Destination: Tokyo

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When the Graf Zeppelin arrived in Tokyo on August 19, 1929, it's said that anywhere from a quarter million to a million-and-a-quarter Japanese turned out to see her. Although the Japanese had an airship program of their own it was strictly military and limited to small semi-rigid and non-rigid craft (blimps). Certainly, no one living in Japan had ever seen anything like the 800 foot silver zeppelin, and the Japanese reacted just as people had everywhere else --- with dropped jaws.

 

Two photographs of the Graf Zeppelin arriving in Tokyo

 

Emperor Hirohito invited Dr. Eckener and his officers to tea in an extraordinary gesture of familiarity.

 

The Graf Zeppelin needed repairs when it reached Tokyo. Dr. Eckener used the time to give curious Japanese the opportunity to tour the ship. This is an excellent exterior shot of the Bridge. Veedol was the name of the American-made lubricating oil used aboard ship

 

As it turned out, the Japanese had a fairly long time to view the Graf Zeppelin. One of her engine gondola struts was damaged and needed to be replaced and some minor repairs needed to be made to the hull. Fortunately, the extra funds Dr. Eckener had raised had allowed him to dispatch technical teams to the ship's planned layover points with spare parts. She left Tokyo after four days, on August 23, 1929, and headed out over the Pacific. Her next scheduled stop was Los Angeles, 5,998 miles away.

A hair-raising in-flight repair to a massive tear in the envelope in 1928 was the equivalent of any sailor’s time spent “skipping at the top.”  Death was a freak gust or a bad step away. One of the men working on the hull is Knut Eckener, Dr. Hugo Eckener’s son

Her trans-Pacific crossing turned out to be the first and only airship crossing of the Pacific Ocean, and the crew soon discovered that the Pacific Ocean (or, as they called it, the "Grosser Ozean" or "Great Ocean") truly was pacific. The ship maintained a steady flight plan along the 45th Parallel, and the weather was spectacular. Of course, the big airship was in touch with oceangoing vessels and receiving meteorological reports regularly, allowing the ship to dodge local disturbances, but there were no particular incidents of note on this leg of the voyage. As the Graf Zeppelin neared the western coast of North America she drifted southeastward. Dr. Eckener, with his usual showman's flair, had a pleasant surprise planned.

The arrival of the Graf Zeppelin in Tokyo is depicted on a traditional Japanese art scroll