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1933 USS Akron ZRS-4 Airship Crash Ocean Salvage Wreckage Glass Negatives 2 OOAK
Pair of two (2) original, one-of-a-kind (OOAK) camera-original antique gelatin silver glass negatives captured in April 1933: a monumental piece of American military aviation disaster history: the ocean salvage and recovery of the wreckage of the United States Navy rigid airship USS Akron (ZRS-4) after crashing into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of New Jersey.
Accompanied by its original vintage tan kraft darkroom morgue filing sleeve bearing contemporary newsroom documentation:
Historical & Aviation Significance:
On the night of April 3–4, 1933, the pride of the U.S. Navy's rigid airship fleet, the 785-foot USS Akron (ZRS-4), encountered violent storm squalls off Barnegat Light, New Jersey. Downdrafts plunged the massive dirigible tail-first into the freezing Atlantic, claiming 73 crew members and officers—including Rear Admiral William A. Moffett, Chief of the Bureau of Aeronautics. In the weeks following the catastrophe, naval salvage vessels swept the ocean floor, grappling and hoisting fragmented sections of the airship's lightweight duralumin structure. These dramatic sequential exposures document the recovery operation aboard ship, capturing the mangled remains of the world's most sophisticated flying aircraft carrier.
The two photographic plates encompass:
Plate 1 — Deckside Inspection: Naval officers and sailors examining an intact internal fuel or water-ballast tank enclosed inside a crushed lattice duralumin frame module on the ship's work deck, with heavy recovery crane hooks and cables visible overhead.
Plate 2 — Hoisting from the Sea: An expansive perspective looking down over the open ocean as a giant section of the rigid airship's internal transverse ring girders, cross-braces, and tattered cotton outer fabric cover is lifted out of the Atlantic swells.
Tonal Fidelity: Rich continuous-tone silver gelatin gradation resolving the stamped lightening holes in the aircraft girder alloys, braided wire rigging, ocean water ripples, and naval uniform insignia.
Specifications:
Format: Pair of two (2) heavy antique silver gelatin press glass negatives, exposed directly in-camera in April 1933.
Archive Ephemera: Accompanied by the original period tan kraft darkroom morgue filing envelope.
Please Note: This listing is for the two (2) original antique glass negatives and their period paper archive sleeve only. Any positive photographic images shown in this listing are modern inverted digital scans provided solely as a visual representation to show what finished photographs print like. No physical paper photographs, modern prints, or paper products of any kind are included with this purchase.
Condition:
Very Good to Excellent antique condition across both plates. Both heavy glass supports are structurally sound, stable, and completely intact with no cracks, fractures, breaks, or chips through either glass body. The silver gelatin emulsions are clean, sharp, and firmly adhered, retaining remarkable optical resolution on the intricate metal lattice girders, shredded envelope fabric, and naval crew. Authentic unexposed handling borders remain preserved along the outer plate margins outside the primary image frames. Accompanied by the original period kraft morgue filing sleeve.
The glass plate negative measures 4 x 5In.
If you collect glass negatives, please check out our collection in our store. We are currently listing thousands of original glass photo negatives from this DJD collection through the remainder of the year. Follow our store, and feel free to reach out about any questions about the negatives in this collection.
Ships with extreme care in archival materials to ensure safe transit. Feel free to reach out with any requests or questions).
Combined shipping is available (with other glass negatives)
