![USS Los Angeles moored to USS Patoka, 1931](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f4/USS_Los_Angeles_moored_to_USS_Patoka%2C_1931.jpg)
A Zeppelin is a type of
rigid airship
A rigid airship is a type of airship (or dirigible) in which the envelope is supported by an internal framework rather than by being kept in shape by the pressure of the lifting gas within the envelope, as in blimps (also called pressure air ...
named after the German inventor
Count
Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York ...
Ferdinand von Zeppelin
Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin (german: Ferdinand Adolf Heinrich August Graf von Zeppelin; 8 July 1838 – 8 March 1917) was a German general and later inventor of the Zeppelin rigid airships. His name soon became synonymous with airships a ...
() who pioneered rigid airship development at the beginning of the 20th century. Zeppelin's notions were first formulated in 1874
[Eckener 1938, pp. 155–157.] and developed in detail in 1893.
[Dooley 2004, p. A.187.] They were patented in
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...
in 1895 and in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
in 1899.
After the outstanding success of the Zeppelin design, the word ''zeppelin'' came to be commonly used to refer to all rigid
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 ...
s. Zeppelins were first flown commercially in 1910 by
Deutsche Luftschiffahrts-AG
DELAG, acronym for ''Deutsche Luftschiffahrts-Aktiengesellschaft'' (German for "German Airship Travel Corporation"), was the world's first airline to use an aircraft in revenue service. It operated a fleet of zeppelin rigid airships manufacture ...
(DELAG), the world's first airline in revenue service. By mid-1914, DELAG had carried over 10,000 fare-paying passengers on over 1,500 flights. During
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
, the German military made extensive use of Zeppelins
as bombers and
as scouts, resulting in over 500 deaths in bombing raids in Britain.
The defeat of Germany in 1918 temporarily slowed the airship business. Although DELAG established a scheduled daily service between
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...
,
Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and ...
, and
Friedrichshafen
Friedrichshafen ( or ; Low Alemannic: ''Hafe'' or ''Fridrichshafe'') is a city on the northern shoreline of Lake Constance (the ''Bodensee'') in Southern Germany, near the borders of both Switzerland and Austria. It is the district capital (''K ...
in 1919, the airships built for this service eventually had to be surrendered under the terms of the
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles (french: Traité de Versailles; german: Versailler Vertrag, ) was the most important of the peace treaties of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1 ...
, which also prohibited Germany from building large airships. An exception was made allowing the construction of
one airship for the
United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
, which saved the company from extinction. In 1926, the restrictions on airship construction were lifted, and with the aid of donations from the public, work began on the construction of
LZ 127 ''Graf Zeppelin''. This revived the company's fortunes, and during the 1930s, the airships ''
Graf Zeppelin'', and the larger
LZ 129 ''Hindenburg'' operated regular
transatlantic flight
A transatlantic flight is the flight of an aircraft across the Atlantic Ocean from Europe, Africa, South Asia, or the Middle East to North America, Central America, or South America, or ''vice versa''. Such flights have been made by fixed-wing air ...
s from Germany to North America and Brazil. The
Art Deco spire of the Empire State Building was originally designed to serve as a mooring mast for Zeppelins and other airships, although it was found that high winds made this impossible and the plan was abandoned.
The
''Hindenburg'' disaster in 1937, along with political and economic issues, hastened the demise of Zeppelins.
Principal characteristics
![Zeppelin-LZ-127 internal and gas cells](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f7/Zeppelin-LZ-127_internal_and_gas_cells.svg)
The principal feature of the Zeppelin's design was a fabric-covered rigid metal framework made up of transverse rings and longitudinal girders containing a number of individual gasbags.
[Airships]
''GlobalSecurity.org.'' Retrieved: 20 July 2007. The advantage of this design was that the aircraft could be much larger than
non-rigid airship
A blimp, or non-rigid airship, is an airship (dirigible) without an internal structural framework or a keel. Unlike semi-rigid and rigid airships (e.g. Zeppelins), blimps rely on the pressure of the lifting gas (usually helium, rather than hydr ...
s, which relied on a slight overpressure within the single pressure envelope to maintain their shape. The framework of most Zeppelins was made of
duralumin
Duralumin (also called duraluminum, duraluminium, duralum, dural(l)ium, or dural) is a trade name for one of the earliest types of age hardening, age-hardenable aluminium alloys. The term is a combination of ''Dürener'' and ''aluminium''.
Its ...
(a combination of aluminium and copper as well as two or three other metals—its exact content was kept a secret for years). Early Zeppelins used rubberized cotton for the gasbags, but most later craft used
goldbeater's skin
Goldbeater's skin is the processed outer membrane of the intestine of an animal, typically cattle, which is valued for its strength against tearing. The term derives from its traditional use as durable layers interleaved between sheets of gold st ...
, made from the intestines of cattle.
The first Zeppelins had long cylindrical hulls with tapered ends and complex multi-plane
fins. During World War I, following the lead of their rivals
Schütte-Lanz Luftschiffbau, the design changed to the more familiar streamlined shape with
cruciform
Cruciform is a term for physical manifestations resembling a common cross or Christian cross. The label can be extended to architectural shapes, biology, art, and design.
