The ZMC-2 (Zeppelin Metal Clad 200,000 cubic foot capacity)[1] was the only successfully operated metal-skinned airship ever built.

[2] Constructed at Naval Air Station Grosse Ile by The Aircraft Development Corporation of Detroit,[1] the ZMC-2 was operated by the U.S. Navy at Lakehurst, New Jersey from 1929 until its scrapping in 1941.

Its first Navy skipper was Red Dugan, who expressed reluctance at operating the airship, believing it unsafe.

In the year before the Depression, the U.S. Army was seeking funding for an airship based on the ZMC-2, that would have been larger than the German Graf Zeppelin, and powered by eight engines of 600–800 hp (450–600 kW; 610–810 PS)}.

General characteristics Performance The ZMC-2 plays a key role in the Clive Cussler novel Cyclops (1986) in which it is fictionally saved from scrapping and renamed Prosperteer.