Akron Construction Diary - Volume I

The construction diaries produced by the Goodyear-Zeppelin Corporation are highly-detailed reference works, allowing for a day-by-day understanding of the creation of their most famous ships. This document, covering the construction of the airship USS "Akron" from May 1929, with the hiring of the project leadership, to October 1931 and the departure of the ship for its operational home at Naval Air Station Lakehurst, New Jersey, includes an enormous amount of detail, aspects of the design of the ship not discussed elsewhere, and dozens of letters, memoranda, and test reports on topics ranging from the extensive engine test program conducted onsite at Goodyear-Zeppelin's Akron works, to discussions of procedures for doping the ship's hull and documentation of incidents over the course of construction. In addition, this transcribed edition includes over 200 photographs of the ship's construction, testing, interiors, and fittings, many not previously published, from several archives, spread over two volumes, allowing for a visual guide to the assembly of the United States's first purpose-built flying aircraft carrier.