Gross-Basenach or Groß-Basenach is the designation for a series of five so-called M-class German military

semi-rigid airship A semi-rigid airship is an airship which has a stiff keel or truss supporting the main envelope along its length. The keel may be partially flexible or articulated and may be located inside or outside the main envelope. The outer shape of the ai ...

s constructed by balloonist Nikolaus Basenach and Major

Hans Georg Friedrich Groß Hans Georg Friedrich Groß, (4 May 1860 – 27 February 1924), was a German balloonist and airship constructor. Luisenstadt 2008 Balloons In the 1890s, the ''Verein zur Förderung der Luftschifffahrt'' (an association promoting airflight foun ...

(1860–1924) of the Royal Prussian Airship Battalion Nr 2 Luisenstadt 2008 between 1907 and 1914. They produced one experimental and four military Groß-Basenach types, rebuilding each one several times. In all they were not as successful as Major Groß wished. He was one of the sharpest critics of the

Zeppelin A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship named after the German inventor Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin () who pioneered rigid airship development at the beginning of the 20th century. Zeppelin's notions were first formulated in 1874Eckener 1938, pp ...

airships, but the overall superiority and popularity of the Zeppelins doomed his own airships. Even his more successful competitors, Parseval and Schütte-Lanz, could not compete with Zeppelin after the war's end.

Versuchsluftschiff

The ''Versuchluftschiff'' (experimental airship) had a volume of 1,800 cubic metres and had a keel directly under the balloon envelope. It was mostly constructed by the firm Siemens-Schuckert GmbH. Pilot und Luftschiffe The first flight took place at 1907-05-07. The power plant was a 24-25

horsepower Horsepower (hp) is a unit of measurement of power, or the rate at which work is done, usually in reference to the output of engines or motors. There are many different standards and types of horsepower. Two common definitions used today are the ...

(HP)

Gaggenau Gaggenau is a town in the district of Rastatt, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is located some 8 km northeast of Baden-Baden. History Gaggenau was first mentioned in local records in 1243 under the name "Gaggenaw". The present district ...

automobile engine and allowed a top speed of . Later the airship was rebuilt, including among other things the empennage.

M I

*5,000 m³ volume *Length 65.5 metres, Diameter 11.1 metre *built by the Luftschiffer-Bataillon in Berlin Tegel *First flight: 30 June 1908 *Propulsion: two Körting-engines each 75 HP On 21 September 1908 it set a flight endurance record of over 13 hours. In 1913 the hull was lengthened to 71.8 metres. In its lengthened state it first flew on 26 March 1913. The keel was changed three times and the volume increased to 5600 m³. Nevertheless, the maximum speed remained unchanged at .

M II

M II was built in 1909 and enlarged in 1911.

M III

M III was built in 1909 and first flew on 31 December 1909 *Volume: 7,800 m³ *Länge: 81.5 metres *enlarged in 1912 to 9,000 m³ and a length of 83.3 metre *Propulsion: two Körting-engines each 75 HP *Maximum speed: ; after rebuild: M III was the fastest airship of its time.

M IV

*19,000 cubic metres volume *fitted with a ballonet to regulate the pressure *1913 Rebuilt and equipped with 100-kilogram bombs *1914 enlarged *Propulsion: three

Maybach Maybach (, ) is a Automotive industry in Germany, German luxury car brand that exists today as a part of Mercedes-Benz. The original company was founded in 1909 by Wilhelm Maybach and his son Karl Maybach, originally as a subsidiary of ''Lufts ...

-engines with a total of M IV achieved a top speed of . From 28 December 1914 until 3 November 1915 it performed 24 patrols over the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...

. On 10 September 1915 it attacked a

submarine A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...

with 100-kilogram bombs.

Notes

References

*Luisenstadt 2008
Großstraße in Köpenick
(German) last accessed 2008-07-05 *Editors of German Wikipedi

( :w:de:Groß-Basenach, current version) *Pilot und Luftschiff
Halbstarre Luftschiffe vom Typ Groß Basenach
(German) last accessed 2008-07-05 ''Unless otherwise cited, this article was sourced from editors of German Wikipedia''