There's more than one way to wreck an airship

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Well. That looks a little off, doesn't it?

The USS Los Angeles was a Navy airship, built as part of German war reparations from World War I. Early in her career, the Los Angeles was drained of hydrogen and refilled with non-flammable helium. Good idea, that. But it wasn't enough to make her accident-proof. This photo was taken on August 25, 1927, after a sudden change in the wind direction caught the back end of the moored Los Angeles.

Within moments, she was completely vertical.

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The Naval History and Heritage Command doesn't say whether anyone was on board at the time. It would have been a hell of a ride, if there were. The Los Angeles only sustained a small amount of damage from this accident, but it was enough to prompt the Navy to switch to a safer mooring system.

This photo is public domain, and given to the Naval History and Heritage Command by Richard K. Smith, author of the book "The Airships Akron & Macon", 1974. But I ran across it thanks to reader lazzo51, who posted the photo to the BoingBoing Flickr Pool. Much appreciated!