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The USS Shenandoah,
ZR-1, was a rigid airship commissioned by the US Navy on October 19,
1923. A rigid airship, the Shenandoah was used to test
the practicality of helium replacing hydrogen to provide "lift" to
lighter than air aircraft. The Shenandoah was in service for
about two years until it crashed in Ava, Ohio on September 3, 1925
in the middle of a violent thunderstorm. The following
pictures show the USS Shenandoah monuments in the various places
where the airship's wreckage fell to the earth.
This official Ohio
Historical Marker appears at the rest area on I-77 southbound,
approximately 15 miles south of Cambridge, Ohio. About seven
miles south of this marker, the major piece of the USS Shenandoah
crashed beside what is now I-77's right of way. (A small sign
and flagpole appear at the actual site, but there is nowhere to pull
off and take a picture.)
In the small hamlet of Ava, a large
monument to the USS Shenandoah and its lost crewmembers sits beside
a country highway in silent testimony to their heroism as their ship
broke apart in the thunderstorm.
Closer inspection of a the
memorial shows an airship in flight depicted in bronze.
Some miles away is a third crash site
where the remaining part of the airship reached the earth with
survivors on board.
A memorial stone with
very fine line engraving appears across the driveway from this
sign.
Some
excellent histories and additional photos of the USS Shenandoah
appear on these fine web sites:
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