ZR-2 was never commissioned into the US Navy and was not assigned a name.

"England Builds Huge Dirigible For U.S.—This most interesting photograph shows the frame structure of a modern dirigible, R-38, air ship. It is being built for the U.S. Navy by an English concern and will be one of the largest of the world. The same design will be followed as in the British R-34, which twice crossed the ocean last fall. Photograph by Underwood and Underwood."

Courtesy of the Library of Congress (LoC), photo # Lot-8799-7.

R-38 control car under construction.

R-38 engines under construction.

R-38 at Howden shed.

Six U.S. Navy Petty Officers "sail to speed up work on the R-38. ... The R-38 is nearing completion in England and is to be flown to her hangar at Lakehurst, N.J." (quoted from the original caption). They are on board the passenger liner Princess Matoika (formerly USS Princess Matoika) for the trip to England, April 1920.

These men are identified in the original caption as:

Left to right, front: J.W. Cullinan, M. Lay and I.L. Thomas.

Left to right, standing: N. Julnis [sic ?], A.B. Galation and H. Christensen.

Chief Boatswain's Mate M. Lay and Chief Machinist's Mate W.A. Julius were among those who lost their lives when the R-38 crashed on 24 August 1921.

U.S. Naval History & Heritage Command photograph (# NH 41997).

"To fly the R-38 here. Leaving on the Princess Matoika to bring home via the air the R-38 now being built over there for the United States." (Quoted from the original caption). They are on board the passenger liner Princess Matoika (formerly USS Princess Matoika) for the trip to England, where the airship was under construction, April 1920.

These men are identified in the original caption as:

Left to right, kneeling: S.H. Knight, F.M. Gorey and A.C. Carlson.

Left to right, standing: W.G. Steele, F.L. Stevens, W.A. Russell and R.N. Coons.

Chief Machinist's Mates W.J. Steele and R.M. Coons were among those who lost their lives when the R-38 crashed on 24 August 1921.

U.S. Naval History & Heritage Command photograph (# NH 41998).

Airship R38, at left, in the Cardington shed completing as the US Navy ZR-2, and the uncompleted R37 awaiting disposal on the right.

Courtesy of the Airship Heritage Trust of Cardington, Bedforshire taken from Military, Naval and Civil Airships Since 1783, by Daniel George Ridley-Kitts MBE.

"World's Greatest Airship, Owned by U.S., Here in July"

"R-38, One-Third Larger Than the R-34 That Flew From England to Long Island, Being Completed in Britain—American Navy Crew to Fly It Home, Now in Training Abroad"

The New York Herald, Sunday, January 9, 1921.

"The Navy's Air Dreadnought Is Ready for the Big Hop"

"Greatest Air Dreadnought Is To Sail Aug. 25" "Crew of Thirty Is Prepared for Novel Joy Ride After Weeks of Training, and Nobody Is Very Excited"

"The ZR-2, Latest Contender for Trans-Atlantic Honors"

"Craft Is Large Enough to Fill Times Square"

New York Tribune, Sunday, August 14, 1921.

Airship R38 (U.S. ZR-2) leaving the Cardington shed for trials, June 1921.

Courtesy of the Airship Heritage Trust of Cardington, Bedforshire taken from Military, Naval and Civil Airships Since 1783, by Daniel George Ridley-Kitts MBE.

British airship R-38 (U.S. Navy ZR-2) leaves its hangar during trials in England, circa June–August 1921. Note the faint marking "ZR-2" on the hull, near the control car. This is a fine-screen halftone reproduction.

U.S. Naval History & Heritage Command photograph (# NH 42050).

British airship R-38 (U.S. Navy ZR-2) makes its first trial flight, at Cardington, England, 23 June 1921. Note that the airship already wears U.S. markings.

U.S. Naval History & Heritage Command photograph (# NH 1216).

British airship R-38 (U.S. Navy ZR-2), possibly on its first trial flight, 23 June 1921.

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, George Grantham Bain Collection. Call Number: LC-B2-5533-12.

Nose of ZR-2. Location and date unknown.

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, George Grantham Bain Collection. Call Number: LC-B2-5533-13.

Control car of ZR-2. Location and date unknown.

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, George Grantham Bain Collection. Call Number: LC-B2-5533-14.

ZR-2 in a hangar, location and date unknown. Note that she is already wearing U.S. markings.

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, George Grantham Bain Collection. Call Number: LC-B2-5534-1.

"The first Navy rigid dirigible was the British-built ZR-2."

"Begun at the Royal Airship Works as R-38, she was purchased while still under construction. During final trials, she broke in two and fell in flames, killing all but five of her complement of 50 officers and men, including a number of U.S. Navy personnel aboard for training. ZR-2 was the world's largest airship—605 feet long, 85 feet in diameter—and held 2,740,000 cubic feet of hydrogen."

Proceeding magazine, October 1961 issue.

Crew members of the British/U.S. Navy R-38/ZR-2 airship. It crashed during trials off the shore of Hull, England, 24 August 1921.

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, George Grantham Bain Collection. Digital ID: ggbain.32942.

Crash of British airship R-38 (U.S. Navy ZR-2), 24 August 1921. Rescue party cutting into the fabric hull covering, near the tail, in an effort to save airmen trapped in the wreckage, "scarcely one-half hour" after the airship broke up, exploded and crashed into the Humber River at Hull, England.

U.S. Naval History & Heritage Command photograph (# NH 69230).

Crash of British airship R-38 (U.S. Navy ZR-2), 24 August 1921. The airship's wreckage in the Humber River at Hull, Yorkshire, England, after it had broken up in the air, exploded and crashed. The tail is at the left.

