USS SHENANDOAH Wreckage Site #3, Noble County, Ohio
Posted by: 
boatchick
N 39° 44.502 W 081° 35.591
17S E 449175 N 4399257
The US Naval Airship <i>USS Shenandoah</i> was torn apart in a storm over Noble County, Ohio, in 1925. A small memorial marks where the bow section fell to earth.
Waymark Code: WM5C3K
Location: Ohio, United States
Date Posted: 12/16/2008
Views: 14
Designated ZR-1, the
USS Shenandoah was the first of four rigid airships built for the United States Navy in the 1920s.
Shenandoah was different from earlier naval airships in that it had a rigid aluminum-copper frame and was filled with helium. The 680 foot long airship was built in 1923, began her maiden voyage on September 4, 1923, and was officially christened October 10, 1923.
The groundbreaking airship was used for reconnaissance missions and was based out of Lakehurst, New Jersey. She was the first rigid airship to fly across North America. In September, 1925, Shenandoah was sent out to fly across the Midwest on a promotional flight during county and state fair season. This trip was undertaken despite the protest of LCDR Zachary Lansdowne, the commanding officer, who felt that inclement weather conditions at that time of year in the Midwest could be hazardous. The flight was postponed, but not canceled.
In the morning hours of September 3, Shenandoah was caught in a thunderstorm over east-central Ohio. The storm tore the ship apart. Thirteen members of the airship crew were killed in the disaster, including LCDR Lansdowne and his executive officer, LCDR Lewis Hancock Jr. Another twenty-nine men survived the crash.
Wreckage site number 3, at the Ernest Nichols farm, is where the bow section of the airship landed. Many of the surviving crew landed here as LCDR Charles Emery Rosendahl had some control over the gas-filled bow and was able to bring it to earth. Farmer Ernest Nichols assisted in mooring the damaged airship and securing it to the ground.
This disaster site memorial is located on the north side of OH-78 (McConnellsville Road) west of Interstate 77. It consists of a flagpole, a pink granite marker placed by the Noble County Bicentennial Commission, a painted sign depicting the airship, and a kiosk displaying a brochure about the disaster. There is a small drive off the main road for parking.