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The German Zeppelin-Hindenburg, Queen of the Skies, seen here from a Universal Newsreel

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camera plane as it sped over New York to its tragic end at Lakehurst, New Jersey, now lies

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at the Naval Air Station a twisted mass of metal.

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Shortly after these pictures were taken, showing the great skyliner saluting the millions watching

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it from below on its first trip of the season, the huge craft exploded while docking and

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blazed to a fiery end, taking the lives of almost half its 99 passengers and crew.

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Hours late on its trip from Hamburg because of headwinds, the Zeppelin had to ride out

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a thunderstorm along the Jersey coast before heading for the air station and nosing its

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way to the mooring mast.

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The wind is bad and the docking is a ticklish one, but it's all a thrill for the crowd

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of happy passengers eager to land after their transoceanic trip.

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Slowly the big ship warps in and the ground crews rush for the mooring line.

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In another 10 minutes or so the great aircraft would have been snugly docked, but as the

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passengers crowded the windows to watch, a roar and a burst of flame near the big tail

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fins turned the ship into a flaming inferno.

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Passengers and crew, the fortunate among them, fell or jumped and were dragged to safety

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before the fiery furnace took their lives.

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Heroic work by navy and army men risking their lives around the white-hot skeleton snatched

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more than one dazed and half-burned passenger from the blazing wreckage, but for the most

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of those trapped in the incandescent tangle, there was no hope.

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It was the greatest of miracles that anyone came out of the disaster alive.

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Seven million cubic feet of inflammable hydrogen gas blazed up in less than a minute.

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The hundreds of tons of fuel oil burns for an hour or more with its dense black smoke

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making a pall over the tragic scene.

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In all the history of air disasters, this is the worst, the most terrible.

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Hailed as the luxury liner of the air, the Hindenburg's horrible end has shocked the

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entire world.

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The pride of the skies reaches its journey's end.