Empires of the Sky: Zeppelins, Airplanes, and Two Men's Epic Duel to Rule the World by Alexander Rose

Author:Alexander Rose [Rose, Alexander]
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
ISBN: 9780812989991
Google: GwOmDwAAQBAJ
Amazon: 081298997X
Published: 2020-04-28T18:07:04+00:00

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IN CONTRAST, THE flight to Japan was easy and the Graf Zeppelin was everywhere greeted with fulsome acclamation. Wrote a reporter rapturously, the airship “glinted in the sky over the land of cherry blossoms where geisha girls halted their clip-clopping to watch her pass, and where Fujiyama was mirrored like a tinted shell in the dark waters of Lake Hakone.”10

To the Japanese, Eckener had brought their country closer to Europe, within four days of Berlin, as opposed to a month aboard a fast liner. Some four million people craned their necks at the sky to watch the heavenly chariot pass over Tokyo and rocked the earth with their cries of “Banzai!” while the newspapers proclaimed the flight the “greatest accomplishment mankind has achieved.” Eckener, for having avoided a typhoon on the way over, was instantly dubbed the Storm King.11

Then it was on to Kasumigaura, where a quarter of a million people awaited the Graf Zeppelin’s arrival. From then on, Eckener scarcely had a moment to himself as the Japanese laid on an unending series of formal ceremonies.

First there was a visit to a teahouse, where Eckener, bemused at a geisha’s gesturing at his shoes, experienced mild panic at the thought of taking them off and exposing a large hole in one of his socks. After several minutes’ earnest discussion of the diplomatic ramifications of such an insult, the Japanese produced small woolen bags to protect his modesty. Then came the state banquet at Japan’s grandest hotel with the foreign minister, the minister of communications, the minister of war, and the admiral of the navy in attendance, splendidly outfitted to the nines in formal tails or dress uniform. Finally, that rarest of honors: tea at the Imperial Palace with the recently enthroned 124th emperor, Hirohito, who presented Eckener with a pair of silver cups—which joined a ceremonial sword, silk embroideries, ornamental daggers, and porcelain vases in crates shipped back to Germany by freighter.

Back in her modest little house in Friedrichshafen, Johanna, busy making a sweater for Eckener, was told by a reporter of her husband’s safe arrival. Accustomed by now to hearing about the accolades heaped upon his head and the medals pinned to his chest, she said modestly, “Isn’t that wonderful? We go to sleep when the ship sails and awaken when it returns. Now I must get on with my knitting.”12

Less discussed amid the excitement—the Japanese newspapers had printed more column inches about the visit than any other event in history—was that Eckener’s stay coincided with the U.S. Navy’s campaign to build up its own airship fleet; in Washington there was alarm at the enthusiasm shown in Japan for the Graf Zeppelin.

To glean some insight into Japanese designs, the State Department instructed its attachés in Tokyo to compile detailed summaries of the national press coverage of the visit and its possible implications. Much had been made of “German scientific progress,” “German culture and civilization,” and “German genius and technical skill,” they reported back, adding that within Imperial Navy circles there was talk of buying several Zeppelins for oceanic scouting.

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