The control room contained rudder and elevator control wheels, gas and water ballast release controls, engine telegraphs, and flight and navigation instruments. airshipsGraf Zeppelin Control Room. airshipsChart Room of Graf Zeppelin. airshipsRadio Room of Graf Zeppelin. airshipsAcross from the radio room was a small kitchen containing electric burners and ovens, an electric water heater, a refrigeration unit, and compact storage and preparation areas. Obviously, no open flames were allowed on the hydrogen-filled Zeppelin. airshipAft of the kitchen was a combination lounge/dining room, approximately 16′ square, which was the only public passenger space aboard the ship. While the surroundings were luxurious, they were also unheated, and during the winter months, or when the ship flew over the North Atlantic, or during the flight over Siberia as part of the 1929 Round-the-World flight, passengers often spent much of their time wrapped in heavy winter coats or covered by layers of blankets while ice crystals formed on the windows.Circa 1925- The lounge of the British airship R101. These passenger quarters were the most spacious ever provided in an airship. Getty Images“We have a million cubic feet of gas but no heat. . . . Merciless cold driving through the canvas walls of this flying tent. … I have visualized myself gracefully draped over a saloon window ledge romantically viewing the moonlit sky. The men . . . have reminded each other not to forget evening jackets and boiled shirts in their baggage. We have drawn ourselves lovely pictures of dining elegantly in mid-air with Commodore Eckener at the head of a flower-decked table . . . but . . . leather coats, woollies, and furs will be our evening dress. Hot soup and steaming stew more welcome than cold caviar and chicken salad.” – Lady Grace Drummond Hay. AirshipsDinner on the Graf Zeppelin. airshipsGraf Zeppelin China. airshipsAccommodation for the ship’s twenty passengers was provided in ten small cabins, containing upper and lower berths similar to those aboard a railroad sleeping car, and which could be arranged for daytime or nighttime use. Like the rest of the ship, the cabins were unheated. The cabins were located on a narrow corridor, at the end of which were separate washrooms for men and women. airshipsSteward making up a bed. airshipsA sleeping cabin and the kitchen area on the Graf Zeppelin (1928). Getty ImagesPassenger Cabin of Graf Zeppelin. airshipsPassenger Corridor on Graf Zeppelin. airshipsWomen’s Washroom on Graf Zeppelin. airshipsOctober 9th, 1929- Passengers playing cards and watching the view over Yorkshire on the verandah aboard R100. Getty ImagesA maid prepares a dish in the kitchen of airship R 100, at Howden, Yorkshire. Getty ImagesPassengers surveying the scene from the verandah deck of the British R100 Airship, built to compete with the great ocean liners of the day. Getty ImagesMembers of the Dominion Legislative Conference dine on board the luxurious R101 airship. Getty Images
1929- The British airship R-100 flies through a thick layer of clouds. She was scrapped after the crash of her sister ship, the R-101, in 1930. Getty ImagesOctober 1929- The airship R101 flying over the British town of Bedford on its first flight. Getty ImagesApril 1930- An aerial view of the Graf Zeppelin flying over Wembley Stadium in London during the 1930 FA Cup Final. Getty ImagesThe Graf Zeppelin over Jerusalem, 1931. Library of Congress1931 stereograph reads: The Graf Zeppelin’s rendezvous with the eternal desert and the more than 4,000-year-old pyramids of Gizeh, Egypt. Library of CongressA small airship did manage to tie onto the Empire State Building for three minutes after a half-hour struggle. uh.edu1937- The German-built airship Hindenburg (D-LZ-129) flies over Manhattan on May 6, 1937. A few hours later, the ship burst into flames in an attempt to land at Lakehurst, USA. AP1937- The Hindenburg disaster at Lakehurst, New Jersey, which marked the end of the era of passenger-carrying airships. The Zeppelin caught fire and crashed, killing 36 people aboard. Arthur CofodThe Hindenburg on fire in 1937. Wikipedia
