SSSR-V6 ''OSOAVIAKhIM'' (russian: СССР-В6 Осоавиахим) was a semi-rigid airship designed by Italian engineer and airship designer

Umberto Nobile Umberto Nobile (; 21 January 1885 – 30 July 1978) was an Italian aviator, aeronautical engineer and Arctic explorer. Nobile was a developer and promoter of semi-rigid airships in the years between the two World Wars. He is primarily remembe ...

and constructed as a part of the

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...

airship program. The airship was named after the Soviet organisation

OSOAVIAKhIM The Society for the Assistance of Defense, Aircraft and Chemical Construction (russian: Общество содействия обороне, авиационному и химическому строительству, romanized as ''Obshche ...

. V6 was the largest airship built in the Soviet Union and one of the most successful. In October 1937, it set a new world record for airship endurance of 130 hours 27 minutes under command of Ivan Pankow, beating the previous record by the German airship ''Graf Zeppelin''.

Crash

In February 1938, a Soviet Arctic expedition led by

Ivan Papanin Ivan Dmitrievich Papanin (russian: Иван Дмитриевич Папанин, – 30 January 1986) was a Soviet polar explorer, scientist, Counter Admiral, and twice Hero of the Soviet Union, who was awarded nine Orders of Lenin. Life a ...

became stranded on drifting ice pack. V6 was sent on a rescue mission from Moscow with a short intermediate landing in

Murmansk Murmansk (Russian: ''Мурманск'' lit. "Norwegian coast"; Finnish: ''Murmansk'', sometimes ''Muurmanski'', previously ''Muurmanni''; Norwegian: ''Norskekysten;'' Northern Sámi: ''Murmánska;'' Kildin Sámi: ''Мурман ланнҍ'') ...

. During the flight, at approximately 19:30 on 6 February 1938, the airship crashed into the hillside near

Kandalaksha Kandalaksha (russian: Кандала́кша; fi, Kantalahti, also ''Kandalax'' or ''Candalax'' in the old maps; krl, Kannanlakši; sms, Käddluhtt) is a town in Kandalakshsky District of Murmansk Oblast, Russia, located at the head of Kandala ...

, 220 km south of Murmansk. She caught fire and was destroyed. Of the 19 people on board, 13 perished. Their remains were laid to rest at the Novodevichy Cemetery in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

. In 1972, a memorial was erected at the crash site by local authorities and the citizens of Kandalaksha. There is also a memorial sign in

Dolgoprudny Dolgoprudny (russian: Долгопру́дный, ) is a town in Moscow Oblast, Russia, located about north of Moscow city center. The town's name is derived from Russian "" (''dolgy prud'', lit. "long pond")—a long and narrow pond situated in t ...

at the former Soviet airship base. Officially communication by

TASS The Russian News Agency TASS (russian: Информацио́нное аге́нтство Росси́и ТАСС, translit=Informatsionnoye agentstvo Rossii, or Information agency of Russia), abbreviated TASS (russian: ТАСС, label=none) ...

indicated that the crash was due to poor visibility and insufficient flight altitude. The conclusions of the Soviet investigation into the disaster were never made publicly available. Among the circumstances assumed to have resulted in the disaster were outdated charts and human error; rumors indicated sabotage. No evidence was ever presented. Recent researchBelokrys (2017). revealed that the airship flew off her route as the crew lost orientation in an unfamiliar area because of darkness and snowfall. Possibly contributing to the disorientation was ineffective use of radio navigation equipment (

Telefunken Telefunken was a German radio and television apparatus company, founded in Berlin in 1903, as a joint venture of Siemens & Halske and the ''Allgemeine Elektrizitäts-Gesellschaft'' (AEG) ('General electricity company'). The name "Telefunken" ap ...

's and

Fairchild Fairchild may refer to: Organizations * Fairchild Aerial Surveys, operated in cooperation with a subsidiary of Fairey Aviation Company * Fairchild Camera and Instrument * List of Sherman Fairchild companies, "Fairchild" companies * Fairchild Fa ...

's RC-3 radio direction finders), lack of general navigational experience and human fatigue. Barometric altimeters could have accumulated error while the crew was unable to maintain constant visual control of the altitude. The accident was a severe blow to the Soviet airship program which was eventually terminated in 1940.

Specifications

References

Notes

Bibliography

* Belokrys, Aleksei. ''Deviat'sot chasov neba. Neizvestnaia istotriia dirizhablia "SSSR-V6"'' ine Hundred Hours in the Sky. The Unknown History of the Airship "SSSR-V6" Moscow, Russia: Paulsen, 2017. (in Russian). * Belokrys, Aleksei. ''Dirizhablestroi na Dolgoprudnoi: 1934-i, odin god iz zhizni'' irizhablestroi in Dolgoprudnaya: 1934, one year of life Moscow, Russia: Paulsen, 2011. (in Russian).

External links