Transcripts For CSPAN3 1922 Airship Roma Disaster 20170311 :

Her main interest is the history of Hampton Roads from 1890 to the present. After publishing short online history pieces, she has devoted her research and writing over the last four years telling the story of the roma and her crew. We join me in giving a warm dhs welcome to make the shepherd. [applause] thank you for that warm introduction. I would like to thank the Virginia Historical society for having me, and cspan for coming out here and taping. Very exciting. As andy said, my name is nancy e. Shepherd. I am a author from Hampton Roads. This has been my project for the last five years. To tell you about roma to get started, this is a forgotten piece of our printing your virginia history. It was the deadliest disaster of a u. S. Hydrogen airship, one long forgotten. It has been my honor to bring it to the world and to you today. So, i will take you back to 1921. This was a time of innovation, prosperity, hope for our new future. We had survived world war i, the spanish flu epidemic. Everyone wanted to leave behind all of that ugliness, i guess you could say, and move forward. They were looking for new inventions, ways to go about doing daytoday life, making the world a proverbial, smaller place. This is a postcard from that. From my hometown, norfolk. Back during world war i, germany proved the invaluable solidity of these airships. They had massive, rigid framed ships, which, while they committed limited image, created a sense of psychological or warfare. Unlike their airplane counterparts, they were less fragile. They could carry they could go higher, faster, and seemed to be more practical. To give you an idea of how fragile these heavier than air airplanes were, the Army Air Service only had 2200 serviceable planes at 10,000 after our short. Time in world war i. Needless to say, instead of looking at bats as a way to move forward, the United States desperately wanted to get in on the lighter than air technology. The u. S. Navy was charged with their rigid ships. To give you an idea of what this a rigid ship was, the hindenburg. These were ships that were massive, they were 1000, sometimes larger, feet long. They had a skeletal structure inside the guest bag right here. And, they were based off the Zeppelin Corporation in germany. Not wanting to be outdone by the u. S. Navy, Brigadier General Billy Mitchell petitioned the War Department to have a large ship for the army. He wanted it for training purposes, but really to work on reconnaissance. After the u. S. Navy passed on a semirigid ship, secondhand shipping from italy, the War Department approved the army to go ahead and purchase it. So, they gathered the best and brightest of the our mayors are thats the Army Air Service had to offer, and they were to come together to go to italy, inspect the ship, and bring it back to the United States. This is the Commanding Officer, major John G Thorne l and his unfortunate mustache. [laughter] this is the second command, anyone who has been to tampa might be familiar with his name. This is lieutenant walter j reed, not the same as the read we think of usually come and not related. These of the crewmen. This is Master Sergeant roger mcnally. He was serving for the department of the interior in alaska when we entered into world war i. He decided to walk all the way to seward to enlist. He was older than the other man man, but was the most trusted. This is Master Sergeant harry chapman, Master Sergeant marion , one of the first men in his county in missouri to enlist to serve during world war i. This is Sergeant Virgil hoffman of michigan. This is Sergeant Joseph b to the only one who did not serve during world war i. So he was young, he was definitely a trusted and gifted engineer. Major John G Thornell, he was at the bottom of his class at west point and went into the infantry. During world war i, he found his niche in lighter than air, where he showed his most promise. He was a natural pick to be Commanding Officer of this grand gem of the Army Air Service. This is lieutenant walter j reed. He had gotten out of the army. They called him and said hey, we want you to, and help us pick up this new airship. He said all right, maybe. He called his girlfriend, Maria Claxton of hampton and said, do you want to get married . Im going to italy, this would be a great opportunity for a honeymoon. [laughter] she said yes. [laughter] they got married. This was the day before leaving for italy. A captain served as his best man, they were best friends, polar opposites in personality. The captain was a confident bachelor and was a ladies man around town. So, they got married and sailed with the other men over to italy. This is Sergeant Virgil hoffman of eden rapids, michigan. He was called into the air service after getting out out of the war and said, i will only go back if you send me to Langley Field, he was in love with this young woman, stella. They said ok and sent them back to langley, the two were soon engaged. That is her engagement ring. They were young, in love, planning a wedding for the following year. To speak a little about roma, she was built in 1919. She was originally supposed to be built before world war i, but they had to find another purpose. They wanted to use her as a transatlantic vessel between rome and rio de janeiro. As they were looking at airships, taking the place of large ocean liners for transportation. That never came to be. She was generally used for sightseeing purposes. The italians were very anxious to unload her. When the americans got there, the italians only agreed to one flight. That day was a bit of a party. This is one of the engineers. On board that day was the Italian American ambassador to italy, also the