Why The US Navy Once Operated A Civilian Passenger Airship

At one point, the world thought that airships were the future of air travel and that they would play a role in war. The Germans used them extensively for reconnaissance in WW1 and even to bomb London and other cities. One of the first airships acquired by the US Navy was the USS Los Angeles (ZR-3). It was constructed as the LZ-126 and was built by Germany’s Zeppelin company in 1923-1924 and handed over to the US as a form of war reparations.