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| USN ZP-32  USN 1942   USN April 4, 1942   NARA August 16, 1942  NNMA 2018  NNMA 2018 |
Blimp History Built by Goodyear Aircraft Company as one of five commercial blimps used for advertising and passengers. Nicknamed either "Rainbow" or "Ranger". Wartime History In early December 1941 when the United States entered World War II, Goodyear blimps nicknamed Resolute, Enterprise, Reliance, Rainbow and Ranger were impressed into U.S. Navy (USN) service as L-class blimps designated L-4 to L-8. The blimp had "U.S. Navy L-8" on each side of the envelope and vertical stripe on the rear edges of the tail fin. The control car had "L-8" on the upper edge. Assigned to Blimp Squadron 32 (ZP-32) and used for training flights and coastal patrols. On April 4, 1942 took off from Treasure Island piloted by Lt. Ernest Cody carrying a package of spare parts for delivery to USS Hornet (CV-8) and lowered the package atop the flight deck then departed. On August 16, 1942 just after 6:00am took off from Treasure Island piloted by Lt Ernest DeWitt Cody with co-pilot Ensign Charles Adams on a coastal patrol designated Flight 101 off San Francisco flying across the Golden Gate Bridge then west to the Farallon Islands then north towards Point Reyes and south along the California coast back to Treasure Island. Aviation machinist mate Riley Hill was assigned tp the flight but before take off was not aboard. During the flight, several ships at sea observed the blimp with the crew in the control car (gondola). At 7:38am Cody radioed his squadron headquarters at Moffett Field to report their position as three miles east of the Farallon Islands. At 7:42am he called again, stating that he was investigating a suspicious oil slick. Afterwards, the crew were never heard from again and failed to call in for their next hourly position report. Three hours later, Moffett Field received a report from the San Francisco Shore Patrol that a blimp was seen crashing into a golf course next to the beach and releasing its depth charges. The blimp next flew towards Daly City and was observed by eyewitnesses drifting for several minutes partially deflated and loosing altitude before it hit a house then landed in the street in front of 419 Bellevue Avenue in Daly City. Within minutes the blimp was investigated and found the helium bag was leaking and the crew were missing and the door latched open without the safety bar. A microphone hooked to an external loudspeaker was dangling outside of the gondola. The ignition switches and radio were still on. Cody's hat and a briefcase containing top-secret documents were still in place. Two life jackets were missing. Both the crew were reported as missing and never found and became known as the "Ghost Blimp" or "Ghost Ship". Afterwards, L-8 was recovered, repaired and returned to Navy service for the remainder of World War II. Postwar The control car (gondola) was sold back to Goodyear and known as C-64. In 1969 nicknamed "America" and registered as N10A and was based in Texas used for advertising and sporting events until retired in 1982 and placed into storage at Wingfoot Lake in Ohio. Memorials Both crew from the August 16, 1942 flight were officially declared dead August 17, 1943. Neither was listed as Missing In Action (MIA) for unknown reasons nor are they commemorated on the West Coast Memorial. Cody has a memorial marker at Arlington National Cemetary in section MJ grave 35. Adams has a memorial marker in Calvary Cemetery in East Lost Angles, CA in section R. Display During 2003, Goodyear donated the control car to the National Museum of Naval Aviation, where it has been restored to its World War II configuration. The control car was restored to the World War II appearance and palced on display at the National Naval Aviation Museum (NNAM) suspended from the ceiling on the uppoer floor. References National Naval Aviation Museum L-8 Ghost Ship via Wayback Machine August 1, 2018 National Naval Aviation Museum - L-8 Control Car Arlington National Cemetery (ANC Explorer) - Ernest D. Cody (memorial marker photo) FindAGrave - Lt Ernest DeWitt Cody (photo, memorial marker photo) FindAGrave - Ens Charles Ellis Adams (memorial marker photo) Contribute
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