List of airships of the United States Navy identifies the airships of the United States Navy by type, identification, and class. __TOC__

Rigid airships (ZR)

Fabric-clad rigid airships The fabric-clad rigid airships were given commissions, the same as warships.

- served 1923-25, lost 3 September 1925 due to structural failure while in line squalls, 14 killed (ZR-2) - British-built as R38, lost 24 August 1921 before US Navy acceptance (and before official use of the ZR-2 designation) due to severe control inputs at low altitude and high speed far in excess of structural strength, 44 killed including 16 USN personnelHigham, Robin, "The British Rigid Airship, 1908-1931 A study in weapons policy," London, G.T. Foulis & Co Ltd. p. 222, 1961Althoff, William F., "Sky Ships," New York, Crown Publications, p. 17, 1990, - German-built as LZ 126, served 1924-39 (decommissioned 1932, and dismantled 1940)

- aircraft carrier served 1931-33, lost 4 April 1933 in a storm, 73 killed - aircraft carrier served 1933-35, lost 12 February 1935 due to structural failure, 2 killed

(ZRCV), proposed successor to the Akron class, not built

Other airships All other airships were registered as aircraft.

Metal rigid airships ZMC-2, a metalclad-airship built by the Aircraft Development Corp - 1929-41 (scrapped)

Semi-rigid airships

O-1 Airship

Blimps (non-rigid airships)

A class blimp (experimental) B class blimp (patrol & training) C class blimp (patrol) D class blimp (patrol) E class blimp (trainer) F class blimp (trainer) G class blimp (trainer & utility airship) (ZNN-GGrossnick, Roy A., "Kite Balloons to Airships. . . the Navy's Lighter-than-air Experience", Washington, Government Printing Office, 1986) (ZGT) H class blimp (observation) J class blimp (trainer) K-1 blimp (experimental) K class blimp (anti-submarine patrol) (ZNP-K) (ZSG-2, ZSG-3, ZSG-4, ZP5K) L class blimp (trainer) (ZNN-L) M class blimp (anti-submarine patrol) (ZNP-M) N class blimp (anti-submarine patrol & AEW) (ZPN-1, ZPG-1) (ZPG-2, ZPG-2W) (ZPG-3W), largest blimp ever built TC class blimp - transferred from US Army MZ-3A (experimental) first Navy airship in 40 years

Gallery

See also British blimps operated by the USN French Blimps operated by the USN Piasecki PA-97 US Army airships List of United States Navy ships

Footnotes

References Allen, Hugh, "The Story of the Airship (non-rigid), Akron, Ohio, 1943 Althoff, William F., "Sky Ships" New York, Orion Books, 1990, Grossnick, Roy A., "Kite Balloons to Airships. . . the Navy's Lighter-than-air Experience", Washington, Government Printing Office, 1986 Higham, Robin, "The British Rigid Airship, 1908–1931: A Study in Weapons Policy," London, G.T. Foulis & Co Ltd. Mowthorpe, Ces, "Battle Bags," Thrupp, Gloucestershire, UK, Allan Sutton Publishing, 1995 Shock, James R., "U.S. Navy Airships 1915-1962, Edgewater, Florida, Atlantis Productions, 2001, Vaeth, J. Gordon, "Blimps & U-Boats", Annapolis, Maryland, US Naval Institute Press, 1992, Ventry, Lord & Kolesnik, Eugen M., "Airship Saga," Poole, Dorset, Britain, Blandford Press, 1982,