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 ...

''LZ 37'' was a

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

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 ...

of the German ''

Kaiserliche Marine {{italic title The adjective ''kaiserlich'' means "imperial" and was used in the German-speaking countries to refer to those institutions and establishments over which the ''Kaiser'' ("emperor") had immediate personal power of control. The term wa ...

'' (Imperial Navy). It was the first Zeppelin to be brought down during the war by an enemy plane, on the night of 6 to 7 June 1915.

History

In 1915 Zeppelins were first used by Germany for

strategic bombing Strategic bombing is a military strategy used in total war with the goal of defeating the enemy by destroying its morale, its economic ability to produce and transport materiel to the theatres of military operations, or both. It is a systematica ...

of the United Kingdom and France. ''LZ 37'' was part of a raid with Zeppelins '' LZ 38'' and '' LZ 39''. While returning, she was intercepted in the air by

Reginald Warneford Reginald Alexander John Warneford, VC (15 October 1891 – 17 June 1915), also known as Rex Warneford, was a British aviator and Royal Naval Air Service officer who received the Victoria Cross for air-bombing a Zeppelin during the First World ...

in his Morane Parasol during its first raid on Calais, on 7 June 1915. Warneford dropped six

Hales Hales is a small village in Norfolk, England. It covers an area of and had a population of 479 in 192 households as of the 2001 census, which had reduced to 469 at the 2011 census. History The villages name means 'Nooks of land'. The manor ...

bombs on the zeppelin, which caught fire and crashed into the convent school of

Sint-Amandsberg Sint-Amandsberg is a sub-municipality of Ghent, Belgium. The municipality was formed in 1872 after splitting from Oostakker. It is served by the Bus and train station of Gent Dampoort on the Ghent Antwerp NMBS/SNCB line. During the First Wor ...

, next to

Ghent Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded in ...

, Belgium (), killing two nuns. The commander of ''LZ 37'', Oberleutnant , and seven members of the crew were killed. One crew member, Steuermann Alfred Mühler, survived with only superficial burns and bruises when he was precipitated from the forward gondola, landing in a bed.''History of the First World War'', vol. 3, pp. 986. It was the first victory of a heavier-than-air aircraft over a lighter-than-air dirigible. Warneford was awarded the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...

for his achievement. ''LZ 37'' was based in , Belgium (airport location: ).

Specifications

Citations

References

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External links

* * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:LZ 37 Zeppelins Belgium in World War I Hydrogen airships Military airships of World War I Airships of the Imperial German Navy 1915 in Germany Aircraft first flown in 1915