Yes, that's the Los Angeles. The Akron hat four vertical lines on its skin from the condensers which were used to recoup water from the exhausts so they would not have to vent ever so much scarce and expensive helium.

As for being overrated, just look how they all fared. Imperial German airships - way more than half lost to accidents, bad weather and enemy action. Well, they make one hell of a big target. LZ 32 even had the distinction to be shot down by a submarine. Of the six post WW1 zeppelins actually built two were lost and three of the rest hardy flew at all. The Brits were not doing much better. And had their own notorious command economy showcase with R101. The US had five of them (arguably some to the finer ones, especially the domestically built) - and lost four.

Just look how often somebody comes up trying to resuscitate them - and not getting anywhere. IMHO a clear case of "mine's bigger than yours".

Blimps on the other hand are a different matter.

[Blimps are dirigibles. Dirigible means directable, i.e. steerable. - Dave]

That's the Los Angeles (ZR-3), not the Akron. Comparing photos of the two make that obvious. The Akron may have been in the same area at the time but it's not in this picture.

[The Akron and Los Angeles overflew Washington on November 2, 1931. However the Library of Congress photo caption (which is not dated) says it's the Akron. - Dave]

Looks like the Los Angeles, but not the Akron or Macon. The engine pods give it away. Engines on the Akron and Macon were internal with drive shafts out to the props.

USS Akron's engines were in a single line along the lower half of the hull, where USS Los Angeles had 5 engine pods (4 staggered on the hull and one on the bottom). The airship in the photograph is ZR-3 USS Los Angeles.

The Akron was a great ship, however this is the USS Los Angeles built by Zeppelin in 1923.

First, that F9C Sparrowhawk fighter planes could be released from the airship. Even more, that the Sparrowhawks could return to the airship.

It seems incredible now, but in the early 1930s the Navy experimented with launching and retrieving fighter planes from airships like the Akron. The photo below, taken three months before Horydczak's, shows a Sparrowhawk fighter suspended from the "trapeze" of the Akron. The pilot can be seen reaching to check the wing attachment that will allow the plane to be dropped safely into the air.

The program died after two fatal accidents, both caused by weather.

All Most of the Navy's airships came to tragic ends (the Los Angeles was the only one to make it to retirement). The Akron's death toll of 73 -- coincidentally the same as the number of flights it had performed -- was the worst of the lot.

The USS Akron was destroyed in a thunderstorm off the coast of New Jersey on the morning of April 4, 1933, killing 73 of the 76 crewmen and passengers. The accident involved the greatest loss of life in any airship crash.

The top of that memorial looks like a pathetic "hurry up and finish it" to an otherwise very nice building.