1919 July 13th. R34

1919 – The British airship R34 lands in Norfolk, England, completing the first airship return journey across the Atlantic in 182 hours of flight. R33-class airship This page has some issues For other meanings, see R33 (disambiguation). R33-class R34 landing at Mineola on 6 July 1919 Role Patrol airship National origin United Kingdom Manufacturer Armstrong Whitworth (R33) Beardmore (R34) First flight 6 March 1919 Primary user Royal Naval Air Service (to 1918) Royal Air Force (1918 onwards) Number built 2 Developed from R31 class airship Developed into R36 The R33 class of British rigid airships were built for the Royal Naval Air Service during the First World War, but were not completed until after the end of hostilities, by which time the RNAS had become part of the Royal Air Force. The lead ship, R33, went on to serve successfully for ten years and survived one of the most alarming and heroic incidents in airship history when she was torn from her mooring mast in a gale. She was called a "Pulham Pig" by the locals, as the blimps based there had been, and is immortalised in the village sign for Pulham St Mary. The only other airship in the class, R34, became the first aircraft to make an east to west crossing of the Atlantic Ocean in July 1919, and was decommissioned two years later after being damaged during a storm. The crew nicknamed her "Tiny". Contents Design and development Operational history R33 R34 Operators Specifications See also Notes Bibliography External