Cruciform architectural plan
Christian churches are commonly describe ...
tail surfaces, as used by almost all later airships.
They were propelled by several
engines
An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy.
Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power g ...
, mounted in
gondolas or engine cars, which were attached to the outside of the structural framework. Some of these could provide reverse thrust for manoeuvring while mooring.
Early models had a comparatively small externally-mounted gondola for passengers and crew which was attached to the bottom of the frame. This space was never heated (fire outside of the kitchen was considered too risky) so passengers during trips across the North Atlantic or Siberia were forced to bundle themselves in blankets and furs to keep warm and were often miserable from the cold.
By the time of the ''
Hindenburg'', several important changes had taken place: the passenger space had been relocated to the interior of the overall vessel, passenger rooms were insulated from the exterior by the dining area, and forced-warm air could be circulated from the water that cooled the forward engines, all of which made traveling much more comfortable. This did prevent passengers from enjoying the views from the windows of their berths though, which had been a major attraction on the ''Graf Zeppelin''. On both the older and newer vessels, the external viewing windows were often open during flight. The flight ceiling was so low that no pressurization of the cabins was necessary, though the ''Hindenburg'' did maintain a pressurized air-locked smoking room (no flame allowed, however—a single electric lighter was provided, and could not be removed from the room).
Access to Zeppelins was achieved in a number of ways. The ''Graf Zeppelin''s gondola was accessed while the vessel was on the ground, via gangways. The ''Hindenburg'' also had passenger gangways leading from the ground directly into its hull which could be withdrawn entirely, ground access to the gondola, and an exterior access hatch via its electrical room; this latter was intended for crew use only.
On some long-distance units,
Blau gas
Blau gas (german: Blaugas) is an artificial illuminating gas, similar to propane, named after its inventor, Hermann Blau of Augsburg, Germany. Not or rarely used or produced today, it was manufactured by decomposing mineral oils in retorts by ...
was used to run the engines of the Zeppelin airships. This had the advantage in that the weight of Blau gas was near that of air. Thus the use of large quantities of Blau gas as a propellant had little impact on the Zeppelin
buoyancy
Buoyancy (), or upthrust, is an upward force exerted by a fluid that opposes the weight of a partially or fully immersed object. In a column of fluid, pressure increases with depth as a result of the weight of the overlying fluid. Thus the ...
. Blau gas was used on the Zeppelin airship's first voyage to America, starting in 1929. The Zeppelin facility in Friedrichshafen produced the Blau gas.
History
Early designs
![Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1972-099-15, Ferdinand Graf Zeppelin am Schreibtisch](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a3/Bundesarchiv_Bild_146-1972-099-15%2C_Ferdinand_Graf_Zeppelin_am_Schreibtisch.jpg)
Count
Ferdinand von Zeppelin
Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin (german: Ferdinand Adolf Heinrich August Graf von Zeppelin; 8 July 1838 – 8 March 1917) was a German general and later inventor of the Zeppelin rigid airships. His name soon became synonymous with airships a ...
's serious interest in airship development began in 1874, when he took inspiration from a lecture given by
Heinrich von Stephan
Ernst Heinrich Wilhelm von Stephan (born Heinrich Stephan, January 7, 1831 – April 8, 1897) was a general post director for the German Empire who reorganized the German postal service. He was integral in the founding of the Universal Postal ...
on the subject of "World Postal Services and Air Travel" to outline the basic principle of his later craft in a diary entry dated 25 March 1874.
[Dooley 2004, p. A.183.] This describes a large rigidly framed outer
envelope
An envelope is a common packaging item, usually made of thin, flat material. It is designed to contain a flat object, such as a letter or card.
Traditional envelopes are made from sheets of paper cut to one of three shapes: a rhombus, a ...
containing several separate gasbags. He had previously encountered
Union Army
During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union (American Civil War), Union of the collective U.S. st ...
balloons in 1863 when he visited the United States as a military observer during the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and t ...
.
Count Zeppelin began to seriously pursue his project after his early retirement from the military in 1890 at the age of 52. Convinced of the potential importance of aviation, he started working on various designs in 1891, and had completed detailed designs by 1893. An official committee reviewed his plans in 1894,
[ and he received a patent, granted on 31 August 1895,] with Theodor Kober producing the technical drawings.[Dooley 2004, p. A.190.]
Zeppelin's patent described a ' teerable aircraft with several carrier bodies arranged one behind another[ an airship consisting of flexibly articulated rigid sections. The front section, containing the crew and engines, was 117.35 m (385 ft) long with a gas capacity of 9,514 m³ (336,000 cu ft): the middle section was 16 m (52 ft 6 in) long with an intended useful load of 599 kg (1,320 lb) and the rear section 39.93 m (131 ft) long with an intended load of 1,996 kg (4,400 lb).
