11. Lloyd’s insured the German airship Hindenburg in 1937
During the First World War Lloyd’s provided insurance against damages inflicted by Germany’s famous Zeppelins, which carried out periodic bombing raids against London and other British targets. After the war, Germany, France, Great Britain, and the United States all attempted to develop airships for commercial aviation purposes, as well as the military. The United States Navy was particularly interested in their use as scouting vessels for its fleets. But only in Germany were they successful in developing them as viable passenger airships, and by the 1930s regularly scheduled transatlantic passenger service was offered by the Germans.
The German airships had to use hydrogen for their lifting power, since the United States controlled nearly all of the world’s helium and refused to supply it to the Germans. In 1937, as it approached its mooring in Lakehurst, New Jersey, the German zeppelin Hindenburg burst into flame and was totally destroyed, with 35 of its passengers and crew killed. One American ground crewman died with them. To this day the exact cause of the fire and crash which destroyed Hindenburg is unknown, with multiple unproven theories including sabotage under consideration, but nonetheless, Lloyd’s, its insurer, paid the claim in 1937.
