The irony is that the salvaged scrap of the R-101 was actually then sold to the company that ended up building the Hindenburg. That ship was cursed from the start.
Thanks for mentioning it. Fascinating Horror's vid is usually satisfying but in this case, he missed the perfect opportunity to mention this even though he showed the Hindenburg disaster as the "final nail in the coffin" scene and I was itching for it.
And don’t forget to add that the salvaged scrap from the Hindenburg was sent back to Germany and used in making military equipment, Germany lost the war, could this cursed metal have played a small role?
The ceiling of the hotel I work at started leaking today and I literally had FH's voice in my head saying " What started as an inconspicuous drip would end up the precursor to something much, much worse... " I watch too many of these videos!
You both should definitely voice your observations because its definitely a totally understandable concern. Its better than not saying anything.. even if a higher up employee might get annoyed, its worth saying.
You actually should report it. Because people always ask after the fact, why nobody spoke up. And at very least you might save your company from some mold or water damage etc.
This is probably the only few case in this channel that the big guy who's responsible for the impending disasters ultimately paid their price with life.
The asbestos coated smoking room on an airship is quite possibly the most old fashioned death trap that this channel has covered and old timey death traps are basically the MO here
To bad they didn't have Kent cigarettes with the micronite filter (asbestos)! I'd love to have flown in the Graf Zeppelin. First around the world non stop. First inductee into the Mile High Club in a real bed, though they flew lower. Flawless safety record, scrapped after the Hindenburg.
I have to say, watching you consistently for a few months has trained me to detect bad omens. High pressure schedules, experimental innovations, extreme compromises to the initial vision of the project... If your videos were compulsory viewing for engineers and project managers everywhere, I think we as a species would be a few degrees safer.
Very, very true! The biggest problem, though, are the people that pay to build these things and that only care about money so they cut back on essential things to save a few bucks. These people don't care about safely-- only about profit and getting the most for the smallest amount of money possible.
I honestly feel more prepared for a possible disaster thanks to this channel, there’s a lot of patterns with each tragedy I’ve started to recognise, both in identifying an unsafe environment as well as the little things people have done to be the sole survivors in these stories - the latter sometimes being as simple as listening to your gut if you think a vehicle or building isn’t safe. I definitely agree that all the engineers of the future would watch videos like this, there’s heaps of lessons that can be learnt from these tragedies.
As some of the commenters below have pointed out. The Zeppelin Company who built the Hindenburg purchased some of the of the R101 scap which was then melted down and incorporated into the frame of the Hindenburg. Being that the cost of the light weight materials were rather expensive at the time. The R101 might be the only airship to have exploded twice.
This is an often-repeated bit of false, sensationalist history. R101 was made of galvanized steel. Hindenburg (like all other Zeppelin airships) was made of a lightweight alloy called Duralumin. While the Zeppelin company did purchase the wreck, they did not use the scrap metal to build Hindenburg but rather used it for other purposes such as the construction of hangars and heavier-than-air aircraft.
"Under pressure to get things right, and quickly" Those two words rarely, if ever, go together. You either do it right, or you do it quick, you can only pick one. Few people spend the correct amount of money to get both.
This reminds me of a 'pick two words on this chart' thing at work where you get to pick two words from, 'fast' 'cheap' or 'good' and what the outcome of your choices will be. Cheap and fast won't be good. Fast and good won't be cheap. Good and cheap won't be fast.
So everyone here agrees you shouldn't rush things to get it done quickly no matter how much political pressure there is. Got it. So understand exactly why people don't want to get the vaccine.
"She's too heavy" said the Coxwain "She'll never make this flight." Said the Captain "Damn the Cargo, we're on our way tonight" Iron Maiden made a fantastic song about the R101 - Empire of the Clouds.
They cover quite a lot of British history in their songs, not to mention Egyptian mythology, and literary classics (I believe those are British writers).
Yes although back in the '90s there was a full album about it called 'Curly's Airships' by Chris Judge Smith, formerly of the band Van der Graaf Generator, of whom Bruce Dickinson (and probably other Iron Maiden members) is a life-long fan.
It was the 20's, of course they had a smoking room. These ships were going to take multiple days to to their destination, and 80% of people smoked back then. It probably was considered somewhat essential because people would have probably tried to smoke without a special room, and it would have been even worse.