Count Zeppelin's attempts to secure government funding for his project proved unsuccessful, but a lecture given to the Union of German Engineers gained their support. Zeppelin also sought support from the industrialist Carl Berg, then engaged in construction work on the second airship design of David Schwarz. Berg was under contract not to supply aluminium to any other airship manufacturer, and subsequently made a payment to Schwarz's widow as compensation for breaking this agreement.][Dooley 2004, p. A.193.
]
Schwarz's design differed fundamentally from Zeppelin's, crucially lacking the use of separate gasbags inside a rigid envelope.[Dooley 2004, p. A.191.]
In 1898 Count Zeppelin founded the ''Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Luftschiffahrt'' (Society for the Promotion of Airship Flight), contributing more than half of its 800,000 mark
Mark may refer to:
Currency
* Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina
* East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic
* Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927
* Finn ...
share-capital himself. Responsibility for the detail design was given to Kober, whose place was later taken by Ludwig Dürr, and construction of the first airship began in 1899 in a floating assembly-hall or hangar in the Bay of Manzell near Friedrichshafen
Friedrichshafen ( or ; Low Alemannic: ''Hafe'' or ''Fridrichshafe'') is a city on the northern shoreline of Lake Constance (the ''Bodensee'') in Southern Germany, near the borders of both Switzerland and Austria. It is the district capital (''K ...
on Lake Constance
Lake Constance (german: Bodensee, ) refers to three bodies of water on the Rhine at the northern foot of the Alps: Upper Lake Constance (''Obersee''), Lower Lake Constance (''Untersee''), and a connecting stretch of the Rhine, called the Lak ...
(the ''Bodensee''). The intention behind the floating hall was to facilitate the difficult task of bringing the airship out of the hall, as it could easily be aligned with the wind. The LZ 1 (LZ for ''Luftschiff Zeppelin'', or "Zeppelin Airship") was long with a hydrogen capacity of , was driven by two Daimler engines each driving a pair of propellers mounted either side of the envelope via bevel gear
Bevel gears are gears where the axes of the two shafts intersect and the tooth-bearing faces of the gears themselves are conically shaped. Bevel gears are most often mounted on shafts that are 90 degrees apart, but can be designed to work at othe ...
s and a driveshaft, and was controlled in pitch by moving a weight between its two nacelle
A nacelle ( ) is a "streamlined body, sized according to what it contains", such as an engine, fuel, or equipment on an aircraft. When attached by a pylon entirely outside the airframe, it is sometimes called a pod, in which case it is attache ...
s.
The first flight took place on 2 July 1900 over Lake Constance.[ Dooley 2004, pp. A.197–A.198.] Damaged during landing, it was repaired and modified and proved its potential in two subsequent flights made on 17 and 24 October 1900,[ bettering the 6 m/s (21.6 km/h, 13.4 mph) velocity attained by the French airship ''La France''. Despite this performance, the ]shareholder
A shareholder (in the United States often referred to as stockholder) of a corporation is an individual or legal entity (such as another corporation, a body politic, a trust or partnership) that is registered by the corporation as the legal o ...
s declined to invest more money, and so the company was liquidated, with Count von Zeppelin purchasing the ship and equipment. The Count wished to continue experimenting, but he eventually dismantled the ship in 1901.[de Syon 2001, p. 25.]
Donations, the profits of a special lottery
A lottery is a form of gambling that involves the drawing of numbers at random for a prize. Some governments outlaw lotteries, while others endorse it to the extent of organizing a national or state lottery. It is common to find some degree of ...
, some public funding, a mortgage of Count von Zeppelin's wife's estate, and a 100,000 mark contribution by Count von Zeppelin himself allowed the construction of LZ 2, which made only a single flight on 17 January 1906.[de Syon 2001, p. 26.] After both engines failed it made a forced landing in the Allgäu
The Allgäu (Standard German: , also Allgovia) is a region in Swabia in southern Germany. It covers the south of Bavarian Swabia, southeastern Baden-Württemberg, and parts of Austria. The region stretches from the pre-alpine lands up to the ...
mountains, where a storm subsequently damaged the anchored ship beyond repair.
Incorporating all the usable parts of LZ 2, its successor LZ 3 became the first truly successful Zeppelin. This renewed the interest of the German military, but a condition of purchase of an airship was a 24-hour endurance trial.[de Syon 2001, p. 35.] This was beyond the capabilities of LZ 3, leading Zeppelin to construct his fourth design, the LZ 4
The Zeppelin ''LZ 4'' was a German experimental airship constructed under the direction of Ferdinand von Zeppelin. First flown on 20 June 1908, it made a series of successful flights including a 12-hour flight over Switzerland. It was destroye ...
, first flown on 20 June 1908. On 1 July it was flown over Switzerland to Zürich and then back to Lake Constance, covering 386 km (240 mi) and reaching an altitude of 795 m (2,600 ft). An attempt to complete the 24-hour trial flight ended when LZ 4 had to make a landing at Echterdingen near Stuttgart
Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the Sw ...
because of mechanical problems. During the stop, a storm tore the airship away from its moorings on the afternoon of 5 August 1908. It crashed into a tree, caught fire, and quickly burnt out. No one was seriously injured.
