This photograph of the USS Akron under construction is breathtaking, the really captivating element of the picture has to be the men standing at the very tops of those extraordinary ladders attached to what look like horsedrawn carts.
Sadly the USS Akron didn’t have a long or happy life in service, she was lost in a weather related accident off the New Jersey coast early on April the 4th 1933, killing 73 of the 76 crew members and passengers on board.
Click the photograph for the high resolution version.
Ben Branch has had his work featured on CNN, Popular Mechanics, the official Smithsonian Magazine, Road & Track Magazine, the official Pinterest blog, the official eBay Motors blog, BuzzFeed, and many more.
Silodrome was founded by Ben back in 2010, in the years since the site has grown to become a world leader in the alternative and vintage motoring sector, with millions of readers around the world and hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.
The AJS V4 was an advanced engineering effort undertaken by the British motorcycle company in the mid-1930s, the first prototype was intended as a road-going motorcycle and it was shown at the Olympia Show in 1935. Building The AJS V4 Racer The road-going version of the V4 didn’t get a green light for production, it’s…
If you’ve an aspiring James Bond villain and you’d like to buy some suitably styled furniture, your first stop should almost certainly be Plane Industries in Britain. The company is perhaps most famous for the design you see here – an original Boeing 737 jet engine cowling that’s been converted into a chair. The Boeing…
The Harley-Davidson 11K was the American company’s first purpose-built V-twin racer – it was developed by Bill Ottoway, an early engineering genius who had been poached from Harley-Davidson’s rivals over at Thor. Harley-Davidson 11K Board Track Racer Although Harley-Davidson motorcycles had been used in competition previously, including a first race win in 1904 at The Milwaukee Mile with the…
The Plymouth Asimmetrica Roadster was designed as a production car, despite its concept car looks – it was initially planned that 25 would be made, however just two were completed by the time production ceased. The Plymouth XNR The Asimmetrica was based on the futuristic Plymouth XNR that had been penned by one of the…
The Indian Shrimp Mille is a new custom build from the talented Italian team at Anvil Motociclette dedicated to one of the biggest superstars of the early years of American board track racing – Albert Burns. Albert “Shrimp” Burns – Hall of Fame Racing Legend Albert “Shrimp” Burns started his racing career at just 15…
The Iron & Resin Moto Pannier Bag was designed to fit most (vintage and modern) motorcycles, allowing the rider to pack away a weekends worth of clothing and supplies without the inherent problems that accompany wearing a backpack on a motorcycle for prolonged periods of time. Measuring in at 23 inches high x 14 inches…