The smoking rooms onboard airships were sealed and pressurized making it literally impossible for gas to enter the room. The only lighter aboard the ship was chained to the smoking room bar. If anything you were more in danger of the room's lead and asbestos lining...
@@googleuser3163 honestly, asbestos is a really good choice, assuming it wasn't too heavy. It's only dangerous when it's ground into a dust that can be inhaled; once it was installed, it would be very effective at preventing fires.
Precisely this. Also, in that time smoking was widely considered to be healthy. Public opinion didn't turn on smoking until the 1970's, as crazy as that sounds. In the 40's and 50's doctors would often smoke WHILE examining patients. So it's no surprise that the smoking room was considered essential.
As a former smoker, I can testify as to the importance of having a smoking room. Passengers, ignorant of the volatility of hydrogen, would have probably tried to sneak cigarettes if there hadn’t been a designated smoking room. At least this room would have provided some measure of protection against ignition of the hydrogen.
@@PercyPruneMHDOIFandBars Technically being pressurized wouldn't prevent sparks from getting out, it would just prevent the flammable gas from getting in
Amazingly a highly addictive and deadly drug, it destroyed almost my entire WWII Generation Family. More interesting, are the idiots still trying to addict themselves to Nicotine, despite the deadly facts.
@@thatgirlinautumn5995 "What time is it? I can't see the face of my watch" *flips open radium dialled fob watch* *Why... it's time for another 'Lords of England' cigar and another glass of Taylor's Port!"
The R101 almost didn't take off on it's fateful flight. A few hours before they were to leave someone discovered that they didn't have an "Airworthiness Certificate" which was necessary to enter any other Nation's airspace. A quick round of telegraph messages to and from Politicians was able to have one delivered to the Ship in time, although the ship hadn't met the legal requirements for issuance. It wasn't fit to fly.
To be fair, the R 100 barely made its round trip to Canada. Rain leaked into the cabins and the outer fabric kept rippling. Writings like Nevil Shute Norway's book are heavily biased to paint R100 as vastly superior. There's also a lot of circlejerk about Lord Thompson rushing the R101 but there were other factors and pressures aside from him.
@@omegavladosovich6757 Same with the Titanic.... ships designer on board.... Captain Smith goes down with his ship.... Let's blame them. Sorted. Easy Peasy. NEXT!
My Grandmother was one of the many employed to stitch the fabric of the R101 together...I remember her telling me "I told them, as I live and breathe, this will end in tears, and sure enough it did!" I lived less than a mile and a half from Cardington until I was 19yrs old and my Father worked there until he retired in 1988... Cardington Hangers have a very interesting history!!
I heard of it by coincidence just three days ago when I watched a video on it by a new channel I found called 'paper skies', his accent is quite hard to follow but his video on it was very good and in depth.
Me too. It’s such a tragedy that I feel bad that it’s my birthday. Those poor people could bring only a single change of clothes wrapped in paper. How dare they?!!!
I adore airships, and got a degree in aeronautical engineering specifically so that I could have a shot at working with them someday. I really believe that investigating the causes behind the (relatively, VERY few) fatal crashes is one of the most important steps in determining how viable an airship revival would be, so I was very happy to see the notification for today’s video!! Great to see you cover this case ✨
As a fellow airship nerd, I think the problem is the efficiency rather than the safety. It might work as a novelty thing, but planes are so efficient at transporting large numbers of people quickly that airships simply can't compete. Add in the cost of that much hydrogen/helium and the safety concerns and sadly it just isn't viable.
I'm not even that big a fan and I wish they'd come back. Guess it's not economically reasonable anymore though : [ Everything is done in terms of nickels and dimes by corporations these days... Unless you're one if those billionaires doing whatever you want, there's very slim chances these will exist again (or anything without great profit).
