lakehurst naval base tour

President’s Message

Dear Members and Friends of NLHS,

We are now reopened for tours.  Come visit us to experience the amazing history  of Joint Base Lakehurst. 

NLHS PO Box 328 Lakehurst, New Jersey 08733

Please click here to donate.

Carl Jablonski, President

Welcome to the Navy Lakehurst Historical Society

Navy Lakehurst Historical Society, Inc is a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving the distinguished heritage of Naval Air Station Lakehurst, located in Lakehurst, New Jersey, USA.

Although Navy Lakehurst will forever be remembered as the site of the Hindenburg disaster, many other significant events have taken place here. The rigid airships (ZRS 1) Shenandoah ( erected in Hangar #1), (ZRS-3)Los Angeles ,(ZRS-4)Akron and (ZRS-5) Macon all called the station home, as did many U.S. Navy blimps. The station was the western terminus for the commercial transatlantic flights of the German dirigibles Hindenburg and Graf Zeppelin. Navy Lakehurst was the first International airport in the US. The first Navy Helicopter Squadron and the first live ejection seat test were at Navy Lakehurst.

In addition to NAS Lakehurst’s rich airship history, the station has served as a center for research into aircraft ejection seats and carrier aircraft launch and recovery techniques. The base’s mission continues today as the Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst(NSA.)

Please take the time to browse our site and help to support us in preserving an important chapter in American history.

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Your Walking Tour Includes

Navy Lakehurst Heritage Center Tours

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Navy Lakehurst Heritage Center Tours - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (2024)

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• visits must be scheduled 2 weeks in advance
• April - Oct: Wednesdays, 2nd & 4th Saturday of the month, 10 am - 1 pm
• Nov - Mar: Wednesdays & 2nd Saturdays, 10 am - 1 pm

Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst/Navy Lakehurst Heritage Center

Joint Base Lakehurst Hangar One, Lakehurst, NJ 08733

(732) 818-7520

www.nlhs.com

The Navy Lakehurst Historical Society preserves and interprets the story of Naval Air Station Lakehurst, a site where many rigid airships, known as blimps or dirigibles, were built in the 1920s and 1930s. The air station was also the location where the Navy trained pilots and crew to fly and operate these large aircraft. Lakehurst is most famous as the site of the crash of the Hindenburg in May 1937. The site is located on an active military base, visitors must make appointment at least two weeks in advance for access. Call the number listed above or email [email protected] .

WHAT TO SEE AND DO

• Tour the Heritage Center
• Visit the Cathedral of the Air
• See the site of the Hindenburg disaster
• Visit Hangar #1
• Tour the Ready Room and the POW/ MIA room

Journey through Jersey strives to have the most up-to-date information, but always check with the site itself before planning a visit.

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Navy Lakehurst Heritage Center

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• Free Admission

 Dining

The music man: singing ice cream shoppe, hemingway's cafe, the sawmill, clarks landing dockside grill, frankie's bar & grille, europa south, bum rogers tavern & crab house, chef mike's atlantic bar & grill,  lodging, comfort inn, surf & stream campground, ramada inn & suites, butterfly campground, clarion hotel and conference center, tip tam camping resort, best western, leisure inn, mathis house,  activities, lake horicon park, toms river brewing, solve the room, bacchus winemaking, eagle ridge golf club, insectropolis, new jersey forest resource education center, route 70 auction & flea market,  events, lakewood renaissance faire, occ concert band presents, afternoon recital series, speaker series at the museum, annual toms river pride, magic on the beach, eyes of the wild animal show,   activities,   lodging, nearby upcoming events.

Lakehurst Naval Air Station - Museum Tour

AESS - Air Station Museum Tour

The Navy Lakehurst Historical Society has tours the second and fourth Saturdays of the month from November to March from 930 to 1 pm. 

Our walking tours include:

• The Cathedral of The Air
• The Hindenburg Crash Site
• The Navy Lakehurst Heritage Center
• The Ready Room
• The POW-MIA Room
• Historic Hangar One

The all-volunteer Navy Lakehurst Historical Society and cooperation with the Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst & NSA Public Affairs Office offers tours as follows:

November through March  – every Wednesday and the second Saturday of the month from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. April through October  – every Wednesday and the second and fourth Saturday of the month from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Please call (732) 323-6547 for information about the tours.

Strict Security Requirements

Everyone wishing to take the tour must adhere to strict security requirements and must pre-register by calling (732) 600-8055 or contacting  [email protected]

All guests must be registered two weeks before the date of their tour. No walk-ins or additions to the group will be accepted on the day of the tour.

Tours may be canceled for the following reasons without notification: Due to military operations

Security issues

  Date and Time

  location,   hosts,   registration.

• Date: 09 Dec 2023
• Time: 09:30 AM to 01:00 PM
• All times are (UTC-05:00) Eastern Time (US & Canada)

• Lansdowne Rd
• Lakehurst, New Jersey
• United States 08733
• Building: Hanger One
• Click here for Map

• Contact Event Host

Primary Contact:

Russell Frazer

[email protected]

Secondary Contact:

Ali Daneshmand

[email protected]

• Starts 17 September 2023 12:00 AM
• Ends 08 December 2023 05:30 PM
• No Admission Charge

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Exiting nps.gov

Hangar no. 1 lakehurst naval air station.

