------------------- The following old newspaper article is extracted from the Wicomico Weekly News, May 13, 1937, published in Salisbury, Maryland. It is copied exactly as written. Some errors are obvious. ------------------- ZEP CRASH KILLS 36 AT LAKEHURST 20 Passengers, 44 of Crew Survive As Hindenburg Explodes Thirty-six persons were killed and many injured as a series of explosions shattered and burned the German dirigible air liner Hindenburg when she attempted to moor at Lakehurst, N. J., at the end of her first trans-Atlantic crossing of the season. The catastrophe began with an explosion of the highly inflammable hydrogen gas with which the ship was filled, in one of the rear gas cells. There were 97 on board. Forty-four of the crew of 61 escaped with their lives and 20 of the 36 passengers survived. One member of the ground crew died of injuries received as he was trying to aid in bringing the great silver liner to earth. The morning after the disaster, smoke was still curling from the mangled skeleton of what had once been the world's largest flying vessel. There were still a few bodies unidentified or unaccounted for. In a section of the crew's quarters in the hangar which had hastily been transformed into a morgue, a small group of men and women filed past the charred remains of 26 of the victims in an attempt to identify them. Other detachments of sailors guarded all approaches to the wreck of the airship and all information was refused. Inquiries Under Way Three inquiries into the tragedy were to get under way, Secretary of Commerce Daniel C. Roper was expected to be on hand to take charge of an investigation by the bureau of air commerce. Rear Admiral A. B. Cook, chief of the bureau of aeronautics of the United States navy, arrived to head a separate naval inquiry. Hans Luther, German ambassador to the United STates, few in and immediately went into conference with officials of the American Zeppelin company. All this official activity, however, attracted little notice, for the mind of everyone is still concerned with the horror of the tragedy and in the ears of those who witnessed it still echo the screams of the victims as men were blown through the heavy glass window of the ship's observation room. What caused the explosion probably never will be known to a certainty. And as to exactly what happened - the beginning and the end of the event were so closely merged together that even here the versions vary. Even Capt. Ernst Lehmann, veteran of ten successful round trips on the ill fated Hindenburg, could only mumble, as he fell into the arms of an American friend; "I don't understand...I don't understand." The following, however, is the story as related by E. W. Kirkpatrick, one of the ground crew who was standing directly beneath the huge silver bag when it burst into flames. Describes Liner's Arrival The Zeppelin was scheduled to have been moored at 6 p.m. There were several hundred persons on the edge of the large landing field waiting to cheer the successful end of her first trip across the Atlantic this year. among them were several holding tickets for the return journey, for after a quick refueling and inspection the Hindenburg was to have started back at midnight. It was first seen over the field at 4:12 p.m. (eastern daylight time) after making its customary cruise over New York. There was some electrical disturbance and a steady rain was falling. The lightning, however, was not considered by those on the ground as sufficient to be dangerous. Nevertheless the Hindenburg circled around the field and disappeared. More than an hour later its engines were again heard, but the ship itself was out of sight because of the rain. It did not appear again until about five minutes after seven, flying low and passing to the northwest. Just at this time, it was explained, there was a shift of the wind from the south-southwest to southeast, which made it necessary for the Zeppelin to come down to the field from the northwest. After maneuvering for 15 minutes it swung low over the field at an altitude of from 150 to 200 feet and at 7:20 the mooring lines were dropped over the side. Two hundred men of the ground crew rushed to grab the lines and start the 100 yard pull to the mooring mast. It was not two minutes later that there came an explosion from the stern of the ship, followed almost instantly by another, and another, forward.