_Now a shadow on a hill, the angel of the east_ _The empire of the clouds may rest in peace_ _And in a country churchyard, laid head to the mast_ _Eight and Forty souls, who came to die in France._ *- Iron Maiden* (Empire of the Clouds)
id theorize the smoking room was actually a safety feature- the designers considered that people would be smoking regardless, so they built a isolation chamber for the lighter sparks and cig butts
I agree to a point...but the "smoking Room" was not the cause of the crash.... It was well below a safe height as it crossed the coast into France... It was uncontrollable due to leaking gas bags causing its instability.... had it been at the correct height & cruising merrily along.... and was engulfed in a catastrophic explosion: OK now we look at the smoking room.... But no, it hit the ground..... and THEN exploded. Every eye witness said that..... "It just came down...rather slowly, hit the ground...and THEN exploded. That much is not in doubt. . Overweight.... insufficient compensation for leaking gas (Lift) ..... (ie ballast ditching?) It was doomed from take off. Untried, un-proven...haste killed this craft.
As someone posted above, the R101 was made of galvanised steel not Duralumin & certainly not magnesium alloy, the structure was actually used to make things like hangars & other ancillary things.
I was interested in airships when I was a teenager. My father gave me a copy of Neville Shute’s book Sliderule. Although he later became an author he was originally an engineer and worked on the R100. It’s many years since I read it, but I do remember how bitter he was that what he saw as carelessness in the construction of R101 also killed their project.
During its visit to Canada, the R100 moored at Saint-Hubert airport. To this day, the road at the end of which the ship was anchored is still called "Rue du R-100"
What a kind way to end the video, praising and recognizing the bravery of the staff who knew the risks boarding that ship and still doing so. You have a subscriber for life with me.
It doesn't matter what job you do. As soon as pressure is put on the workers, mistakes are inevitable. It's a shame that money and pride are more important than people's lives.... Even today. One would think that lessons can be learned from past disasters to make it right...
some pressure is fine, as long as safety nets are present and alternate routes to solve problems available. put too much and for too long and mistakes are guaranteed, and with mistakes inevitably come accidents and fatalities
Yes, pretty amazing footage. The Hindenburg had a lot of significance because it was a symbol of NAZI power, a "propaganda vehicle." It was also the one that ended the era of airships.
Jesus I just looked at his sub count, pretty sure when I first started watched these videos a year or so ago it was 40k or something. Yeah love the content too, especially that he posts mid week, it's something to look forward to.
This is just what I like about this channel. It shines a spotlight on disasters both well known and those that have otherwise been forgotten to time. It's always imperative we learn from the past, or else we're doomed to repeat it.
A footnote to your comment: May 2023: Have you not heard...? The Irish Government is considering a ban on DISCUSSING HISTORY......at any level...whatever your views are! Check out "History Debunked"... he posted it a few days ago..... Mind blowing!
“We can’t carry all of that, sir.” “I am a lord. You cannot tell me what I can or cannot do.” “Respectfully sir, the laws of physics don’t give a damn about your peerage.” Well, the old blowhard made the news, alright.
There's also the issue of the process by which an arrogant idiot got placed in charge of an incredibly important, technically challenging project. Sadly, many people still eagerly fall for con jobs over demonstrated competence.
My Nan was outside her Essex house along with many neighbours when the R 101 airship flew past .She remembered that the airship was low down and everyone was saying how worryingly low it was flying . Everyone had a dreadful feeling .How very sad .
A fascinating case of pressure to get something done at any cost, leading to a tragic outcome. Thanks for doing this one, it’s one I’ve been interested in for years but there is so little on it.
It's almost as if politicians should take a responsible step back and allow professionals' scientific consensus, that has more than a Wikipedia paragraph's understanding of a subject, to determine deadlines and details. Who would have seen that coming?
Indeed. That being said, there were also errors by said professionals on the R101 team. Because it's also a case of cramming a bunch of unmatured innovations into a salad.
PandaNFriends: Certainly not the shoddy crowd that has occupied Westminster these last decades: All of them... Without fail... Have Failed Britain. All of them "miffed" to have missed the gravy boat...and extremely angry they have missed the Cruise Liner that was the Brussels Junket. La creme de la Creme! Britain has the worst Parliament for decades...... spoilt brats with no sense of responsibility. And you wonder why the Civil Service is in revolt?
My nan, who will be 100 years old next month, remembers seeing the airship as a child. She and her younger sister were playing in their garden in London, when they were disturbed by noise and a looming shape. There overhead, flying very low was the R101, it's motors making quite a noise. She was rather scared and fascinated at the same time!
