The USS Shenandoah is shown in an undated postcard view at its mooring station in Lakehurst, N.J.

By Ken Drenten

The USS Shenandoah, the first rigid airship built in the United States and the world’s first helium-filled airship, has a pioneering and tragic place in Ohio aviation history.

Launched in 1923, the Shenandoah was 600 feet long, 93 feet high at maximum, weighed 36 tons and carried a crew of approximately 40. It was powered by five 300-horsepower Packard engines that enabled the ship to reach a top speed of 60 mph.

In the summer of 1925, the U.S. Navy, which operated and commanded the airship, directed the Shenandoah to make a publicity tour of flyovers of 40 Midwestern cities and state fairs.

On the afternoon of Sept. 2, 1925, the Shenandoah departed its home base at Lakehurst, N.J. (the same site of the catastrophic Hindenberg crash in 1937) and traveled west across the Allegheny Mountains into Ohio. The ship encountered a violent storm in eastern Ohio and began to move around the storm system, then changed back to continue on its original course.

A postcard view of a U.S. Navy dirigible flying over the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. in Akron, Ohio.

At about 6 a.m. Sept. 3, the airship was struck by a series of updrafts and wind turbulence. After several attempts by the crew to maintain control of the ship, the Shenandoah’s hull twisted and broke.

The airship broke into three main pieces, and of the 41-member U.S. Navy crew and two passengers, 14 crew members, including U.S. Navy Commander Zachary Landsdowne, were killed. Twenty-nine crew members survived.

Learn more about the USS Shenandoah and the crash sites from the Ohio Exploration Society.

Where to go to view Shenandoah memorials

There are four sites marked in Noble County near Caldwell to memorialize the crew members who died in the crash.

• Crash Site 1: Located on Shenandoah Road near I-77. This site marks where the control car detached and crashed. (Note: Not visible from the highway.)
• Crash Site 2: Near I-77 at mile marker 32, visible to travelers on the freeway. The section of I-77 was designated the “USS Shenandoah Memorial Highway” by the Ohio Legislature and Gov. Mike DeWine in December 2024.
• Crash Site 3: Near SR 78, enhanced with new signage to guide visitors and share historical context.
• Ava Memorial: An additional memorial stands in Ava, (on SR 821 one-half mile north of Rayner Road) serving as a lasting tribute to the lives lost and the significance of the event.

Sources: National Park Service, Compass Ohio, Wikipedia

Ken Drenten is creator and editor of Dusty-Tires.com, a travel blog for out-of-the-ordinary places in Ohio.

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