The following map and list identify the land-based mooring mast locations for historic airships, including the Zeppelins, between the end of World War I and the beginning of World War II. Three nations were the primary developers of regular airship service for civilian and peacetime military purposes – Germany, Great Britain, and the United States.
Mooring masts were seen as an economical and efficient way to “park” airships for short-term periods versus fully docking them in/at a hangar facility. Many fixed masts allowed the potential for passenger embarking/disembarking, refueling, and resupply during the heyday of airship transportation. Later masts were made shorter, mobile, and adjustable in height, which allowed access via the gondola to/from the ground.
Mooring masts ranged from 60 feet to 210 feet in height. The only privately financed and constructed mooring mast in the world was built by Henry Ford at Ford Airport in Dearborn, Michigan. Sadly, it, along with all of other mooring masts were torn down or disassembled, except for the last remaining one in Recife, Brazil. It is also quite surprising the Ford mooring mast was not preserved given Mr. Ford’s historic preservation efforts of other structures displayed at Greenfield Village.
The “Golden Age” of peacetime airship travel was abruptly halted with the Hindenburg Disaster on May 6, 1937, and came to a complete end with the advent of World War II.
Photographs and pertinent information are included with as many mooring masts as could be located on the internet. As always, additions, corrections, or suggestions to this post are welcome. Peace!
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Bartolomeu de Gusmão Airport Zeppelin Mobile Mooring Mast (1936-?), Rio de Janeiro Brazil – Zeepelin’s were previously served by Campo dos Afonsos in Rio de Janeiro from 1931-1936.
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Berlin Zeppelin Mooring Mast (dates unknown), Germany
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Ewa Mooring Mast Field (1925-1940) – Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
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Ford Motor Company Airport Mooring Mast (1925-1946) – Dearborn, Michigan = 210 feet
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Fort Lewis/Gray Army Airfield Mooring Mast (1923-1936), Washington = 160 feet
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Fort Worth, Texas Helium Plant Mooring Mast (1924-1929) = 160 feet
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France Field Stub Mooring Mast (1928-?) – Colon, Panama Canal Zone = 60 feet
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Frankfurt Rhein-Main Flughafen Zeppelin Mobile Mooring Mast (dates unknown), Germany
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Goodyear-Zeppelin Mobile Mooring Mast (1930s) – Akron, Ohio
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Guantanamo Stub Mooring Mast (1931-?) – Guantanamo Bay, Cuba = 60 feet
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Ismailia, Egypt Mooring Mast (1926-1939) – Cardington design mooring mast = 200 feet
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Karachi, Pakistan Mooring Mast (1927-1959) – Cardington design mooring mast = 200 feet
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Lakehurst Naval Air Station Wellman Mobile Mooring Mast (1935-?), New Jersey = 75-160 feet
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Lakehurst Naval Air Station Fixed Mooring Mast (1924-1935), New Jersey = 160 feet
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Lowenthal Zeppelin Mobile Mooring Mast (dates unknown), Germany
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Mines Field Mooring Mast (dates unknown) – Los Angeles, California
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Moffet Field Naval Air Field Wellman Mobile Mooring Mast (1930s) – San Jose, California = 80 feet
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Naval Air Station Mooring Mast (1933-1946) – Opa-Locka, Florida = 75 feet
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North Island Naval Air Station Mooring Mast (1923-?) – San Diego, California = 160 feet
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Parris Island Marine Base Mooring Mast (1930-?), South Carolina = 60 feet
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Royal Airship Works Mooring Mast (1926-1943) – Cardington, England = 200 feet