I first heard about this via the Iron Maiden song, "Empire of the Clouds". Great bit of storytelling. Great video explaining in more detail what actually happened.
You have absolutely no idea how big those things are until you see them and their hangars close enough. I used to have to drive by the hangar for the Goodyear blimp in LA twice a day. Just the hangar alone made airplane hangars look like dolls versions. It was immense. If the blimp was outside moored, I would have to pull over and just gaze for a bit. It was absolutely massive!
I mean, when you smoke, you're already risking your lungs. Makes sense to have death walls. I'm probably still in if I can smoke while flying across my massive country.
@@tanekrune5873 I'm not entirely sure asbestos is fire proof anyway, I seem to remember chucking some on a bonfire once and it popping and exploding more than anything.
I think this is one of the only times on this channel that the disaster wasn't caused by greedy capitalists trying to cut corners for profits. Instead it was caused by idiot politicians trying to cut corners for their ego. Ahhh humanity. It's too bad too. The whole concept of airships is really cool. I'd love to live in a world where air cruises were a thing.
@@jackalope07 No thanks chief, my break is over soon. No need to fall out as that's not who I am. Capitalism, Socialism and all the other political and economic systems seem to have their positives and negatives. That's my fence-sitting opinion anyway. Take care and enjoy the rest of your day, Alex.
There's an alternate timeline where airship travel like this succeeded and remained viable. And I'll admit it, even after learning of this tragedy, I'm a little jealous to not be living in that timeline.
It would be a sight to behold initially but imagine the ugly sight of airship congestion when international travel became popular, it would be so bad it would block out the sun!
Drs would literally say 'smoking tobacco clears the lungs!' they must have been paid off from the tobacco lobbyists/whoever earns tax $ on the product... Surgeons back then, SMH, but they would smoke during surgery...
Wow, every since I fell in love with the Iron Maiden song Empire of the Clouds (an absolute masterpiece of music), I've been fascinated by the story of the r101. And to see you make a video got me so excited!
This is a brilliant documentary! An excellent script, clear pronunciation, and very well researched. I appreciate the attention to historical detail and the archival footage! Brilliant! (from Warsaw, Poland)
I’ve never heard this story before. Thanks for covering it. I live down the road from where The Hindenburg went down. I’ve been in the hangar you showed a picture of, I’ve driven into it! The Hindenburg is a big deal here in Ocean County, NJ. At a local museum I work at we have pieces of the Hindenburg on display along with some plates and other things found at the crash.
The design of that boarding mast is actually very clever. The airship can rotate around it 360° with the wind without the gang plank detaching or becoming unusable.
Not only that. Bruce Dickinson invested in an airship company that was based in one of the sheds at Cardington where there R101 was built. The sheds are very impressive as was the 'flying bum' airship which I believe has now been taken to the US
When I lived in Naperville IL, the Goodyear blimp would go over our house on its way to the Chicago Bears football games on Sundays. It never failed to amaze us as it flew over.
I haven't seen anything about this airship since I was a kid. I had a disaster book that I used to check out at the library, which not only covered this disaster, but also the wreck of the airships Akron, Macon, and Shenandoah. They all seem lost to history, so thank you for this upload. Who would have believed a government could build something that would end so terribly?
You should do a episode about the sinking of Estonia. It's a huge maritime disaster and the plot has been recently just been thickening. Although I think modern speculation is too far fetched, but it's definitely a subject matter where you can find fascination in horror
Nice history lesson/video as always to watch on my birthday of a disaster that occurred 62 years before I was born! I don’t mean to brag but a relative on my dad’s side was chosen to speak to the captain of the Hindenburg after it crashed. My sympathies go out to the victims and their families 🇬🇧🕊
I see these regularly since they are made in a neighboring city and they fly over to our airport for testing, usually pure white, no markings on them. My previous landlord was a foreman on a ground crew that travelled to sporting events and concerts with a Fuji ship. For years, India and Pakistan were big customers for the airship builder as they used them for surveillance on each other. They may still do that, not sure.
Modern blimps are largerly not very similar to those airships. They aren't expected to carry a great amount of weight and are much simpler designs. Pretty sure they don't have a rigid hull, airships back then were largely of rigid hull design.
