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The Hindenburg Explosion: An Act of Sabotage?
From: Columbia University
| By:
Kenneth Leish |
EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION |
In 1932, the German dirigible  Hindenburg (right), the largest rigid airship ever constructed, inaugurated commercial air service across the North Atlantic. Max Pruss, a German pilot and the captain of the famed airship, tells how the Hindenburg carried as many as 50 passengers in first-class style and was considered relatively safe--at least until May 6, 1937, when the airship burst into flames and was completely destroyed. In this excerpt of a 1960 interview conducted by Kenneth Leish on behalf of Columbia's Oral History Research Office, Pruss describes early dirigible use and the tragic Hindenburg explosion, which Pruss believes was caused by an anti-Nazi act of sabotage. |
Question: When was the first time that you went up in the air in anything--a plane or a dirigible? |
Max Pruss describes early airship use and details his first-hand account of the 1937 Hindenburg explosion. |
Max Pruss: The first time was before 1914, before the First World War. That was in a zeppelin called LZ. This belonged to the German Navy. |
Pruss: Yes, I was in the Navy. |
Q: And how did you happen to go up in a zeppelin? |
Pruss: It was a new thing. I was very interested in the airship, so I wanted to fly it. And the next was a blimp, Parseval, which was a blimp here in Germany. I was there about three months and then I went back to the zeppelins. During the war [World War I], I was in the zeppelins. |
Q: Now, during the war, did you participate in any raids? |
Pruss: Yes, yes, many raids to England, and then for the fleet I did reconnaissance flights. |
Q: Can you tell me about one or two of the bombing missions over England? How did they work? How were the bombs dropped? Was there artillery against you? |
Pruss: That's very difficult. I do not like war. And it's better we talk of the later flights. |
Q: But, for history, sir--nobody likes war, but it happened, and it's part of the development of the zeppelin. |
Pruss: Yes, it is. The first zeppelins were about 20,000 cubic meters. That means about 600 cubic feet, and the last zeppelins were about 70,000 cubic meters, which is about 2 million cubic feet. |
Q: How were the bombs dropped from the zeppelins during the First World War? |
Pruss: They were inside the ship and then in the control car--we had the bombs in a cabin. And in the cabin there was a commander, and the commander pushed the buttons and the bombs fell on England. |
Q: Zeppelins were also used for observation? |
Pruss: For observation and for rides to England. |
Q: They were also used for minesweeping, were they not? |
Pruss: Yes, because you can see from a height of about 150 meters very deep into the sea, and so you can see the mines and can tell a destroyer where they are. |
Q: Was it not felt though that zeppelins were not very good for war, because it was very expensive and also many were lost? |
Pruss: Not expensive, but zeppelins were, at that time, very good for the Navy, because we had no airplanes at that time. In 1914 and '15 we had no planes, and the planes could go to a height of 2,000 or 3,000 meters, and their radius was about one or two hours, no more. A zeppelin can stay for days in the air. You see, the zeppelin can stay in the air without speed and can look for everything. That's better than a plane. The flying range of an airship is also much longer than that of an airplane. |
Q: After the war, there was a period when you could not build zeppelins here [in Germany]--is that right? |
Pruss: Just after the war, we had one ship--we called it the Bodensee. That was a small ship, and with that ship we made flights from Friedrichshafen to Berlin to Stockholm, and that ship was every day in flight. And the other new ship--the name was Nordstern--we had to give one to France and one to Italy. Then it was forbidden to us to build airships. |
Pruss: No, until 1923. Because America was interested in airships, the Americans demanded an airship as reparations payment for America. But since Germany had no airships after the war, or after '23, Germany paid 2 million marks instead of giving a zeppelin. The Allies ordered that the ship shouldn't be larger than the types built during the war, and that ship we brought in 1924 to the States, to Lakehurst. |
Q: Was that the first time you had gone across the Atlantic? |
Pruss: Yes, that was the first time. That was the 12th of October, which was the start from Friedrichshafen to the States. |
Q: Were you the captain of that ship? |
Pruss: No, no. On that trip I was the officer in charge of the elevators. |
Q: How many passengers could that ship hold? |
Pruss: No passengers. It was built for the Navy and we had only four Navy officers from the States, and one from the Army on board, and the crew of the zeppelin. And after Lakehurst, after we brought the ship over, I stayed there four months to train American Navy men. One flight was to Washington, and we christened the ship from CR-3 to Los Angeles--Mrs. Coolidge christened the ship. And that ship, Los Angeles, existed from 1924 to 1939 in the States. It was a very good ship. |
Q: Did you know Dr. [Hugo] Eckener? |
Q: Did he discuss with you his plans for the Graf Zeppelin? |
Q: What was there about the Graf Zeppelin that was new and better? |
