THE 1931 POLAR FLIGHT OF THE AIRSHIP GRAF ZEPPELIN
An Historical Perspective
p. 6 of 6 << BACK
APPENDIX A: Maps
 
The approximate location of the The Russian Arctic
permanent polar ice pack.
APPENDIX B: Zeppelin Airships
Famous Graf Zeppelin Flights
1928 Middle Eastern Flight
1929 Around-the-World flight
1931 Polar flight
1930-1937 South American service (Note: the Graf Zeppelin was returning from South America when the Hindenburg burned in 1937).
The LZ designation
Zeppelin airships were numbered in sequential order with the prefix LZ-, for Luftschiff (airship) Zeppelin, beginning with the first Zeppelin airship LZ-1. The LZ-1 flew for the first time in July, 1900.
Some well-known Zeppelin airships:
LZ-126 (built after World War I) became US ZR III, the Los Angeles.
LZ-127 Graf Zeppelin
LZ-128 never built
LZ-129 Hindenburg
LZ-130 Graf Zeppelin II
APPENDIX C: Aeronautical Terms
Unsure about the difference between airplane, airship, aircraft. For a Glossary of Aeronautical Terms, click here.
NOTES
1. The term arctic designates the vast area encompassed by the Arctic Circle at 66.5ºN. The Arctic Circle is a fixed point on the earth's surface at and above which, due to the curvature of the earth, there is at least one day per year of total light. The Polar Circle at 80ºN, on the other hand, is a more or less arbitrary point designating the area around and within 10º of the North Pole. However, the term polar often is used simply as a generic term to indicate areas with very cold temperatures.
2. This brief summary of the Spitsbergen trip that was the inspiration for that 1931 polar flight is taken primarily from Miethe, Hergesell, et al., Mit Zeppelin nach Spitzbergen. Spitsbergen is the large island in what is now the Svalbard Archipelago. Rather than a remote arctic outpost, a branch of the Gulf Stream along the west coast makes the island relatively ice-free and accessible by ship in the summer months. It was a popular tourist destination during July and August up until World War I.
3. Cross Bay, located inland in the upper part of the Kings Bay fjord, became the site of a German meteorological station from 1912 to 1914. The station was abandoned in 1914 at the start of World War I in Europe and the buildings are reported to have been destroyed during World War I.
4. Despite the publicity it generated, the Wilkins submarine expedition seemed doomed from the start. Mechanical problems delayed the departure, then the sub broke down entirely in crossing the Atlantic and had to be towed to England for repairs. By the time it finally reached the ice pack north of Spitsbergen, the crew had become so distrustful that they are reported to have sabotaged the sub in order to prevent a dive.
5. Previously, Ellsworth had been a passenger on the 1929 Graf Zeppelin around-the-world flight. The only other American on the flight was Lt. Cmdr. (later Rear Admiral) Edward H. "Iceberg" Smith, USCG, an expert on ice conditions. In 1932, Smith and Ellsworth published preliminary findings of the 1931 Graf Zeppelin flight in the journal of the American Geographical Society. To access an informative online copy of this report, click here.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Duggen, John and Gisela Woodward. Graf Zeppelin Polar Post. UK: Zeppelin Study Group, 1995.
Eckener, Dr. Hugo. Douglas Robinson, transl. My Zeppelins. New York: Putnam's, 1958.
_____. Im Zeppelin über Länder und Meere. Flensburg: Verlagshaus Christian Wolf, 1949.
Ellsworth, Lincoln. Beyond Horizons. New York: Doubleday, 1938. Miethe, Adolf, Hergesell, Hugo, et al. Mit Zeppelin nach Spitzbergen. Berlin: Deutsches Verlagshaus Bong & Co., 1911.
Nicklas, Siegfried, and Rolf Kardel. Die Polarfahrten des Luftschiffes "Graf Zeppelin." Leverkusen: Der Polarphilatelie e.V., 1980
Reuper, Julius. Graf Zeppelin und sein Werk. Leipzig: Verlag von Dr. Max Gehlen, 1926.
Saager, Dr. Adolf. Zeppelin, Der Mensch, Der Kämpfer, Der Sieger. Stuttgart: Verlag von Robert Luss, 1916.
Vaeth, J. Gordon. Graf Zeppelin: the Aerial Adventure of an Aerial Globetrotter. New York: Harper & Bros., 1958.
PHOTO CREDITS
The Graf Zeppelin practicing a water landing… is adapted from a photo appearing in Eckener’s My Zeppelins.
The photo of Count Zeppelin is taken from a widely-published photo, origin unknown, original possibly in the possession of the Zeppelin Museum, Friedrichshafen, Germany.
The Andrée party landing on the ice… is taken from a widely published photo, original in the possession of the Andrée Museum, Grenna, Sweden.
The Zeppelin expedition… is adapted from a photo appearing in the 1911 book, Mit Zeppelin nach Spitzbergen.
The Norge at mast…is based on a widely-distributed 1920s era postcard.
The Zeppelin mail is pictured in the Wes Thorn collection.
The Graf Zeppelin aloft… is adapted from a photo in the Polarflight Research Group collection.
Original maps are in the Polarflight Research Group collection.
|