I used to occasionally see at least one of the Fuji ships flying over Seattle in the early-1990s. Some time around 1990, PBS aired a fascinating show on the "airship story", and all of the various successes--and failures--over the history of blimp/airship flight. One model used four Sikorski helicopters strapped to a frame for propulsion; it proved unstable and crashed. The smaller, modern-type Fuji ship they showed used a Porsche engine, powering two ducted, tilting fans on the sides of the gondola.
The author Neville Shute was an aircraft designer who worked on the R100. His books are uniformly excellent. Oh: I believe that R101's beams would have been made of aluminum alloy, not steel. Specifically, an alloy known as 'duraluminum.'
I have just finished reading Bill Hammack's book on the R-101, Fatal Flight, and have a few small corrections and things to expand on. There were concerning holes in the gas bags, not the skin. Those holes were patched, though, and were not the direct cause of the crash. The problem with the skin was that because it had been stretched after the waterproofing was applied, the waterproofing had countless tiny cracks where water got in and began to rot it, weakening all of the outer skin. This would be fine under normal conditions, but in bad weather, the skin could fail. This happened once on a test flight, which prompted the replacement of 90% of the skin and the remaining 10% strengthened with patches. They didn't have time to replace all of the skin, and they didn't have time to make the full test flight that would have proven the remaining 10% wasn't adequately strengthened, because of Thomson's schedule and a faulty engine that ended their one test flight early. There was also a simplification about the reason for adding the extra gas bag section. It could fly just fine before and made quite a few local test flights, It was the extra weight of fuel and passengers for a trip to India that would be the issue. With weight reduction and a small crew it could even make India, but not as a commercial or passenger flight without the added lift. The final correction is that while the gas bags did fail, it was the outer skin that split and caused the crash. The gas bags were not made to stand up to the weather and strong winds outside of the ship's skin, so when the outer skin split, the ship went down. I wish I could also expand on just how many other terrible decisions were made, from drunk officers to overruled inspectors, to sleep deprived and overworked officers, but I need some sleep. I'd recommend the book I mentioned. The audiobook is on RU-vid for free.
Not sure if you've heard it or not, but Iron Maiden did a song about this very topic: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Vz9PiEXsCT8.html I'm kinda interested in your opinion of the song.
@@DrakoCrowley I knew about the song, but this is the first time I've actually listened to it. Thank you. They got all the technical details correct, but what I think is more impressive is that they got the feeling of the loss of the British imperial future as well. The R101 crash was not just the death of 48 individuals, but also of a British dream of a global empire unified by airship. The "Empire of the Clouds."
Undoubtedly one of my favorite RU-vid channels ever, if not the best. Thank you so much for putting together these episodes with such class and dignity that only you could do. God bless you.
Absolutely incredible work. I had never heard of this story and I’m very thankful that you have brought it to light with this video. Truly fascinating!
I love your channel! Thank you so much for the time, detail and accuracy you put into these beautifully produced accounts of history! I’d love to hear you do the story of the Piper Alpha disaster…? Keep up the great work, Annie 👍😊
ONE: It's my birthday TWO: reminds me of the Challenger Explosion in 1986--evidently, Reagan wanted it to lift off despite warnings because he was due to give the State of the Union later that day... Hubris...
@@drumdad54sdl47 They did, several engineers warned them not to launch because the cold temps would cause a failure but due to public/ media/ government pressure and general group think the launch went ahead. It does have parallels with the R101 story. Challenger is a disaster that I find particularly interesting and sad because it had so much attention and media spotlights on it due to it having the first civilian ever to go into space. Fascinating horror should definitely cover it.
I live in Kentucky and we get quite a few blimps during the Derby week festivities (theyre used to advertise mostly, along with small planes with banners) and I always love seeing them. It is cool to imagine a world where these became the mode for air travel as opposed to the planes we have instead. At least we still get to enjoy them on occasion and they weren’t completely done away with
As a youth, I read Nevil Shute's book on his experience with the design, construction and operation of R-100 and I recall he devoted at least twenty pages to criticism of R-101. These amounted to R-101 was overweight, due to needless devices such as the servo control for the rudder and elevator and R-101 was leaky. In fact, the risk arises not from these design shortcomings or the hydrogen, but from the enormous surface area of the hull. This makes the craft susceptible to random air currents perpendicular to the hull axis, if it is an updraft, the ship may ascend to great heights and possibly burst, like USS Shenandoah, or if a downdraft, "auger in" like R-101, USS Akron, USS Macon and Airlander-II. This fault can't be remediated, so the rigid airship concept was abandoned.
