The Helgoland Island air disaster occurred on 9 September 1913 after the

airship An airship or dirigible balloon is a type of aerostat or lighter-than-air aircraft that can navigate through the air under its own power. Aerostats gain their lift from a lifting gas that is less dense than the surrounding air. In early ...

Zeppelin LZ 14 had been transferred to the

Imperial German Navy The Imperial German Navy or the Imperial Navy () was the navy of the German Empire, which existed between 1871 and 1919. It grew out of the small Prussian Navy (from 1867 the North German Federal Navy), which was mainly for coast defence. Wilhel ...

on 7 October 1912. As the first airship owned by the Navy, it was given the serial number ''L-1''. Ordered to participate in manoeuvers, it departed the mainland in bad weather. With 20 people on board, L-1 flew into a gale, and, while 18 miles from its destination, the cold rain caused its gas to contract, causing it to settle north of

Heligoland Heligoland (; german: Helgoland, ; Heligolandic Frisian: , , Mooring Frisian: , da, Helgoland) is a small archipelago in the North Sea. A part of the German state of Schleswig-Holstein since 1890, the islands were historically possessions ...

into the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...

, breaking in two. The control car sank, drowning 13 of its occupants. Seven were rescued by motor torpedo boats.

References

* * {{coord, 51.1825, N, 7.885278, E, source:wikidata, display=title Aviation accidents and incidents in 1913 1913 in Germany Heligoland Aviation accidents and incidents in Germany Aviation accidents and incidents in the North Sea Accidents and incidents involving balloons and airships

See also

References