This accident would have finished Zeppelin's experiments, but his flights had generated huge public interest and a sense of national pride regarding his work, and spontaneous donations from the public began pouring in, eventually totalling over six million marks. This enabled the Count to found the '' Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmbH'' (Airship Construction Zeppelin Ltd.) and the Zeppelin Foundation The Zeppelin Foundation is an institution founded by Ferdinand von Zeppelin. Originally founded to support development of zeppelins and other airships, it now owns a number of large businesses in full or in part and uses its income for philanthropic ...
.
Before World War I
Before World War I (1914–1918) the Zeppelin company manufactured 21 more airships. The Imperial German Army
The Imperial German Army (1871–1919), officially referred to as the German Army (german: Deutsches Heer), was the unified ground and air force of the German Empire. It was established in 1871 with the political unification of Germany under the l ...
bought LZ 3 and LZ 5 (a sister-ship to LZ 4 which was completed in May 1909) and designated them Z I and Z II respectively. Z II was wrecked in a gale in April 1910, while Z I flew until 1913, when it was decommissioned and replaced by LZ 15, designated ''ersatz'' Z I.[ First flown on 16 January 1913, it was wrecked on 19 March of the same year. In April 1913 its newly built sister-ship LZ 15 (Z IV) accidentally intruded into French airspace owing to a navigational error caused by high winds and poor visibility. The commander judged it proper to land the airship to demonstrate that the incursion was accidental, and brought the ship down on the military parade-ground at ]Lunéville
Lunéville ( ; German, obsolete: ''Lünstadt'' ) is a commune in the northeastern French department of Meurthe-et-Moselle.
It is a subprefecture of the department and lies on the river Meurthe at its confluence with the Vezouze.
History
L ...
. The airship remained on the ground until the following day, permitting a detailed examination by French airship experts.
In 1909, Count Zeppelin founded the world's first airline, the Deutsche Luftschiffahrts-Aktiengesellschaft (German Airship Travel Corporation), generally known as DELAG
DELAG, acronym for ''Deutsche Luftschiffahrts-Aktiengesellschaft'' (German for "German Airship Travel Corporation"), was the world's first airline to use an aircraft in revenue service. It operated a fleet of zeppelin rigid airships manufacture ...
[Robinson 1971, p. 15] to promote his airships, initially using LZ 6, which he had hoped to sell to the German Army. The airships did not provide a scheduled service between cities, but generally operated pleasure cruises, carrying twenty passengers. The airships were given names in addition to their production numbers. LZ 6 first flew on 25 August 1909 and was accidentally destroyed in Baden-Oos on 14 September 1910 by a fire in its hangar.
The second DELAG airship, LZ 7 ''Deutschland'', made its maiden voyage on 19 June 1910. On 28 June it set off on a voyage to publicise Zeppelins, carrying 19 journalists as passengers. A combination of adverse weather and engine failure brought it down at Mount Limberg near Bad Iburg
Bad Iburg (; Westphalian: ''Bad Ibig'') is a spa town in the district of Osnabrück, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated in the Teutoburg Forest, 16 km south of Osnabrück.
Bad Iburg is also the name of a municipality which includes ...
in Lower Saxony, its hull getting stuck in trees. All passengers and crew were unhurt, except for one crew member who broke his leg when he jumped from the craft. It was replaced by LZ 8 ''Deutschland II'', which also had a short career, first flying on 30 March 1911 and becoming damaged beyond repair when caught by a strong cross-wind when being walked out of its shed on 16 May. The company's fortunes changed with the next ship, LZ 10 ''Schwaben'', which first flew on 26 June 1911 and carried 1,553 passengers in 218 flights before catching fire after a gust tore it from its mooring near Düsseldorf. Other DELAG ships included LZ 11 ''Viktoria Luise'' (1912), LZ 13 ''Hansa'' (1912) and LZ 17 ''Sachsen'' (1913). By the outbreak of World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
in August 1914 1588 flights had carried 10,197 fare-paying passengers.
On 24 April 1912, 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 ...
ordered its first Zeppelin—an enlarged version of the airships operated by DELAG—which received the naval designation Z 1 and entered Navy service in October 1912. On 18 January 1913 Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz
Alfred Peter Friedrich von Tirpitz (19 March 1849 – 6 March 1930) was a German grand admiral, Secretary of State of the German Imperial Naval Office, the powerful administrative branch of the German Imperial Navy from 1897 until 1916. Prussi ...
, Secretary of State of the German Imperial Naval Office, obtained the agreement of Kaiser Wilhelm II to a five-year program of expansion of German naval-airship strength, involving the building of two airship bases and constructing a fleet of ten airships. The first airship of the program, L 2, was ordered on 30 January. L 1 was lost on 9 September near 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 possession ...
when caught in a storm while taking part in an exercise with the German fleet. 14 crew members drowned, the first fatalities in a Zeppelin accident.[Robinson 1971, p. 25] Less than six weeks later, on 17 October, LZ 18 (L 2) caught fire during its acceptance trials, killing the entire crew. These accidents deprived the Navy of most of its experienced personnel: the head of the Admiralty Air Department was killed in the L 1 and his successor died in the L 2. The Navy was left with three partially trained crews. The next Navy zeppelin, the M class L 3, did not enter service until May 1914: in the meantime, ''Sachsen'' was hired from DELAG as a training ship.
