Improvements included a smaller envelope (174,800 cu ft), more powerful engines, a new, simple boat style control car capable of water landings and a single ballonet to reduce weight as tried in the H-1.

J-2 was cancelled due to the failure of the single ballonet J-1, with the car being stored at the Naval Aircraft Factory.

J-3 was assembled from an Army TC type envelope and control car, modified to suit the Navy.

The J-3 was lost on April 4, 1933, during a forced landing while searching for survivors of the Navy rigid airship USS Akron (ZRS-4) with the loss of 2 out of the blimp's crew of 7.

[1] Rescue was made by a United States Coast Guard and New York Police Department amphibians.