The majesty of Hindenburg, colorized in a 1936 photo

The Hindenburg was dubbed the ‘world’s first flying hotel. with passenger accommodation within the hull of the humongous structure that is 5 times the size of the largest modern commercial aircraft, the Airbus A380 show below for comparison.  For a more detailed description of what it offered at the time, you can have an idea here 

Colorized photos of the Hindenberg in the throes of its destruction, May 6 1937

Here's my colorized take on 4 photos depicting a sequence of events depicting the destruction of the LZ-129 Hindenburg over less than a minute when it attempted to land at the Lakehurst Naval Air Station in New Jersey.  The photos have been taken presumably by different news photographers covering the event as it was supposed to be the Hindenburg's first scheduled round trip between Europe and the U.S.  Note that the mooring tower is still a distance away from the Hindenberg but as the photographer team were waiting to welcome the airship from the tower, several photos where taken from behind it.  Admittedly, they were well positioned to take a better photo composition.

There have been eyewitness accounts of the horrific tragedy. But easily the most dramatic, expressing the horror of the event, was the broadcast of radio reporter Herbert Morrison, lasting throughout the disaster from start to finish.  Here were his words in the broadcast:
 It's starting to rain again;
it's – the rain has slacked up a little bit.
The back motors of the ship are just holding it just, just enough to keep it from –
It burst into flames!
Get this, Charlie!
It's fire – and it's crashing! It's crashing terrible!
Oh, my, get out of the way, please!
It's burning and bursting into flames,
and the – and it's falling on the mooring-mast and all the folks agree that this is terrible, this is the worst of the worst catastrophes in the world.
[Indecipherable word(s)]
It's – it's – it's the flames,
[indecipherable, possible the word "climbing"]
oh, four- or five-hundred feet into the sky and it...
it's a terrific crash, ladies and gentlemen.
It's smoke, and it's flames now...
and the frame is crashing to the ground, not quite to the mooring-mast.
Oh, the humanity and all the passengers screaming around here. I told you, I can't even talk to people whose friends are on there.
Ah!
It's – it's – it's....
o – ohhh!
I – I can't talk, ladies and gentlemen.
Honest, it's just laying there, a mass of smoking wreckage.
Ah! And everybody can hardly breathe and talk, and the screaming.
Lady, I – I'm sorry.
Honest: I – I can hardly breathe.
I – I'm going to step inside where I cannot see it.
Charlie, that's terrible.
Ah, ah – I can't.
I, listen, folks I – I'm gonna have to stop for a minute because I've lost my voice.
This is the worst thing I've ever witnessed

Colorized LZ-129 Hindenburg at Lakehurst Naval Air Station in 1936.

Colorized a photo of the Luftschiffbau Zeppelin LZ-129 Hindenburg at Lakehurst Naval Air Station, NJ taken on May 10, 1936. (The older and smaller Graf Zepellin is in the distant background.) This was the largest commercial airship ever constructed, and unless helium dirigibles are revived, it remains the largest for all time. It was supposed to be the pride of Nazi Germany just 3 years before the invasion of Poland that started WWII. After making its first South American flight late March 1937, the Hindenburg left Frankfurt for Lakehurst on the night of 3 May on its fateful first scheduled round trip between Europe and North America, With the most luxurious appointments for its passengers matching those of the Titanic, it arrived in Lakehurst, NJ 3 days later when, as it attempted to be moored, erupted in a ball of flame that would rival a small nuclear mushroom cloud. Hitler didn't take the hint of this ominous event. The fire that destroyed the Hindenburg started at the tail section where the Nazi swastika logo was located. A comparative photo on the Hindenburg airship and the largest modern commercial and military aircraft is presented to show the relative sizes. 

Colorized Hindenburg Disaster 1937

Here's my colorized Hindenburg disaster at Lakehurst, NJ in May 6, 1937 killing 36 passengers and crew. Nothing more to add but just to say this event seemed ominous enough, portending WWII. Research indicates that the disaster occurred after dusk, around 7pm which should make the setting a bit darker in the northern hemisphere in spring. Added some photo flares.