This is the first in a series.

As January 1925 ended, the giant hangar at Lakehurst, N.J. housed two of the world’s most modern dirigibles. Each was over two football fields long.

The USS Shenandoah and the USS Los Angeles were designed to use the non-flammable helium gas. This fact caused a problem: The supply of helium was so limited that both could not fly at the same time.

There was a significant difference between the two. The Shenandoah was American built and designed for military use by the Navy.