By the outbreak of war in August 1914, Zeppelin had started constructing the first M class airships, which had a length of , with a volume of and a useful load of . Their three Maybach C-X engines produced each, and they could reach speeds of up to .
During World War I
The German airships were operated separately by the Army and Navy. When World War I broke out, the Army took over the three remaining DELAG ships. By this time, it had already decommissioned three older Zeppelins, including Z I. During the war, the Navy Zeppelins were mainly used in reconnaissance missions.[Boyne 2002]
p. 256.
/ref> Bombing missions, especially those targeting London, captured the German public's imagination, but had little significant material success, although the Zeppelin raids, together with the later bombing raids carried out by aeroplanes, did cause the diversion of men and equipment from the Western Front and fear of the raids had some effect on industrial production.
Early offensive operations by Army airships revealed that they were extremely vulnerable to ground fire unless flown at high altitude, and several were lost. No bombs had been developed, and the early raids dropped artillery shells instead. On 5 August 1914 Z VI bombed Liège
Liège ( , , ; wa, Lîdje ; nl, Luik ; german: Lüttich ) is a major city and municipality of Wallonia and the capital of the Belgian province of Liège.
The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east of Belgium, not far fro ...
. Flying at a relatively low altitude because of cloud cover, the airship was damaged by small-arms fire and was destroyed in a forced landing near Bonn
The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ru ...
.[Robinson 1973, p.85] Thirteen bombs were dropped in the raid and nine civilians were killed. On 21 August Z VII and Z VIII were damaged by ground fire while supporting German army operations in Alsace
Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it had ...
, and Z VIII was lost.[Robinson 1973, pp.86-7] On the night of 24/25 August Z IX bombed Antwerp
Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504, , dropping bombs near the royal palace and killing five people. A second, less effective, raid was made on the night of 1–2 September and a third on 7 October, but on 8 October Z IX was destroyed in its hangar at Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in ...
by Flt Lt. Reginald Marix
Air Vice Marshal Reginald Leonard George Marix, (17 August 1889 – 7 January 1966) was a British aviator, originally with the Royal Naval Air Service, who later reached air officer rank in the Royal Air Force. He is credited with being the firs ...
, RNAS. The RNAS had also bombed the Zeppelin bases in Cologne
Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...
on 22 September 1914. On the eastern front, Z V was brought down by ground fire on 28 August during the Battle of Tannenberg
The Battle of Tannenberg, also known as the Second Battle of Tannenberg, was fought between Russia and Germany between 26 and 30 August 1914, the first month of World War I. The battle resulted in the almost complete destruction of the Russ ...
; most of the crew were captured. Z IV bombed Warsaw
Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officiall ...
on 24 September and was also used to support German army operations in East Prussia.[ By the end of 1914 the Army's airship strength was reduced to four.][
On 20 March 1915, temporarily forbidden from bombing London by the Kaiser, Z X (LZ 29), LZ 35 and the Schütte-Lanz airship SL 2 set off to bomb ]Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...
: SL 2 was damaged by artillery fire while crossing the front and turned back but the two Zeppelins reached Paris and dropped of bombs, killing only one and wounding eight. On the return journey Z X was damaged by anti-aircraft fire and was damaged beyond repair in the resulting forced landing. Three weeks later LZ 35 suffered a similar fate after bombing Poperinghe.
Paris mounted a more effective defense against zeppelin raids than London. Zeppelins attacking Paris had to first fly over the system of forts between the front and the city, from which they were subjected to anti-aircraft fire with reduced risk of collateral damage
Collateral damage is any death, injury, or other damage inflicted that is an incidental result of an activity. Originally coined by military operations, it is now also used in non-military contexts.
Since the development of precision guided ...
. The French also maintained a continuous patrol of two fighters over Paris at an altitude from which they could promptly attack arriving zeppelins avoiding the delay required to reach the zeppelin altitude. Two further missions were flown against Paris in January 1916: on 29 January LZ 79 killed 23 and injured another 30 but was so severely damaged by anti-aircraft fire that it crashed during the return journey. A second mission by LZ 77 the following night bombed the suburbs of Asnières and Versailles, with little effect.[Robinson 1973, p. 113]
Airship operations in the Balkans started in the autumn of 1915, and an airship base was constructed at Szentandras. In November 1915 LZ 81 was used to fly diplomats to Sofia
Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and h ...
for negotiations with the Bulgaria
Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...
n government. This base was also used by LZ 85 to conduct two raids on Salonika
Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area, and the capital of the geographic region of ...
in early 1916: a third raid on 4 May ended with it being brought down by anti-aircraft fire. The crew survived but were taken prisoner.[ When ]Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...
entered the war in August 1916 LZ 101 was transferred to Yambol
Yambol ( bg, Ямбол ) is a town in Southeastern Bulgaria and administrative centre of Yambol Province. It lies on both banks of the Tundzha river in the historical region of Thrace. It is occasionally spelled ''Jambol''.
