The theoretical and practical training of the U.S. crew for ZR-2 by the British was governed by a special agreement. In April 1920, about six months before the purchase contract was signed, the U.S. Navy Rigid Airship Detachment was established in Howden, consisting entirely of volunteers. The opportunity to cross the Atlantic in an airship was highly appealing, not only because of the financial incentives but also because it allowed participants to bypass the Prohibition laws recently introduced in the U.S. Lewis Maxfield, who had demonstrated his expertise in airships during congressional hearings in the summer of 1919, was appointed as commander.

Howden Airship Station in Yorkshire, about 30 kilometers west of Hull, housed both single and double hangars in 1920. The commanding British officer responsible for the U.S. airmen's training was Edward Maitland, who enthusiastically took on the task. By this time, Howden had become a gathering place for more or less idle rigid airships, including the sister ships R33 and R34, as well as R32, which had a wooden frame modeled after Schütte-Lanz designs and served as the primary training airship for the U.S. airmen.

The initial training included courses for machinists and riggers, as well as excursions to the Sunbeam motor works in Wolverhampton and the Cardington airship facilities to study the new ship from the ground up. After overhauling the gas cells, which the U.S. airmen completed as a practical exercise under British supervision, R32 embarked on its first training flight on August 11, 1920. By March 1921, the U.S. airmen had logged about 203 hours of flight time on R32. The British airman Archibald Wann initially commanded these training flights, but over time, Maxfield became more confident and began to take the lead. To gain experience with an airship that had an aluminum frame, the U.S. airmen were given the opportunity to participate in flights aboard the transatlantic pioneer R34, although the ship was lost in a January 1921 accident.

Maitland tasked John Pritchard, another veteran of the R34’s transatlantic flights, with developing a comprehensive testing program. This was designed not only to explore the performance of the ZR-2 but also to give the U.S. crew ample opportunity to familiarize themselves with the ship before its risky journey over the Atlantic. However, budget constraints and political pressure on both sides of the ocean forced the test flights to be reduced to a bare minimum. Maxfield, keenly aware of his inexperience, also pushed for urgency, hoping to avoid the autumn storms over the Atlantic at all costs.

ZR-2's maiden flight took place on June 23, 1921, from Cardington with a fully British crew. Campbell, Maitland, Pritchard, and Maxfield were aboard as observers. It quickly became apparent that the elevator and rudder were incorrectly sized. The plan had always been to determine the proper balance for these controls through trial and error during the test flights, a common practice that, after several modifications, ultimately led to a solution under intense time pressure.

The third test flight, a 48-hour mission on July 17 with a mixed crew, also served as the ZR-2's transfer to Howden. This flight aimed to test the newly modified rudders, measure fuel consumption at different engine speeds, and calculate turning radii at various velocities. A team from the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) was on board to measure pressure distribution on the fins and rudders using instruments and film cameras. However, when the ship was operated at full power over the North Sea during the night, the rudders became uncontrollable again, and the ZR-2 was violently tossed up and down. This put immense bending stress on the airship's frame, deforming several longerons on the starboard side. The flight had to be aborted, and the crew carefully returned to Howden. Instead of addressing the root cause of the problem, Campbell merely ordered the longerons to be reinforced, and there was no time left for a thorough investigation.

By this point, the U.S. markings and ZR-2 designation had been painted on both sides of the bow. However, growing doubts emerged on both sides of the Atlantic about the ship's ability to make the transatlantic journey. Pritchard, likely the only person who truly understood the risks associated with the fragile structure of the German height climbers, advocated for high-altitude speed and maneuverability tests to avoid putting too much strain on the fragile structure.

Maitland eventually scheduled a final, long test flight for August 3, intending to end with the airship docking at the mooring mast in Pulham, the starting point for the transatlantic journey. However, bad weather caused the test to be delayed until August 23. Tensions among the crew grew, and discussions about the ship’s numerous problems and uncertainties were increasingly avoided.

When ZR-2 was airborne for around 35 hours and just a few hours away from Pulham, flying over Hull on the evening of August 24, the mood among the crew had improved. Over the Humber River, Maitland ordered hard rudder maneuvers at 100 km/h, flying at an altitude of less than 800 meters. Then disaster struck. It’s difficult to speculate on Maitland’s reasoning, especially since he knew that Pritchard had advised against such extreme maneuvers at low altitudes. Ultimately, the fatal crash resulted from not just one or more technical issues but also political, economic, psychological, and personal factors. Among the many victims of what was then the deadliest airship disaster were Maitland, Pritchard, Maxfield, and Campbell.

Despite the tragedy, the U.S. Navy’s confidence in rigid airships was only slightly shaken. Two years after the ZR-2 crash, the Shenandoah became the first rigid airship to ascend with helium-filled gas cells from Lakehurst. For their second attempt to purchase an airship abroad, the United States turned to Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmbH in Friedrichshafen. Although the circumstances were very different, the U.S. airmen were determined not to repeat the mistakes they had made. But that’s another story!

Technical data

The first DELAG airships

Deutschland II

Response to the disaster

Discover more...

Airships in Modern Media - James Bond 007 – A View to a Kill (1985)

The Military Use of Zeppelins

The zeppelin and children

Ambassador of Peace – The Airship LZ 126 / ZR III Los Angeles

History of Automobile Zeppelin: The 1925 SHW Experimental Car at the Zeppelin Museum

The crash of the American naval airship ZR-2