USS Shenandoah (ZR-1)

The US Navy's first rigid airship was also the first to fly on nonflammable helium, from its maiden flight in September 1923. That made it a turning point for airship safety, since a helium ship could not burn the way hydrogen ships did. Helium could not protect it from the weather. On September 3, 1925, Shenandoah broke apart in a storm over Noble County, Ohio, and came down in three sections. Fourteen of the 45 men aboard died, including its commander, Zachary Lansdowne, while the crew in the stern section survived.