Yambol is the ad ...
and bombed Bucharest
Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north o ...
on 28 August, 4 September and 25 September. LZ 86, transferred to Szentandras and made a single attack on the Ploiești
Ploiești ( , , ), formerly spelled Ploești, is a city and county seat in Prahova County, Romania. Part of the historical region of Muntenia, it is located north of Bucharest.
The area of Ploiești is around , and it borders the Blejoi commun ...
oil fields on 4 September but was wrecked on attempting to land after the mission. Its replacement, LZ 86, was damaged by anti-aircraft fire during its second attack on Bucharest on 26 September and was damaged beyond repair in the resulting forced landing, and was replaced by LZ 97.
At the instigation of the Kaiser a plan was made to bomb Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
in December 1916. Two Navy zeppelins were transferred to Wainoden on the Courland Peninsula
The Courland Peninsula (, German: ''Kurland'') is a historical and cultural region in western Latvia in the north-western part of Courland. Fourteen coastal villages on the peninsula make of the Livonian core area.
It is bordered by the Baltic S ...
. A preliminary attempt to bomb Reval
Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju ''m ...
on 28 December ended in failure caused by operating problems due to the extreme cold, and one of the airships was destroyed in a forced landing at Seerappen. The plan was subsequently abandoned.
In 1917 the German High Command made an attempt to use a Zeppelin to deliver supplies to Lettow-Vorbeck's forces in German East Africa
German East Africa (GEA; german: Deutsch-Ostafrika) was a German colony in the African Great Lakes region, which included present-day Burundi, Rwanda, the Tanzania mainland, and the Kionga Triangle, a small region later incorporated into Mo ...
. L 57, a specially lengthened craft was to have flown the mission but was destroyed shortly after completion. A Zeppelin then under construction, L 59, was then modified for the mission: it set off from Yambol on 21 November 1917 and nearly reached its destination, but was ordered to return by radio. Its journey covered and lasted 95 hours. It was then used for reconnaissance and bombing missions in the eastern Mediterranean. It flew one bombing mission against Naples
Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adm ...
on 10–11 March 1918. A planned attack on Suez
Suez ( ar, السويس '; ) is a seaport city (population of about 750,000 ) in north-eastern Egypt, located on the north coast of the Gulf of Suez (a branch of the Red Sea), near the southern terminus of the Suez Canal, having the same bou ...
was turned back by high winds, and on 7 April 1918 it was on a mission to bomb the British naval base at Malta
Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...
when it caught fire over the Straits of Otranto
The Strait of Otranto ( sq, Ngushtica e Otrantos; it, Canale d'Otranto; hr, Otrantska Vrata) connects the Adriatic Sea with the Ionian Sea and separates Italy from Albania. Its width at Punta Palascìa, east of Salento is less than . The st ...
, with the loss of all its crew.
On 5 January 1918, a fire at Ahlhorn destroyed four of the specialised double sheds along with four Zeppelins and one Schütte-Lanz. In July 1918, the Tondern raid
The Tondern raid or Operation F.7, was a British bombing raid mounted by the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force against the Imperial German Navy airship base at Tønder, Denmark, then a part of Germany. The airships were used for the strategic bo ...
conducted by the RAF and Royal Navy, destroyed two Zeppelins in their sheds.
1914–18 naval patrols
The main use of the airship was in reconnaissance over 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 ...
and the Baltic
Baltic may refer to:
Peoples and languages
*Baltic languages, a subfamily of Indo-European languages, including Lithuanian, Latvian and extinct Old Prussian
*Balts (or Baltic peoples), ethnic groups speaking the Baltic languages and/or originatin ...
, and the majority of airships manufactured were used by the Navy. Patrolling had priority over any other airship activity.[ Lehmann Chapter VI] During the war almost 1,000 missions were flown over the North Sea alone, compared with about 50 strategic bombing raids. The German Navy had some 15 Zeppelins in commission by the end of 1915 and was able to have two or more patrolling continuously at any one time. However their operations were limited by weather conditions. On 16 February L 3 and L 4 were lost owing to a combination of engine failure and high winds, L 3 crashing on the Danish island of Fanø without loss of life and L 4 coming down at Blaavands Huk; eleven crew escaped from the forward gondola, after which the lightened airship with four crew members remaining in the aft engine car was blown out to sea and lost.
At this stage in the war there was no clear doctrine for the use of Naval airships. A single large Zeppelin, L 5, played an unimportant part in the Battle of the Dogger Bank on 24 January 1915. L 5 was carrying out a routine patrol when it picked up Admiral Hipper's radio signal announcing that he was engaged with the British battle cruiser squadron. Heading towards the German fleet's position, the Zeppelin was forced to climb above the cloud cover by fire from the British fleet: its commander then decided that it was his duty to cover the retreating German fleet rather than observe British movements.
