Air Ship Gallery

Holding up the R101

A member of the WAAC - the Women's Army Auxiliary Corp - holds up the R101 Airship, riding at her home mast at Cardington, Bedford. R101 was a British rigid airship completed in 1929 as part of the Imperial Airship Scheme. After initial flights and two enlargements to the lifting volume, it crashed on October 5, 1930, in France, during its maiden overseas voyage, killing 48 people. Amongst airship accidents of the 1930s, the loss of life surpassed the Hindenburg disaster of 1937, and was second only to that of the USS Akron crash of 1933. The demise of R101 effectively ended British employment of rigid airships

© Mary Evans Picture Library/TOM GILLMOR

Interior of the R101 airship

Amenities of the giant British airship R101, showing the smoking room, a typical two-berth cabin, and passengers looking down on the lights of a city from the starboard promenade deck. The Illustrated London News explains that "a special smoking room has been provided...which is fitted with an aluminium floor to obviate any danger from fire caused by carelessly thrown-down cigarettes and lighted matches." The fireproofing didn't stop the R101 crashing in the early hours of 5th October 1930 on its maiden voyage and bursting into flames, with the eventual loss of 48 of 54 lives on board

© Illustrated London News Ltd/Mary Evans

Power and control in R101

The first diesel-engined airship: power and control in R101. Illustrations of some of the features of R101: a power car, the chart room, and mooring arrangements. The Illustrated London News states that "every precaution has been taken to guard against the possibilities of fire, and for the first time petrol engines have been superseded by engines burning heavy fuel oil" [diesel] which is less flammable. However this did not stop the R101 from crashing near Beauvais, France, on its maiden voyage and bursting into flames, killing 48

© Illustrated London News Ltd/Mary Evans