History

Famous Airships & Zeppelins

14rows
6columns
32views
0downloads
Updated:4/7/2026
14/14
Name
Operator
First Flight
Length (m)
Fate
Claim to Fame
LZ 129 Hindenburg
DZR (Germany)1,936245Destroyed by fire, Lakehurst NJ, 1937Largest aircraft ever built; Hindenburg disaster ended airship era
LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin
DZR (Germany)1,928236Scrapped 1940Circumnavigated the globe in 1929 in 21 days
USS Akron (ZRS-4)
US Navy1,931239Crashed into Atlantic 1933Flying aircraft carrier; could launch and recover biplanes mid-flight
USS Macon (ZRS-5)
US Navy1,933239Crashed off California 1935Sister ship of Akron; carried Sparrowhawk parasite fighters
R101
British Air Ministry1,929237Crashed in France, 1930Disaster killed 48 and ended British airship program
R100
Vickers (UK)1,929219Scrapped 1931Designed by Barnes Wallis; flew Britain to Canada and back
USS Los Angeles (ZR-3)
US Navy1,924200Decommissioned 1939Most successful US Navy rigid airship; built in Germany as war reparations
LZ 130 Graf Zeppelin II
DZR (Germany)1,938245Scrapped 1940Last German rigid airship ever built; used for radar espionage
USS Shenandoah (ZR-1)
US Navy1,923207Broke apart in storm, Ohio 1925First US-built rigid airship; first to use helium
Norge
Italy / Norway1,923106Dismantled 1926First aircraft to indisputably fly over the North Pole (1926)
Italia
Italy1,928106Crashed on Arctic ice, 1928Umberto Nobile's Arctic expedition airship; survivors rescued by ice breakers
Goodyear Blimp (Wingfoot One)
Goodyear2,01475In serviceModern semi-rigid Zeppelin NT used for sports broadcasting
ZPG-3W
US Navy1,958121Retired 1962Largest non-rigid airship (blimp) ever built
Airlander 10
Hybrid Air Vehicles (UK)2,01692Prototype retired 2017World's largest aircraft when built; nicknamed 'The Flying Bum'

Free to explore · No signup needed

Loading community rankings...