Sunrise over Ocean City, NJ. It felt a little weird having the boardwalk all to myself.
A few months ago, I came across a blog from someone who had taken a tour of NSA(Naval Support Activity) Lakehurst, formerly Lakehurst Naval Air Station. The folks at the Navy Lakehurst Historical Society give free tours a couple of times a month. Bill met us in the parking lot and escorted us in. Pete and Sue did the actual tour and had a wealth of knowledge about the base, airship history and the Hindenburg.
In 1922, the USS Shenandoah was built there. It was United States Navy's first metal frame airship. The metal frame supports numerous airtight compartments filled with helium. It crashed three years later.
By the 1930's the Navy was already phasing out airships. Germany on the other hand, was building them bigger and bigger. At 804 feet, the largest was the Hindenburg. The original design was actually longer. The airship's design was shortened so it could fit inside the hangar in Lakehurst.
By 1937, the United States had the world's monopoly of Helium. Due to the trade embargo, this forced Nazi Germany to rely on the highly flammable alternative, Hydrogen. Her first transatlantic flight arrived in Rio de Janeiro on March 31st after a trip of one hundred hours and forty minutes.
Her second was scheduled to arrive in Lakehurst on May 6th, after a flight of sixty-one hours and forty minutes. Stormy weather and a strong headwind had the flight behind schedule. The Hindenburg's captain, Max Pruss, took the ship over Manhattan and the Jersey Shore while waiting for the storm to pass.
By 7P, the weather had cleared enough for Captain Pruss to try and bring the ship in. The plan was to drop mooring lines, which would be attached to a mooring tower. The ship would be slowly brought down on a winch. This is the spot where the port tower once stood.
On his first pass of the landing field, the ground crew wasn't ready, so the captain did a quick turn around the field for another try. With the stern of the ship starting to dip, the captain vented water ballast in the rear, and hydrogen from the front. The lines were dropped and the port(left)side attached to the winch. Five minutes later, the ship burst into flames.
The general consensus is that static electricity caused the initial spark, igniting the hydrogen. However, there are various theories leading up to that. One theory suggests the mooring line was being winched too quickly and perhaps tore the side of the ship. One of the tour guides also mentioned Captain Pruss' failure to follow proper procedure for the use of hydrogen. During certain atmospheric conditions, the vented hydrogen tends to linger along the airship's skin. Therefor, when venting, the approach is supposed to be long and straight, not short with tight turns. A third theory suggests a possible leak in one of the Hindenburg's sixteen gas compartments inside the ship.
The tour takes you through the museum and eventually into Hangar 1, where the Hindenburg was eventually supposed to go.
With the age of the airship all but over, the hangar was eventually re-purposed. A mock up of an aircraft carrier flight deck was build inside. This was used to train deck crews in a controlled environment. While the fake carrier is no longer in use, crew training is still going on here.
Route 37 would bring me back to the shore and eventually the Sand Pebble Motor Lodge, my home for the next two nights. I’ve stayed here before and like it. It’s across the street from the boardwalk, but a few blocks south of the rides.
The plan for the evening was the same as the last couple, find a place for sunset. As promised, the sky had darkened significantly by the time I arrived. The light rain began just as I was walking out to the boardwalk.
As you've seen, I've been hitting a lot of small breweries on this trip. Point Pleasant has two. Randomly, I chose the Last Wave Brewery. The Black Lager certainly was delicious. But, there was something about the place that seemed oddly loud. People were talking loudly to be heard. It just got old. One and done.
Coming Up,
The Perfect way to spend a rainy day down the shore
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