The ZR-2 was in fact a Zeppelin, the Macon and Akron were built by the Goodyear-Zeppelin corporation, a joint venture. The Shennendoah (ZR-1) was based on a Zeppelin design (ZL-49) though built in and by the US.
Only the R-101 and R-38 were entirely independent designs (both UK).
The R-101 was specifically designed for passenger service, and was conducting a demonstration voyage when she crashed with major loss of life. The only reason it didn't enter commercial service was because it didn't survive long enough to do so.
Another British airship, R-100, flew from Britain to Canada.
Airships were built and operated by Germany, the UK, the US, French, Hugarian-Croatians, Brazil, and others.
The Macon, Akron, and Shennendoah were all lost at sea or over water.
There's nothing inherent to nationality, corporate ownership, military vs. civilian use, or passenger travel which changes the laws of physics under which airships operate. The craft are inherently vulnerable, slow, low, and dangerous.
Modern widebody jet aircraft have the highest safety record by passenger-mile travelled of any transportation mode. There are more people aloft at any moment of the day than airships carried in any year of commercial operation.
You said a lot of words, and none answered my original question, which was concerning airships on regular trans-Atlantic service.
Again, your list has 0 of those.
My point is that those airships existed; and weather was not a problem for them. That's a counterexample to the claim that inclement issue is necessarily an issue for airships.
The fact that neither the Brits nor Americans could build and operate airships successfully is irrelevant.
Also, you should look up the definition of the word "contemporary". I am obviously not comparing 1920s airships to 2020s jet planes.
Here is a simple claim: airships were the safest way to cross the Atlantic by air during the entire time of their operation.
No other aircraft type even made it across the Atlantic on a regular basis.
Meanwhile, Between 1931 and 1937 the Graf Zeppelin crossed the South Atlantic 136 times.
During its career, Graf Zeppelin had flown almost 1.7 million km (1,053,391 miles), the first aircraft to fly over a million miles. It made 144 oceanic crossings (143 across the Atlantic, and one of the Pacific), carried 13,110 passengers and 106,700 kg (235,300 lb) of mail and freight. It flew for 17,177 hours (717 days, or nearly two years), without injuring a passenger or crewman.
It was retired after the Hindenburg disaster. Notably, Hindenburg has crossed the Atlantic 36 times in passenger service - which is still 36 more than what the airplanes could do. And its destruction 1)had little to do with winds, and 2)was not nearly as deadly as the disintegrations of early jet airliners, like DH Comet, with 100% fatality rate, repeatedly.
OK, tell me again how "airships just don't work in strong winds", I'll listen.
I was addressing "Airships just don't work in strong winds".
You subsequently shifted the goalposts.
There was no transatlantic passenger airplane travel until 1939. Two years after Hindenberg disaster. The comparison ... is largely pointless. Though given the lack of heavier-than-air transatlantic commercial passenger flight, and as a consequence, no heavier-than-air commercial passenger fatalities, if you insist on the comparison, airships still lose.
Passenger liner sea-based travel remained the principle mode of transatlantic crossing until the 1960s, with passenger air travel only becoming significant with the introduction of jet powered aircraft in the 1950s (and late 1950s at that).
You seem bent on insisting you're correct at the cost of denying all contradictory evidence. You fail to even acknowledge the points. Even where you have relevant points, they're lost due to that bias. That's strongly disengenuous, impugns credibility, is a bad look, and is quite frankly exceedingly tedious.
Only the R-101 and R-38 were entirely independent designs (both UK).
The R-101 was specifically designed for passenger service, and was conducting a demonstration voyage when she crashed with major loss of life. The only reason it didn't enter commercial service was because it didn't survive long enough to do so.
Another British airship, R-100, flew from Britain to Canada.
Airships were built and operated by Germany, the UK, the US, French, Hugarian-Croatians, Brazil, and others.
The Macon, Akron, and Shennendoah were all lost at sea or over water.
There's nothing inherent to nationality, corporate ownership, military vs. civilian use, or passenger travel which changes the laws of physics under which airships operate. The craft are inherently vulnerable, slow, low, and dangerous.
Modern widebody jet aircraft have the highest safety record by passenger-mile travelled of any transportation mode. There are more people aloft at any moment of the day than airships carried in any year of commercial operation.
https://www.travelandleisure.com/airlines-airports/number-of...
Every claim of your comment proves false. A solid record.