Zachary Lansdowne

Lieutenant Commander Zachary Lansdowne ( born December 1, 1888 in Greenville, Ohio; † September 3, 1925 in Ava, Ohio) was an officer of the United States Navy and one of the first naval aviator. He contributed to the development of the Navy airships.

Biography

Lansdowne was convened on 2 September 1905 in the United States Naval Academy and was appointed on 5 June 1911 Ensign. Then he was on the destroyer USS McCall (DD -28) and the Naval Militia Ohio. After finishing his flying training he was Naval Aviator. Lansdowne was assigned to the Royal Naval Air Service during and after the First World War to study airships.

He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross as a crew member of the British airship R -34, which made ​​the first successful non-stop flight from England to the United States in July 1919. He married Margaret Ross Kennedy ( born September 30, 1902 - June 9, 1982 ) on December 7, 1921 in Washington. She later married John Caswell Jr. on February 27, 1927.

On February 11, 1924 Lansdowne took over the command of the rigid airship USS Shenandoah ( ZR -1). The crash of the USS Shenandoah on September 3, 1925 Zachary Lansdowne was killed. He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

The crash of the Shenandoah was the trigger for the criticism of Army Colonel Billy Mitchell over the leadership of the Army and Navy, which led directly to his stand trial for insubordination and the end of his military career.