In 1915 patrols were only carried out on 124 days and in other years the total was considerably less. They prevented British ships from approaching Germany, spotted when and where the British were laying mines and later aided in the destruction of those mines.[ Zeppelins would sometimes land on the sea next to a minesweeper, bring aboard an officer and show him the mines' locations.][
In 1917 the Royal Navy began to take effective countermeasures against airship patrols over the North Sea. In April the first Curtiss H.12 Large America long-range ]flying boats
A flying boat is a type of fixed-winged seaplane with a hull, allowing it to land on water. It differs from a floatplane in that a flying boat's fuselage is purpose-designed for floatation and contains a hull, while floatplanes rely on fusel ...
were delivered to RNAS Felixstowe
The Seaplane Experimental Station, formerly RNAS Felixstowe, was a British aircraft design unit during the early part of the 20th century.
Creation
During June 1912, surveys began for a suitable site for a base for Naval hydro-aeroplanes, with ...
and in July 1917 the aircraft carrier entered service, and launching platforms for aeroplanes were fitted to the forward turrets of some light cruisers. On 14 May L 22 was shot down near Terschelling Bank by an H.12 flown by Lt. Galpin and Sub-Lt. Leckie which had been alerted following interception of its radio traffic. Two abortive interceptions were made by Galpin and Leckie on 24 May and 5 June and on 14 June L 43 was brought down by an H.12 flown by Sub Lts. Hobbs and Dickie. On the same day Galpin and Leckie intercepted and attacked L 46. The Germans had believed that the previous unsuccessful attacks had been made by an aircraft operating from one of the Royal Navy's seaplane carriers; now realising that there was a new threat, Strasser ordered airships patrolling in the Terschilling area to maintain an altitude of at least 4,000 m (13,000 ft), considerably reducing their effectiveness. On 21 August L 23, patrolling off the Danish coast, was spotted by the British 3rd Light Cruiser squadron which was in the area. launched its Sopwith Pup
The Sopwith Pup is a British single-seater biplane fighter aircraft built by the Sopwith Aviation Company. It entered service with the Royal Naval Air Service and the Royal Flying Corps in the autumn of 1916. With pleasant flying characte ...
, and Sub-Lt. B. A. Smart succeeded in shooting the Zeppelin down in flames. The cause of the airship's loss was not discovered by the Germans, who believed the Zeppelin had been brought down by anti-aircraft fire from ships.
Bombing campaign against Britain
At the beginning of the conflict the German command had high hopes for the airships, which were considerably more capable than contemporary light fixed-wing machines: they were almost as fast, could carry multiple machine guns, and had enormously greater bomb
A bomb is an explosive weapon that uses the exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy. Detonations inflict damage principally through ground- and atmosphere-transmitted mechan ...
-load range and endurance. Contrary to expectation, it was not easy to ignite the hydrogen using standard bullets and shrapnel. The Allies only started to exploit the Zeppelin's great vulnerability to fire when a combination of Pomeroy and Brock explosive ammunition with Buckingham incendiary ammunition
Incendiary ammunition is a type of ammunition that contains a chemical that, upon hitting a hard obstacle, has the characteristic of causing fire/setting flammable materials in the vincinity of the impact on fire.
World War I
The first time ince ...
was used in fighter aircraft
Fighter aircraft are fixed-wing military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat. In military conflict, the role of fighter aircraft is to establish air superiority of the battlespace. Domination of the airspace above a battlefield ...
machine guns during 1916. The British had been concerned over the threat posed by Zeppelins since 1909, and attacked the Zeppelin bases early in the war. LZ 25 was destroyed in its hangar at Düsseldorf on 8 October 1914 by bombs dropped by Flt Lt Reginald Marix, RNAS, and the sheds at Cologne as well as the Zeppelin works in Friedrichshafen were also attacked. These raids were followed by the Cuxhaven Raid
The Raid on Cuxhaven (german: link=no, Weihnachtsangriff, Christmas Raid) was a British ship-based air-raid on the Imperial German Navy at Cuxhaven mounted on Christmas Day, 1914.
Aircraft of the Royal Naval Air Service were carried to withi ...
on Christmas Day 1914, one of the first operations carried out by ship-launched aeroplanes.
Airship raids on Great Britain were approved by the Kaiser
''Kaiser'' is the German word for "emperor" (female Kaiserin). In general, the German title in principle applies to rulers anywhere in the world above the rank of king (''König''). In English, the (untranslated) word ''Kaiser'' is mainly ap ...
on 7 January 1915, although he excluded London as a target and further demanded that no attacks be made on historic buildings. The raids were intended to target only military sites on the east coast and around the Thames estuary, but bombing accuracy was poor owing to the height at which the airships flew and navigation was problematic. The airships relied largely on dead reckoning
In navigation, dead reckoning is the process of calculating current position of some moving object by using a previously determined position, or fix, and then incorporating estimates of speed, heading direction, and course over elapsed time. ...
