A Pilgrimage to the USS Shenandoah

It was many years ago the last time my father mentioned it, and to be honest it could have been the only time. You see, Pop didn’t talk about his personal experiences much, a trait that seems to have been handed down by his father. While few details accompanied the story, I distinctly recall his saying that he and his father saw the wreckage of the Shenandoah, the the first rigid airship built in the United States. Caught in a severe storm on the morning of September 3, 1925, the enormous ship was torn in two by a series of violent updrafts and downdrafts. The control car broke free and crashed near the farmhouse of Andrew Gamary, killing the seven occupants. The stern portion, over 400 feet long, came down a half-mile away and dragged along a treeline, eventually coming to rest on a nearby hillside. The 200 foot bow section, controlled by seven crewmen, remained airborne for nearly an hour, eventually coming down on the farm of Ernest Nichols, six miles southwest of the stern.
Nichols came to their aid, grabbing a line thrown down by the crew and securing it to two trees. Safely on the ground, the crew borrowed Nichols’ shotgun, deflating the gasbags before the bow could rise yet again. Of the forty-three occupants of the Shenandoah, twenty-nine survived.
While considerable information is available regarding the crash of the Shenandoah, the same cannot be said for my father’s visit to the scene. Internet sources show the stern to have come down near Ava, Ohio (shown in first photo), the bow coming to rest near Sharon (2nd photo), and locating these communities on a map revealed their close proximity to my father’s residence at the time, Byesville. I found that the stern landed approximately 13 miles away from Byesville, the bow roughly 19 miles away. All this tells us is that either site could have been visited with relative ease. I have no idea whether they specifically traveled to the site to view the wreckage, or if they were in the vicinity for some other reason. Pop gave no description of the wreckage, but given that he was 10 years old at the time I’m sure his recollection would have been a bit fuzzy.
For days the sites were visited by the curious, often removing parts of the ship for souvenirs. Many photos of the craft show it surrounded by spectators and plainly reveal that the canvas skin has been peeled away near the ground. I have a vague recollection of Pop saying that they were there the day after the crash, but I can’t say that with confidence. The ship broke apart at approximately 6:00a.m., and while they could have seen it that very day I find it unlikely. My grandfather was a farmer, and I don’t know that he would have been inclined to drop what he was doing at a moments notice. There’s also the question of how and when they heard the news. There was undoubtedly a delay. This is an interesting snippet of my family history, and while I’d like to know more it’s still neat to know that my father, and grandfather, were there.