Courtesy of Carl S. Walters, 1970.

U.S. Naval History & Heritage Command photograph (# NH 72408).

"No. 2. The wreckage of the ill-fated ZR-2 in the Humber, 24/8/21."

W. Benton, Merchantile Chambers, Hull.

Crash of British airship R38, US Navy ZR-2. Original 1921 photo postcard.

Crash of British airship R38, US Navy ZR-2. Vintage 1920s photo.

Crash of British airship R-38 (U.S. Navy ZR-2), 24 August 1921. Closeup view of some of the airship's wreckage, including a leg and foot of one of the 44 victims of the tragedy, soon after it broke up in the air, exploded and crashed into the Humber River off Victoria Pier, Hull, England.

Courtesy of Carl S. Walters, 1970.

U.S. Naval History & Heritage Command photograph (# NH 72409).

"Great Airship ZR-2 and Its Crew Meet Disaster in Test Flight Over England"

"First Photograph Of ZR-2 Disaster And Sole American Survivor"

"Taking Everything Movable from the ZR-2 Wreck Before It Went to Pieces"

"Hardly had the ZR-2 hit the water it began to break up. Rescuers are shown making frantic efforts to take everything movable, whether living or dead, from the wreck just before it finally lost all shape. The inset shows Captain Wann as he lay on his cot in the hospital after the explosion. Captain Wann was in charge of the airship when the wreck occurred."

Capital Journal, Salem, Oregon, Saturday, September 10, 1921.

"World's Biggest Dirigible Explodes While On Trial Flight, Causing the Loss of 44 Lives"

Springfield Daily Republican?, Thursday, August 25, 1921.

"Second In Command ZR-2 Crew Assumes Control of Affairs"

"Lieut Ralph G. Pennoyer"

Old newspaper.

"R38 Airship: Disaster Over the Humber"

Courtesy of the Hull City Council.

Crash of British airship R-38 (U.S. Navy ZR-2, 24 August 1921. Memorial at Hull, Yorkshire, England, erected in honor of those lost when the airship broke up in the air, exploded and crashed into the Humber River off Hull. Of the 49 men aboard, including 17 Americans, 44 lost their lives.

Courtesy of Carl S. Walters, 1970.

U.S. Naval History & Heritage Command photograph (# NH 72410).

Crash of British airship R-38 (U.S. Navy ZR-2, 24 August 1921. Memorial at Hull, Yorkshire, England, erected in honor of those lost when the airship broke up in the air, exploded and crashed into the Humber River off Hull. Of the 49 men aboard, including 17 Americans, 44 lost their lives.

Photo by Keith D.

Crash of British airship R-38 (U.S. Navy ZR-2, 24 August 1921. Descriptive plaque, part of a memorial erected at Hull, Yorkshire, England, in honor of those lost when the airship broke up in the air, exploded and crashed into the Humber River off Hull. Of the 49 men on board, including 17 Americans, 44 lost their lives.

Courtesy of Carl S. Walters, 1970.

U.S. Naval History & Heritage Command photograph (# NH 72411).

Crash of British airship R-38 (U.S. Navy ZR-2, 24 August 1921. Plaque listing U.S. Navy personnel killed when the airship broke up in the air, exploded and crashed into the Humber River off Hull, Yorkshire, England. The plaque is part of a memorial erected at Hull in honor of the dead. Of the 49 men on board, including 17 Americans, 44 lost their lives. This plaque contains the names of 16 officers and men of the U.S. Navy.

Courtesy of Carl S. Walters, 1970.

U.S. Naval History & Heritage Command photograph (# NH 72412).

Crash of British airship R-38 (U.S. Navy ZR-2), 24 August 1921. Plaque listing British personnel killed when the airship broke up in the air, exploded and crashed into the Humber River off Hull, Yorkshire, England. The plaque is part of a memorial erected at Hull in honor of the dead. Of the 49 men on board, including 17 Americans, 44 lost their lives. This plaque contains the names of 28 officers and men of the Royal Air Force, staff members of the National Physical Laboratory and of the Royal Airship Works.

Courtesy of Carl S. Walters, 1970.

U.S. Naval History & Heritage Command photograph (# NH 72413).

Commander Louis H. Maxfield, killed in the R-38 (ZR-2) lighter-than-air craft accident on Wednesday, 24 August 1921.

National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), photo # 80-G-185933.

Lieutenant Commander W.N. Bieg, USN, killed in the R-38 (ZR-2) lighter-than-air craft accident on Wednesday, 24 August 1921.

National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), photo # 80-G-185934.

Lieutenant Harry W. Hoyt, USN, killed in the R-38 (ZR-2) lighter-than-air craft accident on Wednesday, 24 August 1921.

National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), photo # 80-G-185935.

"BRITISH CRUISER BRINGS ZR-2 DEAD"
"American Destroyers and Airplanes Meet Funeral Ship Off Channel."
"BODIES ARE LANDED"
"Services Will Be Held This Afternoon in New York Navy Yard."
"EXPECT GREAT THRONG"
"Marines in Brazilian Warship Join in Tribute to Fifteen Air Dead."

"Bodies of Dead in ZR-2 Disaster Arriving on The Dauntless"
"To the left is shown a deck view of The Dauntless, with fifteen flag draped coffins containing the bodies of Americans who lost their lives in the explosion of the United States dirigible balloon ZR-2 over Hull, England, last month. Sixteen Americans were killed in the blast, but one was buried in England. The view on the right is a coffin being brought ashore at the New York Navy Yard, where The Dauntless is docked. Capt. Stevenson (left) of the British Navy and Capt. Tozer (right) of the United States Navy are pictured below."

The New York Herald, Saturday, September 17, 1921.