Lakehurst Naval Air Station (Naval Air Technical Training Center) presently occupies 7,400 acres of flat lowlands just north of Lakehurst, New Jersey. Commissioned in 1921, Lakehurst Naval Air Station, became the hub of naval lighter-than-air activity. Interest in airships in the United States began early in the 20th century. The first practical craft was the  California Arrow , built by Thomas S. Baldwin in 1904. The U.S. Army purchased the first Federal airship from Baldwin five years later. Germany was the pioneer in the manufacture of rigid airships--airships that had the gas containers enclosed within compartments of a fixed fabric-covered framework--and during World War I maintained a fleet of Zeppelins, which it used primarily for patrolling and secondarily for bombing missions. The success of these airships prompted interest in the United States to develop them for coastal patrol to detect enemy submarines and mines and as a scouting arm for naval fleets. In 1921 the Navy established Lakehurst Naval Air Station to serve as its headquarters for lighter-than-air flight. The new base became the center for experimentation and development of rigid airships for strategic and commercial purposes as well as the control station for all Naval lighter-than-air flights.

The first major facility at Lakehurst was Hangar No. 1, a gigantic structure built in 1921 to house the huge helium-filled dirigibles. Hangar No. 1 measures 961 feet long, 350 feet wide and 200 feet high. At each end are two pairs of massive steel doors, mounted on railroad tracks. These double doors are structurally separate from the hangar itself. Each door weighs 1350 tons and is powered by two 20 horsepower motors, although provisions were made to open the doors manually, which required the assembled manpower of nine men. Inside it, Naval engineers assembled the first American-built rigid airship, the  Shenandoah . On September 4, 1923, the ship made its maiden flight from Lakehurst. The Navy obtained its second rigid airship in 1924. Built in Germany and delivered to the United States as a war reparation payment, the  Los Angele s shared Hangar No. 1 with the  Shenandoah . The Navy used the dirigible extensively for experimental work on flight and mooring problems--it was the first American-owned airship developed to catch and release airplanes in flight. Lakehurst was also the home port for the  Akron  and the Macon . In addition to Hangar No. 1 there were five other hangars in two clusters, which have all since been converted for training and testing activities at the Naval Air Station. Hangar Nos. 2 and 3 housed blimps, Hangar No. 4 housed balloons and Hangars Nos. 5 and 6 housed either rigid air ships or blimps. The area between the two clusters of hangars was formerly used for mooring the airships and maneuvering them into the hangars.

During the late 1920s, Lakehurst became internationally known as a port for commercial lighter-than-air flight. It was the only stopping place in the United States for German airships, and in 1929 it played host to the  Graf Zeppelin , then in the process of making the first round-the-world trip. However, of the five rigid airships eventually owned by the United States after World War I, all but one--the German-built  Los Angeles --crashed, and many federal officials were skeptical of the desirability of continuing the program. Nevertheless, the Navy and the general public still supported the venture, largely because of the success of the German Zeppelins. A change in public opinion occurred in 1937, when the German Zeppelin  Hindenburg , the largest airship ever built, burst into flames at Lakehurst. Thirty-six passengers died and the crash of the  Hindenburg  marked the end of commercial airship travel and the end of experimentation with hydrogen as a lifting device.

With the onset of World War II, lighter-then-air activity increased at Lakehurst, as the Navy increased its number of non-rigid airships (from six to 125). Lakehurst became the headquarters of the Chief of Naval Airship Training and Experimentation and also of the Commander Fleet Airships, Atlantic. During World War II, the Navy used blimps for observational purposes and they played an important role in escorting coastal convoys and in protecting American ships from submarine attack. With the end of the war, naval airship activity decreased, only to be expanded upon at the outbreak of the Korean War and then reduced again. In 1961 the Navy halted all lighter-than-air activity and ordered the blimps deflated and stowed. Visit the National Park Service  Travel American Aviation   to learn more about  Aviation related Historic Sites

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Last updated: September 3, 2017

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JBMDL - Navy Lakehurst

Click on the gomdl link to your left to view that 87th Force Support Squadron website.

Driving distance to New York City, Philadelphia, Atlantic City, Cape May and the New Jersey Shore. Shopping, Six Flags, Outlet Shopping, Seasonal Fairs & Festivals, NJ Farmers Markets, Flea Markets. On base attractions include: Dining, Golf, Bowling, Arts & Crafts, Rod & Gun Club, John F. Mann Jr. Recreational Park, Campgrounds and More!"

For Reservations with children and Pet Friendly Rooms Please contact the Lodging office directly for accurate reservations.

Who May Stay Policy

Main: (732) 323-2266 DSN: 624-2266 Fax: 732-323-5067 Email: [email protected] l Website: www.gomdl.com

Address JBMDL - Navy Lakehurst Hwy. 547, Bldg. 481 Lakehurst , New Jersey , 08733 View on Google Maps

Latitude, Longitude 40.035556 , -74.351111

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Maj. Thomas B. McGuire Jr. Composite Squadron

Lakehurst Naval Air Naval Station Hangar #1 Tour (tentative)

December 10, 2022.

Lakehurst Naval Air Naval Station Hangar #1 Tour

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NER-NJ-086 Maj. Thomas B. McGuire Jr. Composite Squadron Address

Building 3412 Neely Road Joint Base McGuire Dix Lakehurst, NJ 08641

justin.hawkins@njwg.cap.gov

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