prince of denmark was there and his regalia and his entourage. Maria freed was there with her husband. The wheel of the ship was often left unattended, anyone who wanted to fly it could. [laughter] and they had alcohol and wine flowing freely. Keep in mind, this was during prohibition. They were serving elaborate threecourse meals. I like to say it was more of a spectacle than inspection. This gentleman is kenneth roberts, a prominent journalist at the time. This is during that inspection flight. He wrote that it had a prisoner field. After stumbling off in a drunken stupor i have to help myself, i i got ahead of myself, i apologize. They were originally supposed to fly over mount vesuvius. They did not notice when the ship. To decide, because it could not get the lift from the hydrogen they needed to get over the cold air. They were speaking about the dangers of hydrogen, but one of the men on board was like, i i could light cigar right here and the ship would be fine. [laughter] anyway, back to what i was saying a few moments ago. The major thorne l stumbled off the ship. It was a drunken stupor like i said. He wrote back to his superiors, i am most impressed with the semi rigid of airship and believe it has great possibilities. The blimp, which was a much smaller ship, did not have a frame. It was an experiment type of aircraft. This is a copy of one of the original contracts to purchase roma. The italians originally asked for 475,000, but they readily agreed to a Purchase Price of 184,000. [laughter] major thorne l wrote to his superiors. She was supposed to be for trans atlantic passage. They wrote back, packer of pack it up. He said ok, this ship is a few years old, we need a new airbag on the outside of the airship. It was a few years old, made from a silkcotton blends that could only be produced in italy and needed a sixmonth leadtime. The War Department said this will be fine. They packed up roma and sent her on her way back, home to Langley Field. In the meantime and 90 1921 was the first time the United States started witnessing the dangers of hydrogen in these airships most prominently with the r 38, picture here. This was a rigid airship. You can see the outline of the skeleton frame. The r 38 was built by the british on zeppelin plants plans for the United States navy. We had not accepted it yet. At this time, we had airmen over there. The ship broke in half. The saying was, oxygen got into these gas bags mix with hydrogen and exploded. Only five of the 49 men on board survived. A lieutenant, a Public Affairs officer serving on the ground, accompanied the remains of his sailors back. He swore that no one would die because of hydrogen at again. Roma arrived to langley on august of 1921. Anyone who has ever been to my wonderful that is a time of your temperature wise, and humidity was. That was covered in holes, mildew. Can we have a new bank, they asked. We need a new one. This one will not last. The War Department said patchett. It goes to the hangar log, there are thousands of patches that they put on his back. Needless to say, some of the men felt uncomfortable with this ship. In the meantime, we have more crewmen join the ship. This gentleman is lieutenant Byron Siebert junior. I am not sure whether he was a lucky man to have on board, considering he survived three lighter than air disasters before this. He was a gifted engineer and understood the way these ships functions, the physics, especially of this experiment of craft that we had never touched before. This is him standing with captain maybury. We also have several of these men, a corporal, who met came here from puerto rico, a very trusted, gifted, jovial man to have on board. Everyone loved him. Signs were posted outside of the hangar, warning people, do not smoke, do not light lighters, right here, and right here. Mens shoes checked for tacks and nails to avoid sparks in the concrete, because hydrogen was a volatile. They did not want to tell anyone that. They had a great deal of trouble maintaining Hydrogen Purity inside the bags. Whats that meant was they needed to maintain a certain amount of hydrogen to oxygen ratio to make sure that the hydrogen would not become unstable. Like i said, they had a great deal of difficulties. Roma on the inside was divided into 11 compartments. The first compartment had particular troubles. They kept patching. Finally got in regulation of hydrogen. She was finished, a scheduled flight was november 15, 1921. Despite hesitation inside the hangar, the world was starting to get to know roma through newsreels, everyone was excited. They were helping her the grand eagle of the american air. On the day of the flights, people gathered in, the estimated 1000 people came in from Hampton Roads with reporters, loved ones, the crew, to see roma go up for the first time. It was truly an exciting moment. This is the day of that flight. Everyone was gathered holding their breath wondering what she would do . You can see a great deal of people there. Men were out on scaffoldings for the engines. They were italian made. They tended to run oil leaks. Roma lifted perfectly. Major thorne l radioed down, how do we look . The radio men said, magnificent. Great cheer arrested throughout the ship. They were ready to fly roaming here for the first time. The part that the engineer, as a side note, did not trust with this rudder. They called it was something different. It was not like anything they had used before, it was rather bulky on the back. This is her flying over langley. You can see the hangar in the in background. Sergeant jethro bell had a great deal of trouble with his engine. These were made to run oil, they were made for a Southern Italian climate, not our variations here in virginia. It kept freezing