After recovering from one rapid descent, Akron was forced downward again at an estimated fourteen feet per second. The lower fin struck the sea, water dragged the stern under, and engine power only raised the nose into a stall before the hull broke apart. The entire sequence from the first descent to impact lasted about eight minutes, leaving almost no time for organized abandonment. The German merchant ship Phoebus picked up four men, one of whom never regained consciousness, and continued searching for hours. American cutters, warships, aircraft, and the blimp J-3 joined the wider rescue effort. With no life jackets issued and no time to deploy rafts, drowning and hypothermia contributed to seventy-three deaths, including Moffett.
Chapter · 1:45:22-1:54:59
Eight minutes from first descent to disaster
A violent downdraft drove Akron's tail into the sea, and the rescue effort exposed how little time the crew had and how survival was reduced by absent life jackets and undeployed rafts.