◆ SpookStack

fr bod Lakehurst and at this time, he noticed that she was apparently heavy in the stern and that quite a bit of ballast was dropped at the stern of the ship. He was also of the opinion that the approach of the Hindenburg towards the mooring mast seemed rather fast for such a big airship, and that 4t was e faster approach than had been made during her previous woyages during the summer of 1936, and that it is to be noted in connection therewith that Lt. May was stationed at the mooring mast during thie period of time in the same capacity that he had assumed on May 6, 1937. He states that the Hindenburg, upon approaching the Hindenburg circle, had put her forward motors as well as her aft motors in reverse. He states that the ship came to a stationary position and that as she was drop- ping her trail ropes, he felt a cold wind some in from the west. He states that a shift of wind caused the nose of the Hindenburg to fall off the mast position and drift slightly to the starboard; that as the ship started to drift, he noticed that the crew handling the port line seemed to be having a little trouble but thet this line was immediately thereafter hooked on to the yawl guide line which was attached to the mst engine, and he observed that three or four turns were taken on the niggerhead of the port yawl guide motor and that these turns tock out all of the slack on the port line. Hs stated that he was closely observing the Hindenburg at this time for the pur- post of ascertaining the proper way to handle her at this time; that the mist crew would then handle her accordingly at the time they would receive the main wire cable. He stated that it was about this time that he noticed just aft of the power car and just ahead of the port find in about the middle of the bag _ that this area seemed to collapse outwardly and he noticed small streaks of flame; further that this was followed almost immediately by a miffled explosion, and a blest was noted about the time of the first outward burst on the super- structure. He stated that he was approximately 600 feet from the outburst noted on the port side of the ship and that probably due to this distance he felt no concussion from this explosion. Lt. May was of the opinion that there was another explesion immediately thereafter and at this axplogsion, it appeared that the entire stern became enveloped in fire and that the fiames progressed rapidly forward. At this time, the stern settled to the earth and anchored the ship so that she stopped her drifting and also ceased her upward motion, which apparently had been caused by the first of the explosions, and the entire ship settled to earth anc by the time that she had settled, the entire ship was consumed with hydrogen flames. Lt. May stated that he immediately rushed toward the ship and by the time he had reached the wreckage, the Hindenburg was still burning, but that the hydrogen flames had subsided and it appeared that only the fuel oil was burning. to ! 1