in the november weather. He kept having to boil pour boiling water on top of it. The engineers were not happy with their engines. About 11 00am, an aluminum door broke off and slammed into a propeller blade. It shattered, and tore holes in the bank. Knowing this could be a catastrophe, Sergeant Lee Harris jumped into action. He gathered two other men, climbed into the back and patched it, until he and the other men passed out from inhaling the hydrogen. They saved the ship, and all three men were safe. Despite the accident and issues of the engine, this flight was hailed a success. The men, in the meantime, crewmen in particular, very, very scared. Jethro bell formed was called, the graveyards club. These were men trying to be transferred off. These are the best and brightest they had. He would write to his friends and say, the ship is going down one day and everyone will be killed. Some men were like, the ship is fine, we will be good. In the meantime, clifford tinker, mentioned earlier, got out of the navy and started writing and talking to everyone who would listen we need to use helium, it is a heavier gas but it is safe. To indulge him, they agreed to flight a c7 , a smaller blood, on test runs using helium from norfolk to washington, d. C. And back. The c7 proved that helium not only had the advantage flight twice, but it was a fiscal advantage for the longterm. She did not expand or contract Like Hydrogen tended to do, and she had no loss of gas, which hydrogen tended to leak because it is so thick. Aerial age weekly, a popular journal at the time, cannot and even said, summed up it can him be said that the use of helium as a gas for inhalation of airships has been demonstrated beyond a doubt. The helium plant at fort worth, texas, was closed quietly. Clifford tinker went to meijer percy, and came up with a sum for 40,000 to move helium from fort worth to language to fly roma. Meijer told tinker, we do not have the money, hydrogen will have to do. December 21, 1921, the day of the christening ceremony. It was a cold, windy day. Roma flew into boeing field washington, d. C. , with only three of six working engines. She is shimmying backandforth. The reason why the other three engines stopped was because of how oily they were. She kept freezing up, they could not get them restarted. One of the working engines had to be restarted midair. Needless to say, this was quite a sight to see her coming in, and it was a great deal of trouble to get her to the ground. I do not know if you can see, but you will and a second, that there was something ironic that happened with the flag. The ceremony was cut short. They sent a skeleton Skeleton Crew on roma back home. We see they are dropping ropes down to the ground to attempt to pull her down. Teddy roosevelt junior was there. The ambassador from italy was there, they had secretary of the War Department. Wainwright, the sponsor of the ship, broke a bottle of liquid oxygen against the whole. [laughter] so, yeah. [laughter] midway through the ceremony, the roma rolled onto its side. [laughter] it caused more damage. They had to catch her up again before leaving. Ironically, one of the halyards broke and the flag was hanging upside down. You cannot write fiction this well. So, they sent roma back to langley that evening, and she arrived on only one engine. Finally, the attention was diverted from the issues with the back and hydrogen, to the engines. They had to replace these. They agreed to put the Liberty Beach balls engines on ford, they were faster but later, but once the men were familiar with. They went out to dayton, ohio, and had the engines made. Major thornell received orders to go to washington, d. C. He said, please let me fly roma one more time as an observer, the War Department agreed. Captain avery was promoted to Commanding Officer, potential read was promoted to captain and secondincommand. A new bag was ordered finally, but it took it took a sixmonth leadtime, so they said, roma still will fly, we will not lose the money we put into the ship. A test flight for the new engine was scheduled for february 21, 1922. In the meantime, the engineers from dayton, ohio came, civilians. Along with a physicist with the bureau of standards, they want to test how fast they blew these new engines. The fastest she had ever traveled was 54 miles per hour. The night before the flight on february 20, 1922, a dance was held at the Officers Club in langley. It was a great kind of firtash it was a great time to regale and be together. Students would go on board as observers. Captain reed was not there that night, because he was suffering from the flu, and his wife made him stay home. The next day, february 1, 1922, was a cold day. They were uncertain whether they would go up that day. After preparing the ship in the morning, captain maybury sent everyone off to get lunch. Crewing member of the turned to one of his friends, a nonflying crewmember and said, if something happens to me, you take me home. It was supposed to be a joke. Captain maybury called everyone to the hangar, and captain reed arrived against her wifes against his wifes protests. It was so lastminute that the mascot dog was left behind in the hangar. Upon pulling the ship out of the hangar that day, one of the grounds crew a triangular silvery patch flying off the top and into the front of him. Captain maybury orders everyone to the back of the ship, for everything you can back there, we need to gain horizontal equilibrium. Corporal Alberto Florez was here in the crows nest sticking his head out, measuring how taunt the bag was. Eventually, they were able to gain horizontal equilibrium they needed. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. However, Master Sergeant harry chapman, who