Pruss: It was bigger. The Los Angeles has 70,000 cubic meters and the Graf Zeppelin was 100,000 cubic meters. It also had better performance. |
Q: Did you ever fly in the Graf Zeppelin? |
Pruss: On every flight until 1936, when the airship Hindenburg was ready. |
Q: So you went around the world? |
Pruss: Yes, that was in 1929 with the Graf Zeppelin, and on other flights, too, to the Arctic and to South America. |
Q: Do you remember any times when you were flying in the Graf Zeppelin when you got into storms or bad weather or trouble? |
Pruss: Trouble, no, but bad weather we had every time. The flights to South America were 10,000 kilometers, or to Tokyo 11,000 kilometers. There you would not have every time good weather. You have storms, too. |
Q: How did the ship react in a bad storm? |
Pruss: Very well, very well. It never vibrated. We had one storm between Greenland and Alaska. Then we had a 200 kilometers storm--that means 60 meters per second, or hurricane force--but we could take the best side of the storm. Our speed was then over 300 kilometers. |
Q: And it was very comfortable for the passengers, too? |
Pruss: Yes, it was very comfortable. We had for every passenger a cabin, and hot and cold water, and heating and air conditioning, and a dining room and promenades you could walk on, as well as a lounge. |
Q: Do you remember how much a passenger had to pay to fly from Frankfurt to Brazil? |
Pruss: There were 72 passengers, and to Rio de Janeiro they would have to pay 1,500 marks. It was about 20 percent less for a round trip. |
Q: And there was never any trouble of any kind? |
Pruss: No, no, never. The first trouble was at Lakehurst in 1937. From 1910 until 1937, no passengers were hurt--were in accidents. That was the first time, at Lakehurst, that zeppelin passengers were hurt. |
Q: And they were very popular with passengers? |
Pruss: Yes, yes. You see, after the Hindenburg disaster, we had 400 people who wanted to fly as passengers--they had paid for the trip. And in 1940 we gave them back their money. They didn't want the money; they wanted to fly in a new ship. |
Q: The Hindenburg was built in 1936? |
Pruss: No, before. Yes, it was ready in 1936, in the spring. |
Q: Would you describe it for me, tell me about the Hindenburg? It had four diesels ... |
Pruss: Yes, four diesels with 1,200 horsepower each. Diesel and helium--that is the safest thing for air. It's safe. |
Q: Because the diesel does not burn, and neither does helium? |
Q: How fast could the Hindenburg go? |
Q: And it held how many passengers? |
Pruss: Seventy-two. They had not only passengers but freight and mail and everything. We had a car on board, we had airplanes on board, and many passengers took trips from Europe to the States. |
Q: How long did it take from New York to Frankfurt? |
Pruss: From New York to Frankfurt, the shortest flight on the Hindenburg was 47 hours and the longest was 71. From east to west it takes longer. |
Q: Cooking was by electricity? |
Pruss: Yes, we had four cooks on board. One cook was a pastry chef. The passengers had every day, for breakfast, cake and bread. All the food was fresh. All the meat and vegetables were fresh, |
Q: Could you telephone from the ship? |
Pruss: Yes. The first time was in 1928; we made telephone calls to stations here in Europe and later to America. We had a very good concert from the mid-Atlantic to the States. All radio stations had frequency control. It was very good to all stations. |
We had on board a concert piano, a grand piano, and then we had on a flight a pianist--Professor Wagner--and the wife of Sir Hubert Wilkins was a singer. And we held a very good concert for all stations in America. It was very smooth on board, no noise, and it was a very good concert. |
Q: Now, there were precautions taken against fire, of course. No matches were allowed, is that right? |
Pruss: On the Hindenburg, we had a smoking room, a very good smoking room. It was fireproofed; the walls were made of leather. It was a very good smoking room and we had a very good bar; they could have a drink there, wine and all kinds of drinks. |
Q: To take care against fire, was it true that the crew could not have any metal buttons or no metal on their clothing that might make sparks? |
Q: I also read that the walks had rubber on the floor. |
Pruss: No, that was wooden. |
Q: One reads much that is not true. Anyway, it made many successful trips back and forth to the United States. Was it 63 good trips? |
Pruss: Now, to the United States it's so. I crossed the ocean 161 times, overall. In the Hindenburg in 1936 I made 10 round trips to the States and back, seven to South America, and in 1937 one round trip to South America and then only one trip to Lakehurst and then there was the disaster. |
Q: The commander of the Hindenburg before was who? |
Pruss: Was Lehmann, and then I took the command. I was the commander of the Hindenburg. |
Q: On all those trips in the Hindenburg, you had no trouble of any kind? |
Q: What were the things that you had to be very careful about as captain of the ship, before the disaster? I mean, not the last time. |
Pruss: Nothing to worry about. |
Q: Then it was a perfect ship. |
Q: So, on the last flight, when did you feel that there was something wrong? |
Pruss: As soon as the fire broke out. |
Q: But didn't you send a telegram, didn't you radio to Rosendahl and say that you just didn't like the looks of the clouds? |
