List_of_airships_of_the_United_States_Navy
List of airships of the United States Navy identifies the airships of the United States Navy by type, identification, and class.
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Main article: Rigid airship
Fabric-clad rigid airships
The fabric-clad rigid airships were given commissions, the same as warships.[1]
- USS Shenandoah (ZR-1) - served 1923-25, lost 3 September 1925 due to structural failure while in line squalls, 14 killed
- (ZR-2) - British-built as R38, lost 24 August 1921 before US Navy acceptance (and before official use of the ZR-2 designation) due to severe control inputs at low altitude and high speed far in excess of structural strength, 44 killed including 16 USN personnel[2][3]
- USS Los Angeles (ZR-3) - German-built as LZ 126, served 1924-39 (decommissioned 1932, and dismantled 1940)
- USS Akron (ZRS-4) - aircraft carrier served 1931-33, lost 4 April 1933 in a storm, 73 killed
- USS Macon (ZRS-5) - aircraft carrier served 1933-35, lost 12 February 1935 due to structural failure, 2 killed
(ZRCV), proposed successor to the Akron class, not built
All other airships were registered as aircraft.
Further information: List of United States Navy aircraft designations (pre-1962) § Pre-1954 airship systems, and List of United States Navy aircraft designations (pre-1962) § Other airships
Metal rigid airships
- ZMC-2, a metalclad-airship built by the Aircraft Development Corp - 1929-41 (scrapped)
Semi-rigid airships
Main article: Semi-rigid airship
Blimps (non-rigid airships)
Main article: Blimp
- A class blimp (experimental)
- B class blimp (patrol & training)
- C class blimp (patrol)
- D class blimp (patrol)
- E class blimp (trainer)
- F class blimp (trainer)
- G class blimp (trainer & utility airship) (ZNN-G[4]) (ZGT)
- H class blimp (observation)
- J class blimp (trainer)
- K-1 blimp (experimental)
- K class blimp (anti-submarine patrol) (ZNP-K)
- (ZSG-2, ZSG-3, ZSG-4, ZP5K)
- L class blimp (trainer) (ZNN-L)
- M class blimp (anti-submarine patrol) (ZNP-M)
- N class blimp (anti-submarine patrol & AEW) (ZPN-1, ZPG-1)
- (ZPG-2, ZPG-2W)
- (ZPG-3W), largest blimp ever built
- TC class blimp - transferred from US Army
- MZ-3A (experimental) first Navy airship in 40 years
- USS Shenandoah (ZR-1)
- R38 / ZR-2
- USS Los Angeles (ZR-3)
- USS Akron (ZRS-4)
- Reilly, John C. (December 2022). "Christening, Launching, and Commissioning of U.S. Navy Ships". Naval History and Heritage Command. Retrieved 25 March 2023.
- Higham, Robin, "The British Rigid Airship, 1908-1931 A study in weapons policy," London, G.T. Foulis & Co Ltd. p. 222, 1961
- Althoff, William F., "Sky Ships," New York, Crown Publications, p. 17, 1990, ISBN 0-517-56904-3
- Allen, Hugh, "The Story of the Airship (non-rigid), Akron, Ohio, 1943
- Althoff, William F., "Sky Ships" New York, Orion Books, 1990, ISBN 0-517-56904-3
- Grossnick, Roy A., "Kite Balloons to Airships. . . the Navy's Lighter-than-air Experience,", Washington, Government Printing Office, 1986
- Higham, Robin, "The British Rigid Airship, 1908–1931: A Study in Weapons Policy," London, G.T. Foulis & Co Ltd.
- Mowthorpe, Ces, "Battle Bags," Phoenix Mill, Far Thrupp, Stroud, Gloucestershire, England, Allan Sutton Publishing, 1995
- Shock, James R., "U.S. Navy Airships 1915-1962, Edgewater, Florida, Atlantis Productions, 2001, ISBN 0-9639743-8-6
- Vaeth, J. Gordon, "Blimps & U-Boats", Annapolis, Maryland, US Naval Institute Press, 1992, ISBN 1-55750-876-3
- Ventry, Lord & Kolesnik, Eugen M., "Airship Saga," Poole, Dorset, Britain, Blandford Press, 1982, ISBN 0713710012