The airship Shenandoah, image from the NHS Collections
MetLife and Goodyear blimps have been seen hovering over Newport sporting events and concerts for years. The use of manned rigid airships goes back to Naval experiments conducted in Narragansett Bay and elsewhere. In 1923 the airship Shenandoah (ZR-1) successfully moored on a tower erected on top of the USS Patoka at Newport, enabling airships to dock on vessels at sea. The airship Los Angeles was also moored in the bay in 1930. These local airships measured 680 feet in length and did not last very long because of weather and exploding hydrogen. By comparison, the Zeppelin Hindenberg measured 803 feet and was the largest aircraft ever built until its tragic landing at Lakehurst, NJ in 1937.