:43:06Z")
Gotta say, that must have been an incredible way to travel! I read a little about the US Army’s foray into rigid airships, but otherwise not much. Can anyone suggest some good reads on them? Oh, and the film I’m watching is great! It has none of the 70s feel similar disaster movies of that time have. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2009, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-watching-the-hindenburg/510790/2 "2009-09-20T02:53:12Z")
Pretty good movie. Oughta get remade, except the 30s are too 70s for the 00s. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2009, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-watching-the-hindenburg/510790/3 "2009-09-20T03:10:46Z")
Rosendahl’s _Ships in the Sky_ is the standard for an overview of rigid airships 1900-40 and across three continents. Excellent reading if you can get a copy. Gordon Vaeth’s _Graf Zeppelin_ is the story of the longest-lived airship of them all, and memory serves me that it was gripping reading for a non-fiction work, as well. Lehmann, the captain of the Hindenburg who died in its fire, also wrote a oassable book about his experiences. (Among the reasons the Nazi regime stopped building airships was the fact that Hugo Eckener, head of Luftshiffbau Zeppelin, and all his senior staff, were as vehemently anti-Nazi as ut was safe to be in those days.) At the time, I did not enjoy Nevil Shute’s _The Millionth Chance_, about the last British rigid, the R-101, and its fatal crash. But from 40+ years later, I cannot imagine Shute having written a bad book. There were also a couple of good books on the U.S. Navy’s rigid airship program, but I’ve long since forgotten titles. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2009, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-watching-the-hindenburg/510790/4 "2009-09-20T03:35:25Z")
If you have $1500 to spare, you can take a Zeppelin flight from Mountain View to Long Beach with [Airship Ventures](http://www.airshipventures.com/index.php). They have shorter trips, but I would love to spend 8-10 hours with a view like that. ---
**Author:** ![sparky\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/77aa72/32.png) [@sparky\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sparky_1)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2009, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-watching-the-hindenburg/510790/5 "2009-09-20T03:40:58Z")
> [@Polycarp](#): > > Rosendahl’s _Ships in the Sky_ is the standard for an overview of rigid airships 1900-40 and across three continents. Excellent reading if you can get a copy. > > Gordon Vaeth’s _Graf Zeppelin_ is the story of the longest-lived airship of them all, and memory serves me that it was gripping reading for a non-fiction work, as well. Lehmann, the captain of the Hindenburg who died in its fire, also wrote a oassable book about his experiences. (Among the reasons the Nazi regime stopped building airships was the fact that Hugo Eckener, head of Luftshiffbau Zeppelin, and all his senior staff, were as vehemently anti-Nazi as ut was safe to be in those days.) > > At the time, I did not enjoy Nevil Shute’s _The Millionth Chance_, about the last British rigid, the R-101, and its fatal crash. But from 40+ years later, I cannot imagine Shute having written a bad book. There were also a couple of good books on the U.S. Navy’s rigid airship program, but I’ve long since forgotten titles. Thank you! I am going to look for those. I can not believe it held only 72 passengers, AND 40 crew! With a ratio like that, how did it ever make money?! ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2009, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-watching-the-hindenburg/510790/6 "2009-09-20T05:12:55Z")
> [@sparky\_1](#): > > I can not believe it held only 72 passengers, AND 40 crew! With a ratio like that, how did it ever make money?! The fare was $400 one way, $720 round trip. This was in 1936. That was well over half a year’s income for the average family. (And that was a fairly empty ship – when it was full, it held over 100 passengers.) ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2009, 9:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-watching-the-hindenburg/510790/7 "2009-09-20T09:21:15Z")
Great title / poster combo. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2009, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-watching-the-hindenburg/510790/8 "2009-09-20T12:07:59Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > If you have $1500 to spare, you can take a Zeppelin flight from Mountain View to Long Beach with [Airship Ventures](http://www.airshipventures.com/index.php). They have shorter trips, but I would love to spend 8-10 hours with a view like that. Oooh Oooh! you can actually fly it for $2950 [http://www.airshipventures.com/tours-pilot\_experience.php](http://www.airshipventures.com/tours-pilot_experience.php) Brian ---
