With the end of hostilities in 1918 and the restrictions of the
Treaty of Versailles being fully implemented on Germany's war-ravaged
economy, the end appeared near for the Zeppelin Company. Feverishly,
Dr. Hugo Eckener, now chairman of Zeppelin, sought a way to
circumvent the unreasonable restrictions placed on Zeppelin
production. Already, England and France had taken most of their
zeppelins, claiming them as war reparations. These zeppelins were now
being pulled apart and studied by Germany's former enemies or being
introduced directly into their military arsenals.
There was, however, one major world power that lacked any real
expertise in rigid airship construction: the United States. Dr.
Eckener proposed to the U.S. Government that he should build them a
huge zeppelin for military use, the largest ever made at this time.
This had the dual effect of giving the United States the
technological edge in zeppelin construction and providing enough
money for Zeppelin to stay in business. The U.S. agreed, and in the
summer of 1921, with much protest from the allied European
governments, the U.S. ordered construction of the LZ 126, the "Los
Angeles". Construction began in the summer of 1922 in
Friedrichshafen, Germany.
The Los Angeles was designated "hull design LZ-126". It was flown from Germany to America by Hugo Eckener him self on October 13, 1924. This was a very risky flight for the ship and crew. Even though the British had already crossed the North Atlantic by air ship before, they had done it during the calmer summer months. This was the first time that a trans-Atlantic crossing was attempted by air ship during the violent winter. After a very tense journey, the ship arrived over New York just 2 days after it departed Germany, and shortly before 10:00 AM, it arrived at Lakehurst New Jersey.
She was christened the "ZR-3 Los Angeles" on November of 1924 by Mrs. Calvin Coolidge and included in the list of active ships of the US Navy. The Los Angeles was to remain in service until 1932, and after one year of mothballs, was put back into active duty until 1940. The air ship made 331 flights and accumulated 5,368 hours of flight time. She was 658 feet long with a gas volume of 2,472,000 cubic feet and a top speed of 76 MPH. During her time, the Los Angeles made many "firsts" in air ship records. She had her own tender ship which she made several dockings with and she also pioneered airplane launch and recovery techniques that would later be used on her larger counterparts, the Akron and Macon. She is even credited with landing (although briefly) on a U.S. Naval aircraft carrier.
+Page Unfinished- More Information to Come+ -matt
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