Several different kinds of
US Navy airships, circa 1930, ZMC-2 is at far right
The Aircraft Development Corporation ZMC-2 was the first and only rigid metal skinned airship ever built. It was first flown in 1929, and flew safely for over ten years. As a sub-scale test vehicle, it was considered to be very successful, but the company that built it did not weather the Great Depression well, and by the time a successor might have been built, there was little interest in pursuing it. The US-Navy classified it as a blimp.
The ZMC-2 was nicknamed the "Tin Bubble" and was also sometimes called a "tinship". It was not made of tin, but of duraluminum, an aluminum alloy. It had roughly a teardrop-shape, and had eight small stabilizer fins , four of which had rudders.
It was scrapped in 1941 for its metal content, especially for its aluminum. Other blimps did go on to serve in the World War 2 however, specializing in protecting convoys.
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