"The 'Graf Zeppelin' has a soul."

XXXIX

"Die Weltpflug" or "Die Weltrundfahrt" began (technically) on August 1, 1929, when the Graf Zeppelin lifted off from Frederichshafen to make an "ordinary" transatlantic crossing. When she arrived at Lakehurst Naval Air Station in New Jersey on August 4th, she was refueled and resupplied and given a last going-over before setting out on the "first leg" of her "American" Around-The-World Flight.

The Graf Zeppelin’s docking rail can clearly be seen in this photograph. If the men holding it were to let go, the whole vast ship would simply have floated away

This first "official" American leg, begun on August 7th, took her back to Germany to begin the first "official" leg of her "German" Around-The-World Flight (the two overlapping flights were a single flight advertised as two for funding purposes).

She arrived back at Frederichshafen on August 10th (having made very good time due to tail winds). She covered 4,392 miles in just 55 hours and 22 minutes.

After a five day layover in Germany, the Graf Zeppelin set out for is next stop, Tokyo, on August 15th. This was a daring and never-before-attempted flight of almost 7,000 miles nonstop. Not only was it long, but the Soviet Union had forbidden the airship to make any intervening stops over its territory. Thus, the Graf Zeppelin had to make it in one hop. To do so, Dr. Eckener (who was captaining) and the navigator had agreed to fly the ship in the far northern latitudes. This meant that though the ship was on a shorter Great Circle route, it was also fated to fly over thousands of miles of virtually unpopulated taiga. If the Graf Zeppelin ran into trouble, rescue or help of any kind, might be weeks away (if it came at all, given the Soviet attitude toward the flight).

The shadow of the Graf Zeppelin over Siberia

Trouble started not long after the Graf Zeppelin passed into Soviet territory, but it was political not technical trouble.

Like other "host" countries, the U.S.S.R. had appointed a Delegate to fly on board the ship. Most of the Delegates were just VIP passengers who used the trip to discuss politics and share diplomatic gossip. The American Delegate, Commander Charles Rosendahl, survivor of the U.S.S. Shenandoah, Commander at Lakehurst N.A.S., and Captain of the U.S.S. Los Angeles, actively stood watches as part of the Graf Zeppelin's crew.

What the role of the Soviet Delegate was is unclear, but as the ship passed over European Russia, he began to insist that the Graf Zeppelin make an unscheduled stop at Moscow. His insistence irritated everyone on board, but Dr. Eckener, always a diplomatist, showed the Russian the ship's pilot charts and other technical information, explaining that a diversion to Moscow would cause the ship to have to buck crosswinds, burn irreplaceable fuel, and not meet its fourteen day flying schedule. 

A view of the ship's underside taken by a crewman in a bosun's chair

None of this impressed the Russian, who commandeered the ship's radio, sending a message to Moscow that the Germans were refusing the Soviet Union a friendly accommodation. A few hours later, a message came back, supposedly from Stalin himself: The Graf Zeppelin was ordered to divert to Moscow regardless of conditions. Fortunately, by the time the message was received, the Graf Zeppelin was crossing the Urals into Asiatic Siberia and could not turn back. Eckener bluntly ignored the order. 

Although the Soviets never mentioned the matter again, this incident marked the first political rift between Germany and the Soviet Union, a rift that would widen into a chasm unmended until the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1992.

 

Once over Siberia the Soviet Delegate became silent and simply enjoyed the voyage. The Graf Zeppelin's engines purred, so quietly that they were drowned out by the clack-clacking of the journalists' typewriters. Much of this leg of the flight was spent gazing out the dining room / lounge windows at the immense and stark beauty of never-before-seen Siberia. The windows were left open all day, cooling the gondola, but were closed at night against the subarctic chill. Dinners included lobster, fancy desserts and a selection of the best wines and champagne. The ship had a wind-up victrola and a stack of 78 rpm records for entertainment, and most evenings the Executive Officer, Ernst Lehmann played beer-barrel tunes on his accordian to the happy clanking of steins. 

Dr. Eckener was a brilliant marketer, especially for his time. This German board game allowed children to participate vicariously in the Graf Zeppelin's globetrotting adventures

"Most airships are conglomerations of metal, wire, and canvas," enthused Lady Drummond-Hay, the only female journalist on board, "but the Graf Zeppelin has a soul."

 

If she did have a soul it was a kindly one for certain. As a rule, the ship sailed low, often at less than 1,000 feet. To fly too high meant that the Graf Zeppelin might have to valve its precious lifting gas. Thus, the next part of the voyage tested the skill of the crew in all respects.

After crossing the mighty Lena River, the Graf Zeppelin found itself truly in uncharted territory. The Stanovoy Mountains were known by name, but it was anybody's guess how high they were. Dr. Eckener found himself threading his way through uncharted mountain passes and dealing with unexpected atmospheric and weather conditions. 

The mysterious Stanovoy Mountains. The Graf Zeppelin flew through the passes of this convoluted mountain range essentially by the seat of the pants

At one point, the Graf Zeppelin was near her "gas ceiling" of 7,000 feet when a valley opened beneath her, saving precious hydrogen. Somewhat miraculously, the Graf Zeppelin found its way safely through the Stanovoy Range without flying into a fog-shrouded peak.

Once through the Stanovoys, the ship found the long Soviet Island of Sakhalin, and wended its way south over Japanese Hokkaido and Honshu, where she made her second (or third) landfall of the trip at Tokyo on August 19, 1929, just 101 hours and 49 minutes after leaving Germany. The first half of the "Worldflight" was over.

A piece of Weltfahrt mail. The actual cost of a Lakehurst-to-Lakehurst letter would be $45.00 in U.S. dollars today