USS Akron under construction photograph   Save
Ohio Department of Industrial and Economic Development Collection
Description: This photograph of a ceremony celebrating the completion of the frame of the U.S.S. Akron, the first rigid, lighter than air ship (dirigible) built in Ohio. An American flag was being raised as the image was captured. The Akron had eight propellers, each powered by a 560 horsepower engine. Its first flight was on September 23, 1931. The airship crashed into the Atlantic Ocean during a storm off the coast of New Jersey on April 4, 1933. At the time it was built, the hanger where the Akron was built was the largest building in the world without interior supports. The floor area of the Goodyear Air Dock equals 8.5 acres, the equivalent of seven football fields. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: Om3083_3675626_001
Subjects: Business and Labor; Transportation; Flight; Aeronautics; Airships; Construction; Flags
Places: Akron (Ohio); Summit County (Ohio)