\ Almost immediately, several witnesses declared, a blinding sheet of flame enveloped the entire ship. Confused Nightmare So quickly did it happen that the covering was entirely burned off and the bare skeleton of the ship's duraluminum ribs was visible behind the sputtering flame and smoke before it touched the ground. What happened next is just a confused nightmare to those who watched it. Miraculous though it seems, those who were literally blown from the ship can thank the force of the explosion for saving their lives. "I turned and saw the fire leap out. Another explosion came further forward. By that time the whole ship was in flames. It didn't come to the ground with a crash, though. It just seemed to sink down easily, like a floating fire balloon on the Fourth of July. I don't even remember hearing any crash even when it hit, though I suppose there was one." Mrs. Margaret Unger of Maywood, N. J., was one of those waiting to make the return voyage on the Hindenburg. "It was the most horrible thing I ever saw in my life," she said, still white and trembling from her experience. "I wanted to look away but I couldn't. I didn't hear any explosion because I was too far away. But I saw the ship start to sink, and then a huge burst of flames. It seemed to sweep over the airship all at once, and I saw three, maybe more, exploded out of the windows." Ship Out of Control Ames Camp of Lakewood, N. J., another witness, said the ship "appeared to yaw as she dropped her mooring lines. It swung almost a full half circle and seemed to be extremely hard to manage. "Then came the flash and I didn't wait to see any more. I ran toward the ship with the rest of them." Late arrivals among the army of newspaper men, photographers and radio men found the roads blocked with cars and had to race back to Newark and return by plane. Search for bodies of the victims continued by the light of the huge navy field floodlights. Work was later postponed until daylight, partly because the metal embers were still too hot to allow the searchers to make any progress. Speculate on Cause There was much speculation as to what caused the explosion. Naval experts offered a possible explanation that it might have been caused by the grounding lines, causing a spark which ignited "free gas". F. W. Von Meister, vice president of the American Zeppelin company, offered two theories - the first that it had been caused by an electric current induced by static; the second that the gas was set off by sparks from the exhaust when the engine was throttled down for a landing. This he said, seemed plausible, as the ship was valving gas gently as she came on the field, tossing over ballast to reduce her altitude. "Ordinarily," he said, "she would have been expected to be perfectly safe the moment she dropped her lines." Report by Rosendahl Commander Rosendahl forwarded a complete report both to the commandant of the fourth naval district in Philadelphia, his immediate superior, and to headquarters of the Navy department in Washington. His explanation of what happened tallied in the main with that of unofficial witnesses. According to his report, however, it was four minutes after the giant ship had made contact with the ground that the flames burst out. "Four minutes later," he states, "fire broke out aft, working progressively forward. The ship settled to the ground tail first and was completely on fire by the time the ground was reached. The fire burned for several hours and was finally extinguished by chemicals. "Out of 97 on board, 64 escaped alive, including 44 of the crew of 61 and 20 of the 36 passengers. Two of the 20 passengers, however, are seriously injured. Twenty-six bodies have been recovered, of which nine are still unidentified." Survivors Lakehurst, N. J. - Following is a list of survivors of the Hindenburg disaster as announced by the Zeppelin company: PASSENGERS Adelt, Leonard, Berlin. Adelt, Gertrude, Berlin. Clemens, Karl Otto, Bonn. Doehner, Mrs. Mathielde, Mexico City. Doehner, Walter, Mexico City. Doehner, Werner, Mexico City. Ernest, Elsa, Hamburg. Ernst, Otto, Hamburg. Grant, George, Gondon. Hirschfeld, George W., Bremen. Von Hiedenstamm, Rolf, Stockholm. Hinkelbein, Claus, Schwaelich Hall. Kleemann, Maria, Hamburg. Knoecher, Erich, Zuelenroda. Lauchtenberg, William. Mangone, Philip Mather, and Margaret G. Morris, Nelson. Osbun, Clifford. O'Laughlin, Herbert James. Spach, Joseph. Stockle, Emil, Frankfort. Witt, Hans Hugo, Barth. Vinholt, Haines, Copenhagen. MEMBERS OF CREW Balla. Librecht. Bauer, Heinrich. Lenx. Bauer, Kurt. Maier, Xavier. Bentell. Nielsen. Boetius. Nunnenmacher. Bernhard. Pruss, Capt. Max Deed. Ritter. Deutchie. Ruediger, Dr. Doerflein. Sammt. Dowe. Sauter. Fischer. Schaeuble. Franz. Schweikard. Freund. Schaedler. Grossinger. Schoenher. Henneberg. Speck. Herzog. Staab. Klein. Stoeffier. Kollmer. Whitemann. Kubis. abel. Lau. Zegler. Lehmann, Capt. Ernst. Zettel.