Pruss: Yes, yes, yes. It was so. The trip through thunderstorms--it was on a canal here, and later we had bad weather and at about two o'clock we were over New York and made a few circles and then went on to Lakehurst. Then we saw a big thunderstorm over New Jersey and knew we couldn't land, and thought it better to go back to the sea. We went along the coast to Atlantic City and back, but the thunderstorm was over New Jersey, and we waited for the storm to blow over to the ocean. |
Then we were under the thunderstorm going to Lakehurst. The thunderstorm was drifting away,and our time to land was five o'clock. It was impossible, because the thunderstorm was still over New Jersey. And at about seven o'clock in the afternoon we received a telegram from Rosendahl that we could land. And we went into a landing, and during the landing, as the ropes were down, the explosion occurred. |
Q: What part of the ship were you in? |
Pruss: I was in the control car. The explosion was under the cells of gasbags 3 and 4--that is in the aft. |
Q: And the first thing you heard was a big noise? |
Pruss: I heard a big noise and then I saw the flames. The flames were going through the whole ship and then forwards to the bow. |
Q: Before this happened, the passengers were all lined up waiting for customs? |
Pruss: Yes, they were ready. They had their baggage with them. |
Q: You were about 75 feet above the ground? |
Pruss: More. About 150 feet. |
Q: What did you think you could do? |
Pruss: My first idea when the explosion came was that the ropes had broken, and then I saw the flames and saw what it was. |
Q: The stern fell and the bow shot up, is that right? |
Pruss: Yes, because the gas was burning aft. |
Q: And people started to jump out? |
Pruss: Yes. Most people were waiting to see if the ship was down and then she was going up. And other people and the crew were in the bow and they were burned and fell down. Others were going back into the ship--why, I don't know. One missed his wife and went back and so was blown up. |
Pruss: No, I was in the control car. |
Pruss: I could do nothing but turn off the engines. And if the bow--the control car is coming down to the earth, the others in the crew went out and we had under the control car a buffer--an air cushion--and the ship was therefore at about a height of two meters. It bounced, and when the ship came down at other times I jumped out; on the second time it came down, I jumped out. And that was very bad, because on the second time the framework and all things came down and I was under the burning cells and framework. |
Q: You jumped out after it hit the ground, went up and came down again, and then it came down on top of you--that is, all the burning stuff came down? |
Q: And you were badly burned and you were taken to a hospital. |
Pruss: First to a hospital at Lakewood and then my friend, William Leeds, a multimillionaire, and others, said I must go to New York. And during the night they brought me to New York. It was very difficult because the roads were full of cars, and then they brought me to the medical center. |
Q: How long were you in the hospital in the United States? |
Pruss: About four months. |
Q: What do you think happened? |
Pruss: That's very difficult to say, you know. The commission--American and German Commission--said it's 50-50. It may be sabotage; it may be electricity, lightning, nobody knows. |
Q: Nobody knows. And you don't have any idea. |
Q: What do you, yourself, think? |
Pruss: You see, we had on every flight to South America lightning and thunderstorms. About 4 degrees north and to the equator they have thunderstorms all the time, and we were going with a ship right through the thunderstorms and never was there trouble. |
During the First World War, we had lightning hitting inside the ship. At the bow you have a little hole through which lightning went, and then through the framework and then the radio and antenna was blown up. This happened at Lakehurst twice--we had big thunderstorms before the start. The passengers that were coming in airplanes had to come in buses because flying was forbidden, and we were waiting outside the ship, because we were not thinking that the next lightning would go in the ship. And when the passengers were there, then we went inside and went through the thunderstorm toward the sea. |
Q: So you don't think it was lightning that did it? |
Q: Then you think it was sabotage? I mean, it's interesting to know what you think. |
Pruss: I think it was sabotage. If the sabotage was from the inside or otherwise, it's very difficult to say. I think Admiral Rosendahl is writing a book and said he would bring new evidence and write it in the book. And his meaning was, from the first time in his radio speech, only that it was from sabotage. |
Q: He thinks it is sabotage? |
Q: So that was the end of the Hindenburg? And also the end of commercial flights? |
Pruss: Yes, We had the new ship, the Graf Zeppelin, but not for overseas commercial flights to the States. |
Q: Is there anything else you would like to say about the Hindenburg? |
Pruss: I can only say that it was the best and finest ship for passengers, and a new ship, too, and it's very regrettable that we have no airships. On an airship you have a wonderful trip, not with an airplane where you are about 1,200 meters high and so you can't see anything. In an airship, we have a height of about from 100 to 200 meters over the ocean. You have very nice islands, you have big ships; it's for passengers--very, very comfortable and a very nice flight. No seasickness. |
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