**Author:** ![Santos\_L\_Halper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/santos_l_halper/32/1_2.png) [@Santos\_L\_Halper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santos_L_Halper)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2009, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-watching-the-hindenburg/510790/9 "2009-09-20T15:22:35Z")
> [@sparky\_1](#): > > I read a little about the US Army’s foray into rigid airships, but otherwise not much. Can anyone suggest some good reads on them? It was actually the US Navy that had the airships. I recommend _The Airships Akron and Macon - flying aircraft carriers of the United States Navy_ by Richard K Smith. It does a great job of telling the story of the development and operation of the two airships. It also covers how they operated as “flying aircraft carriers” carrying several Sparrowhawk fighter planes that could launch from and return to the airships while in flight! Another really good book is _the Golden Age of the Great Passenger Airships - Graf Zeppelin & Hindenburg_ by Harold Dick and Douglas Robinson. Dick was an engineer for Goodyear and spent five years working with the Zeppelin Company in Germany. He made 22 transatlantic flights in the airships and gives a great inside view of what they were like to fly on and how they operated. Also well worth reading is _Blimps & U-boats - U.S. Navy Airships in the Battle of the Atlantic_ by J Gordon Vaeth. It covers the operation of blimps for convoy patrol and submarine hunting in WW 2. ---
**Author:** ![Icerigger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icerigger/32/432_2.png) [@Icerigger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icerigger)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2009, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-watching-the-hindenburg/510790/10 "2009-09-20T18:42:20Z")
I have this book in my own collection **Hindinberg, An Illustrated History** by Rick Archbold. Covers the history of Airships with great double page cutaway drawings, a hugh four page foldout of the interior of the Hindinberg as well as full page paintings of all the famous airships. > **[Hindenburg: an Illustrated History: Archbold, Rick, Marschall, Ken:...](https://www.amazon.com/Hindenburg-Illustrated-History-Rick-Archbold/dp/0785819738)** > > Hindenburg: an Illustrated History \[Archbold, Rick, Marschall, Ken\] on Amazon.com. \*FREE\* shipping on qualifying offers. Hindenburg: an Illustrated History ---
**Author:** ![KlondikeGeoff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3e96dc/32.png) [@KlondikeGeoff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KlondikeGeoff)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2009, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-watching-the-hindenburg/510790/11 "2009-09-20T21:53:56Z")
One benefit of being old: as a kid living in Brooklyn, I saw the Hindenburg fly over. It was enormous, shining brightly in the sunlight. What a sight ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2009, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-watching-the-hindenburg/510790/12 "2009-09-20T23:36:06Z")
I would love a flight in an airship … just dont have the cash. I suppose I could see if there is a hot air balloonist anywhere nearby that sells rides _sigh_ ---
**Author:** ![Jodi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7feea3/32.png) [@Jodi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jodi)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2009, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-watching-the-hindenburg/510790/13 "2009-09-20T23:42:54Z")
The Hindenberg incident is also one of the most famous instances of military bravery, outside armed conflict: > [@](#): > > Natural instinct caused those on the ground to run from the burning wreck as fast as they could, but Chief Petty Officer Frederick J. “Bull” Tobin, a longtime airship veteran and an enlisted airship pilot who was in charge of the Navy landing party, cried out to his sailors: **“Navy men, Stand fast!!”** Bull Tobin had survived the crash of USS Shenandoah, and he was not about to abandon those in peril on an airship, even if it meant his own life. And his sailors agreed. Films of the disaster (see below) clearly show sailors turning and running back toward the burning ship to rescue survivors; those films are a permanent tribute to the courage of the sailors at Lakehurst that day. From [here](http://www.airships.net/hindenburg/disaster).