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Although this account is all about airship R.34's fabulous record-breaking flight centenary #R34100, the R.34 was a 'class R33 airhship' named, obviously, after her sister-ship the R.33 which had her maiden flight at Barlow, N. Yorkshire, on March 8th 1919, 6 days before R.34's. 
Encouraged by @SheilaMossKing at the @PennoyerCentre by Pulham's former airship station in Norfolk, my R.34 account is acknowledging the 94th anniversary today of the day that R.33 accidentally broke free from the Pulham mooring tower and came close to wrecking at sea.
At 09:50 on 16 April 1925, the R33 was torn from the mast at Pulham during a gale, and was carried away with only a partial crew of 20 men on board. Her nose partially collapsed and the first gas cell deflated leaving her low in the bow.
The crew on board started the engines, gaining some height, & rigged a cover for the bow section, but R33 was blown out over the North Sea. A Royal Navy vessel was readied & left the nearby port of Lowestoft in case R33 came down in the sea.
The local lifeboat was launched, but was driven back by the weather conditions. 5 hours after the break from the mast, R33 was under control but still being blown towards the Continent. Approaching the Dutch coast she was given an option to at De Kooy, where 300 men stood by.
Late in the evening R33 was able to hold position over the Dutch coast, hovering there until 5 a.m. the next morning. She then made her way slowly back home, arriving at the Suffolk coast 8 hours later, reaching Pulham at 13:50, where she was put into the shed alongside the R36.
For their actions the airship's 1st officer, Lieutenant Ralph Booth was awarded the Air Force Cross, the coxswain, Flight-Sergeant "Sky" Hunt, was awarded the Air Force Medal, 4 other crew members were awarded the BEM & the other crew members presented with inscribed watches.
R.33 remained in the Pulham shed undergoing repairs until October 1925. This summary was adapted from Wikipedia's entry but a more detailed description of the incident is contained in the account of R.33 on the Airship Heritage Trust website: airshipsonline.com/airships/r33/i…
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