Graf Zeppelin Begins Round-The-World Journey From New Jersey
On August 8, 1929, the Graf Zeppelin departed the airfield in Lakehurst, New Jersey, to return 21 days later.
The Graf Zeppelin dirigible was named after its designer – Count (“Graf” in German) Ferdinand von Zeppelin. An aluminum-framed, lighter-than-air craft, the Graf made its first dramatic trans-Atlantic voyage in 1928. That voyage saw three crewmembers dangling from the outside of the massive ship, trying to make crucial repairs during a raging storm in the mid-Atlantic! That first trip was riddled with danger, but it ended successfully and those that followed were smoother.