The Philip B. Petersen Collection Broadcast April 17, 1991

     It was a stormy and windy night on January 16, 1924, when wind gusts up to 77 miles per hour tore the dirigible Shenandoah loose from its mooring at the Naval Air Station in Lakehurst, New Jersey.  There was only a skeleton crew of about 15 aboard that quickly started the engines and dumped over 4000 pounds of ballast to offset the heavy rains, but this was not enough.  Then they dropped the reserve fuel, the oil, spare generator, spare parts and tools before they could clear the field and disappeared into the stormy night, hoping to ride out the storm in the severely damaged dirigible.  The whole nose area and forward right side was wrecked during the breakaway, leaving a large 50-foot hole.  The tail fins and rudder coverings were also damaged.
     Efforts to make radio contact from Lakehurst were not successful.  In the meantime, Gunner Robertson, the Shenandoah radio operator who earlier had taken the radio set apart making repairs, was frantically putting the set back together again.
     Radio amateur Bob Dobbins, 2BVJ, at that time lived on a farm near Freehold, New Jersey, about 20 miles from Lakehurst, and recalls what happened that night.  "I was upstairs in my radio shack and my mother called me and said, `Radio station WOR in Newark broke into the program with a bulletin that the dirigible Shenandoah was lost in the storm.  The Navy is unable to make radio contact and requested that their radio audience listen for aircraft engines overhead and report it to WOR.'  They also said that WOR is going off the air so as not to interfere in the emergency."  Bob said, "About an hour later WOR came back on the air and announced that several people reported hearing the dirigible in the Newark area."  By this time radio operator Robertson had finally put the radio set together again.  He also heard the WOR report and was surprised to hear that they were over Newark, the home of WOR.
     In this way, both Lakehurst and the Shenandoah determined their location and operator Robertson made radio contact.
     Bob Dobbins said, "I stayed up all night listening to the Naval radio station at Lakehurst on Morse code and WOR."  The worst of the storm was over as the Shenandoah headed for Lakehurst passing over Brooklyn and South Amboy.  Bob said, "I saw it passing over my parent's farm near Freehold.  I could easily see the very large hole at the nose.  The Shenandoah was at about 1000 to 1500 feet overhead and moving very slowly at a crabbing angle of about 30 degrees."
     A little later it landed at Lakehurst and was placed in the giant hanger with all aboard safe after a night that they, and many others, will never forget.

April 17, 1991

** Broadcasts recordings preserved and presented here by Mr. Robert Buss and Mr. Bernie Ricciardi, Phil's friends and fellow Marconi Chapter 138 QCWA members **

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