The Graf Zeppelin is regarded as the most successful passenger airship of the 1920s and 1930s. It was the first to make the transatlantic crossing years before Pan Am, with its iconic flying boats, would do the same in 1939. The Graf Zeppelin operated between 1928 and 1937, flying across the Atlantic many times (when it was retired upon hearing news of the Hindenburg disaster). Over its career, the Graf Zeppelin made 590 flights and flew over a million miles, with its most successful long-distance routes being from Germany to South America.