May 6, 1937… On this date in New Jersey history, the German airship Hindenburg exploded as it attempted to dock at the Naval Air Station in Lakehurst, New Jersey. The fiery tragedy resulted in thirty six deaths and marked the end of the airship era due to shattered public confidence. Although the Hindenberg tragedy is the most famous airship disaster, it was not the worst. Coincidentally, another airship disaster with a New Jersey connection holds that place in history – 73 crewmen and passengers perished when the helium-filled US Navy scout airship USS Akron was destroyed in a thunderstorm off the New Jersey coast four years earlier.

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