The powerplants for the R-101 were five eight-cylinder Beardmore "Tornado" diesels (essentially coupling two four-cylinder Beardmore railcar engines together, and thus very heavy), whereas the R-100 used three Rolls Royce "Condor" engines (gasoline, and much lighter)
@@craigmclean8260 I had forgotten this. Shute mentioned the belief among those heading the airship programme that petrol was subject to spontaneous combustion in hot climates, hence the choice of Diesel engines for the India-bound ship. There must have been better motors available: Luftschiff Hindenburg did not seem weighed down by the four Daimler-Benz Diesel engines, also the superior efficiency of Diesel engines may compensate for more massive engines with reduced fuel load.
That was the most classy and proper and compassionate way you could’ve made that statement: “many of them knew that they were possibly in danger, but felt it was their duty to board the aircraft.” I’m paraphrasing, of course. Basically, that’s what you were saying, and you put in very good words. Excellent, excellent job. But then all of your stories are done very well.. keep up the good work
I think this is the first time Ive heard the term "skyliner" used anywhere. I have used that word to refer to passenger airships for quite some time and always wondered why it diddnt catch on.
I remember my late father telling me about how he saw the R101 fly over London. I also visited Cardington a few years ago and the two massive sheds where the two airships were built are still there. One of them is now used as a sound stage for film making. I think parts of Inception and various Batman films were made there.
Ditto, my late mother. She would have been about 6 years old at the time and lived in Eltham (SE London). I can't match the other points in your post, though.
Great video as always! The hangars, surprisingly, still exist. One is leased by Warner Bros studios who have filmed, amongst other things the more recent Batman films there. (It was odd driving past and seeing crushed cars for Gotham PD!) The other is used by Hybrid Air Vehicles - who have actually built new airships. (Known as the Airlander series.) Unfortunately Airlander 10 collapsed back in November 2017, but local whispers suggests they are still working on a new model...
In a way, this parallels the Apollo 1 Disaster where three astronauts died in a training session because the capsule was put in a 100% oxygen environment for the simulation and a frayed wire created a spark. Then the government blame game began. The entire project was almost scrubbed.
If you're ever visiting England you can travel to Bedford where they have 2 Airship Hangars still being used sometimes with a small more modern airship out on the tarmac. The same hangars were used to film scenes in Batman Begins I believe.
Strictly seen those are no blimps anymore. Goodyear is using in the USA semi-rigid Zeppelin NTs since 2014. Technically something between a blimp and a full-rigid airship like the R101.
I recently finished a Maps list with the locations of memorials from accidents brought up on this channel. Although far away, I don't want to miss a chance to pay a minute of thought for those who died, should I happen to be in the vicinity. Following this channel for a while has highlighted how often tragedies have occured that I had no knowledge on whatsoever.
I went into the hangers at Cardington, they are enormous!!! One was used for fire tests on buildings and they had built a full three storey office block (not a model, full size), it looked like something a kid had built with lego in his house. Well worth going to see if you're near there. Also read Neveille Shutes's book, he worked on the R100, it's fascinating and the R100 worked well. I've also gone by the ridge where the R101 crashed while visiting WW1 battlefields.
it's tragically funny how we look back and think now that "why the hell would people travel on a massive balloon of flammable hydrogen" but I guarantee future humans will look back at us now and wonder how the f we would self-pilot tin cans going 100 mph on crowded roads together relying solely on your own and other people's driving skill not to get yourself killed. or sell high fat and salt products freely in stores and restaurants. or travel by planes filled with kerosine. and so on
You know, looking at it now, the idea of riding a giant metallic balloon with the only thing keeping you from plummeting in a fiery ball of metal was a thin fabric was just really doomed from the start. I’m just surprised so many people thought it was a good idea. A bird running into the balloon or a passenger not listening to the no open flames sign would’ve been enough to send the whole thing down.
I appreciate the research you do for these videos. Your videos are entertaining but also educational as I had never heard of a lot of these disasters before.
