The "Roma" Disaster

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The “box rudder” of the Roma apparently caught on the high tension wires it was trying to overfly, causing the ship to explode and burn. Note the American flag flying from the stern

The high-voltage jolt from the power lines turned the Roma into a fireball instantly. Only the keel remained

In 1920, the U.S. Army decided to begin an airship program and purchased the Roma (never the U.S.S. Roma) from Italy.

The Roma was 410 feet long and 82 feet in diameter. It held 1.2 million cubic feet of gas and could lift 42,000 pounds.

The Roma, a hydrogen-filled semirigid (keeled) dirigible, made a number of successful test flights. On February 21, 1922, the Roma was lifting off when it suffered a possible rudder failure or pilot error, leaving the tail fins much lower than the nose. Although the main body of the airship cleared a series of high-tension wires near its home airfield, the lower tail fin came in contact with them, and the jolt of electricity through the hydrogen turned the ship into a fireball. Of its crew of 45, 34 were killed outright, 8 were severely injured, and only three men remained unharmed.

The loss of the Roma immediately put an end to the Army's airship program. After the disaster the United States would use only helium as a lifting gas in its airships.