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Royal Airship Station Mooring Mast (1916-1930) – Pulham St. Mary, England – Vickers prototype mast = 120 feet
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Scott Air Force Base Mooring Mast (1927-1937) – Belleville, Illinois ~ 150 feet
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St. Hubert Airport (1927-1938) – Montreal, Quebec – Cardington design mooring mast = 208 feet
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Zeppelin Fixed Mooring Mast (1939-present) – Recife, Brazil = 64 feet – replaced a previous mast (1936-1939) = 54 feet
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SOURCES:
- https://www.thehenryford.org/collections-and-research/digital-collections/artifact/97997
- http://zrsthemovie.com/?page_id=921
- https://www.airshipsonline.com/airships/r100/images/R00mont.jpg
- https://old.skyscraper.org/EXHIBITIONS/TEN_TOPS/esbmooringmast.php
- https://www.wbez.org/stories/zeppelin-poseurs-why-chicagos-airship-dreams-never-took-off/6bc1ecca-8e29-45c6-a8ed-1e5d58d38a3c
- https://welweb.org/ThenandNow/BuildingLandings.html
- https://www.airships.net/blog/alabama-pretends-dirigible-tower-hotel-didnt/
- https://www.milwaukeeindependent.com/syndicated/milwaukee-notebook-citys-airship-port/
- https://www.newson6.com/story/5e3623a22f69d76f620472c7/throwback-thursday:-the-legend-of-tulsas-airship-mooring-mast
- https://maduko.com/blog/2015/12/14/tulsas-airship-terminal/
- https://calisphere.org/item/ark:/13030/kt6d5nc6sv/
- https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/npswapa/extContent/usmc/pcn-190-003116-00/sec2.htm
- http://www.luckyshow.org/football/LakehurstNAS.htm
- http://blog.airshipventures.com/2011/01/mooring-mast-in-brazil.html
- https://www.canalzoners.co.uk/Incidents/Airship%20Base%20-%20Ismailia.htm
- https://www.airshipsonline.com/sheds/Mast_Technical.htm
- http://arifhasan.org/images-gallery/historical-images-karachi-i
- https://www.airships.net/blog/zeppelin-mast-recife-brazil-pernambuco/
- https://www.wondersofworldaviation.com/mobile/mooring_airships.html
- https://aiaa-sf.org/75th-anniversary-history-of-nasa-ames-research-center-part-2-architectual-history-of-moffett-field-and-the-age-of-the-aircraft-carrying-airships/
- https://i.pinimg.com/originals/da/e1/0a/dae10a3d4bd3d9d535502cf1a7100130.jpg
- https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-norfolk-17644795
- https://www.nationaltransporttrust.org.uk/heritage-sites/heritage-detail/pulham-st-mary-airship-station
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RNAS_Pulham
- https://www.scott.af.mil/News/Photos/igphoto/2000145227/
- https://www.scottafbhousing.com/history
- https://welweb.org/ThenandNow/LZ-127.html
- https://skiesmag.com/news/remembering-r-100-visit-canada/
- http://zrsthemovie.com/?page_id=3429
- http://zrsthemovie.com/?page_id=921
- https://www.navsource.org/archives/02/99/029901.htm
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coast_Guard_Air_Station_Miami
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marine_Corps_Air_Station_Ewa
- https://www.theclio.com/entry/100560
- https://www.historylink.org/File/8623
- https://www.thehenryford.org/collections-and-research/digital-collections/artifact/97997
- https://www.thehenryford.org/collections-and-research/digital-collections/artifact/428142
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Airport_(Dearborn)
- https://www.thehenryford.org/collections-and-research/digital-collections/artifact/106152/
- https://www.airshipsonline.com/sheds/Egypt.htm
- https://pakistaniat.com/2010/12/08/the-airship-hangar-in-pakistan/
- http://historickarachi.weebly.com/1920s-and-30s.html
- https://www.historynet.com/fords-forgotten-aviation-legacy/
- https://www.nlhs.com/nas-lakehurst-high-mast-site/
- https://www.jstor.org/stable/24721695?read-now=1&oauth_data=eyJlbWFpbCI6InJpY2tiYmlraW5nQGdtYWlsLmNvbSIsImluc3RpdHV0aW9uSWRzIjpbXSwicHJvdmlkZXIiOiJnb29nbGUifQ#page_scan_tab_contents
- https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/10321330.pdf
- http://projektlz129.blogspot.com/2013/10/sechs-manner-nach-vorne.html
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LZ_130_Graf_Zeppelin_II
- https://clevelandhistorical.org/items/show/281
- https://www.historylink.org/File/8623
- https://www.panam.org/explorations/340-betty-trippe-s-hindenburg-photos-2
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeppelin_Tower
- pinterest.com
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bartolomeu_de_Gusmão_Airport
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