Although the hangar itself survived, one airman lost his life, and two further blimps that were moored nearby, "SSZ.38" and "SSZ.54", were also destroyed. The SSZ's greater stability in flight and longer endurance enabled them to operate in worse weather conditions than had previously been attempted, and early in 1917 all existing SS types were superseded by the SS Zero. They were turned out as fast as they could be built, and a total of 77 SSZs were produced between 1916 and 1918, two of which were acquired by France and two by the United States. The US Navy operated two SSZ's. SSZ-23 (A-1030),and SSZ-24 (A-1029), the SSZ-23 envelope was destroyed in a hangar fire Howden in 1918, SSZ-23 the car was sent from Howden to the US on 4 August 1918. SSZ-24 apparently burned at Hampton Roads in the summer of 1918. The SSZ-23 was at Cape May, NJ, for erection on 5 February 1919. The SSZ-23 was with drawn by mid-1920.