Of R.38/ZR.2 airship interest; a piece of fabric cut from th...

Estimate

£200 - £400

Of R.38/ZR.2 airship interest; a piece of fabric cut from the crashed airship, on 24/8/21, 9 x 9cm. Together with two related postcards.

Research credit to aviation historian Kenneth Deacon, Local History BBC article.
One of the airships most closely associated with Howden in East Yorkshire, not far from our saleroom in Goole, was the ill-fated R38/ZR2. It was commissioned towards the end of the First World War and was planned to be the first of four ships that could patrol for up to a week at a time, far out to sea. It was a giant of the sky, 695-feet long and 85-feet high. To assist with its performance the fuselage was made from lightweight metal, a decision which later proved to be its undoing.

The war ended and the economy took a downturn, so the plans for a fleet of airships were scrapped. Construction had already started on the R38 and a deal was struck with the American government to buy the airship for use by the US Navy. The ship was completed on 7 June 1921 at the Shorts factory in Bedfordshire. Two weeks later she headed to Howden, where a detachment of US Navy personnel were waiting to test her and then fly her over the Atlantic to her new base.

There was a problem on her first flight when some of the struts on the fuselage bent, a problem that took a month to fix. On August 23rd 1921 the airship left Howden to carry-out flight tests over the North Sea. The plan was to fly it to another airship base at Pulham, Norfolk. When they arrived the base was shrouded by thick fog, making a landing impossible. The R38 headed back out over the North Sea for more tests. The next day it tried to land again at Pulham but the fog had not lifted. The captain decided to head back to Howden and carry out more tests on the way.

Whilst over the Humber the airship carried out some high speed turns. The stress on the fuselage was too much and the craft broke in two, causing a large explosion, which blew out windows in Hull. It crashed in flames into the Humber just off Hull’s Victoria Pier. The accident happened at about 5:30 in the afternoon on the 24th August 1921. Thousands witnessed the crash as people, making their way home from work, stopped to watch the giant airship manoeuvring over the estuary. People went out to the wreckage in boats in an attempt to rescue the crew. A brave act as the Humber was alight due to burning petrol from the engines. Of the 49 people on board, only five survived. The wreckage of the R38 lies in the River Humber

Kenneth Deacon says the haste to get the airship delivered led to a fatal lack of testing “They’re hadn’t been enough trial flights done on it. It should have done about 150 hours and in fact only did about 40 hours flying. The Americans were in a hurry to get it to go back to the States and the British government were in a hurry to get the money, because the R38 was going to save the airship industry as it were.”

The disaster effectively ended the military's interest in airships. The Howden base was closed down and the buildings and equipment were sold-off.

For further information the book "Icarus over the Humber" by T.W. Jamison makes fascinating reading