Misogyny in the Ancient World

The Hindenburg

The Hindenburg was the largest airship dirigible of its time based on the zeppelin design. It was the pride of Nazi Germany, designed by Ludwig Dürr and manufactured by Luftschiffbau Zeppelin. In 1936 it began its journey of commercial air service by travelling over the North Atlantic sea and carrying 1002 passengers across 10 flights between the USA and Germany.

The first successful airship was built in 1852 by a French engineer named Henri Giffard. This airship powered a three horsepower engine which turned a large propellor and moved at 6 miles per hour! The zeppelin is a rigid airship that is named after its creator, Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin. The Zeppelin was developed by the Germans in the late 19th century. They made their airships to have light framework of metal grinders that would protect a (hydrogen) gas filled interior, whereas the French structure had heavy framework.

The Graf Zeppelin was a large enough airship to carry an adequate (24) number of passengers. It was a dirigible that travelled around the world in 1929, and in 1930, it initiated the first transatlantic air service. This lead to the later construction of the Hindenburg, which was a larger passenger airship that could carry up to 50 passengers, and there was still room for crew.

The Hindenburg was launched in Friedrichshafen, Germany, in March 1936. It was 245 meters long and could travel at a maximum speed of 135 kilometres per hour, but cruised at 126 kilometres per hour. The airship was originally supposed to be filled with helium gas, which is a non-flammable, non-toxic gas that is lighter than air. This makes sense as it is a substance that we use in our typical party balloons, so it safe to use. Unfortunately due to the export restrictions on Nazi Germany from the USA, they were unable to fill the balloon with helium and had to use hydrogen gas, which is highly flammable.

After more than 30 successful years of air travel on zeppelins, it all came to an end after one of many explosions. Zeppelins had travelled more than 2000 flights, covering over a million miles, and one major incident brought it all to an abrupt halt. This was the disaster of the Hindenburg.

Passengers could travel in the luxurious interiors of the Hindenburg between Europe and North and South America, in half the time of the fastest ocean liner. The passengers would enjoy meals in the sophisticated dining room and could relax in a living room while listening to an aluminium piano. They could even smoke in a designated smoking room, which you do not get on modern aircrafts.

The Hindenburg left Frankfurt, Germany, on the 3rd of May, 1937, where it would travel across the Atlantic to Lakehurst’s Navy Air Base, carrying 36 passengers and a crew of 61. Sadly this was the Hindenburg’s last flight. While it was attempting to moor at Lakehurst, flames suddenly immersed from the airship. It fell 200 feet to the ground, and the hull of the airship burnt to a crisp, within seconds of the explosion. 21 crewmen, 13 passengers and 1 civilian on the ground lost their lives, and most survivors suffered severe injuries.

How did it happen? After 80 years of research and scientific tests, the same conclusion as the original German and American investigations in 1937, was drawn. The cause of the explosion was an electrostatic discharge (a spark) that ignited some leaking hydrogen. However the spark was caused by a difference in electrical potential energy between the surrounding air and the airship. That day the atmosphere was electrically charged, but luckily the framework of the Hindenburg was grounded by the landing line. The spark caused a jump between the ships 23

fabric covering (which was able to withstand a charge) and the framework of the ship (that was grounded by the landing line) which was the reason there was a difference in the electrical potential energy.

A less likely, but possible cause of the spark could have been by coronal discharge, which is “an electrical discharge brought on by the ionization of a fluid surrounding a conductor, which occurs when the strength of the electric field exceeds a certain value” – from Collinsdictionary.com

The ship experienced a serious leakage of hydrogen before the disaster, but what generated this is still uncertain. There were rumours that a Nazi on board might have sabotaged the airship, but there is no evidence for this. There was also a conspiracy that the zeppelins fabric was highly flammable, but this isn’t true. The Hindenburg was one of many airships that went down in a fire, but it had its accident because of its lifting gas - Hydrogen. The reason the Hindenburg was destroyed, was because it was filled with hydrogen, and it went down in 32 seconds.

One could argue that the Hindenburg was just ahead of its time, and had it come later, we all might have been travelling in sophisticated airships that could have revolutionised air travel.

- Dani L (Re)