, supplemented by a radio direction-finding system of limited accuracy. After blackouts became widespread, many bombs fell at random on uninhabited countryside.
=1915
=
The first raid on England took place on the night of 19–20 January 1915. Two Zeppelins, L 3 and L 4, intended to attack targets near the River Humber
The Humber is a large tidal estuary on the east coast of Northern England. It is formed at Trent Falls, Faxfleet, by the confluence of the tidal rivers Ouse and Trent. From there to the North Sea, it forms part of the boundary between ...
but, diverted by strong winds, eventually dropped their bombs on Great Yarmouth
Great Yarmouth (), often called Yarmouth, is a seaside town and unparished area in, and the main administrative centre of, the Borough of Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, England; it straddles the River Yare and is located east of Norwich. A pop ...
, Sheringham, King's Lynn
King's Lynn, known until 1537 as Bishop's Lynn and colloquially as Lynn, is a port and market town in the borough of King's Lynn and West Norfolk in the county of Norfolk, England. It is located north of London, north-east of Peterborough, nor ...
and the surrounding villages, killing four and injuring 16. Material damage was estimated at £7,740.
The Kaiser authorised the bombing of the London docks on 12 February 1915, but no raids on London took place until May. Two Navy raids failed due to bad weather on 14 and 15 April, and it was decided to delay further attempts until the more capable P class Zeppelins were in service. The Army received the first of these, LZ 38, and Erich Linnarz commanded it on a raid over Ipswich
Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line ...
on 29–30 April and another, attacking Southend
Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authority area with borough status in southeastern Essex, England. It lies on the north side of the Thames Estuary, east of central London. It is bordered ...
on 9–10 May. LZ 38 also attacked Dover
Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maids ...
and Ramsgate
Ramsgate is a seaside town in the district of Thanet in east Kent, England. It was one of the great English seaside towns of the 19th century. In 2001 it had a population of about 40,000. In 2011, according to the Census, there was a populati ...
on 16–17 May, before returning to bomb Southend on 26–27 May. These four raids killed six people and injured six, causing property damage estimated at £16,898.[Cole and Cheesman 1984, pp. 51–55.] Twice Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) aircraft tried to intercept LZ 38 but on both occasions it was either able to outclimb the aircraft or was already at too great an altitude for the aircraft to intercept.
On 31 May Linnarz commanded LZ 38 on the first raid against London. In total some 120 bombs were dropped on a line stretching from Stoke Newington
Stoke Newington is an area occupying the north-west part of the London Borough of Hackney in north-east London, England. It is northeast of Charing Cross. The Manor of Stoke Newington gave its name to Stoke Newington the ancient parish.
The ...
south to Stepney
Stepney is a district in the East End of London in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The district is no longer officially defined, and is usually used to refer to a relatively small area. However, for much of its history the place name appli ...
and then north toward Leytonstone
Leytonstone () is an area in east London, England, north-east of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Waltham Forest, a local authority district of Greater London. It adjoins Wanstead to the north-east, Forest Gate to the south-east, ...
. Seven people were killed and 35 injured. 41 fires were started, burning out seven buildings and the total damage was assessed at £18,596. Aware of the problems that the Germans were experiencing in navigation, this raid caused the government to issue a D notice prohibiting the press from reporting anything about raids that was not mentioned in official statements. Only one of the 15 defensive sorties managed to make visual contact with the enemy, and one of the pilots, Flt Lieut D. M. Barnes, was killed on attempting to land.
The first naval attempt on London took place on 4 June: strong winds caused the commander of L 9 to misjudge his position, and the bombs were dropped on Gravesend
Gravesend is a town in northwest Kent, England, situated 21 miles (35 km) east-southeast of Charing Cross (central London) on the south bank of the River Thames and opposite Tilbury in Essex. Located in the diocese of Rochester, it is ...
. L 9 was also diverted by the weather on 6–7 June, attacking Hull
Hull may refer to:
Structures
* Chassis, of an armored fighting vehicle
* Fuselage, of an aircraft
* Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds
* Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a ship
* Submarine hull
Mathematics
* Affine hull, in affi ...
instead of London and causing considerable damage. On the same night an Army raid of three Zeppelins also failed because of the weather, and as the airships returned to Evere (Brussels) they ran into a counter-raid by RNAS aircraft flying from Furnes, Belgium. LZ 38 was destroyed on the ground and LZ 37 was intercepted in the air by R. A. J. Warneford, who dropped six bombs on the airship, setting it on fire. All but one of the crew died. 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 previousl ...
for his achievement. As a consequence of the RNAS raid both the Army and Navy withdrew from their bases in Belgium.
After an ineffective attack by L 10 on Tyneside
Tyneside is a built-up area across the banks of the River Tyne in northern England. Residents of the area are commonly referred to as Geordies. The whole area is surrounded by the North East Green Belt.
The population of Tyneside as publishe ...
on 15–16 June the short summer nights discouraged further raids for some months, and the remaining Army Zeppelins were reassigned to the Eastern and Balkan fronts. The Navy resumed raids on Britain in August, when three largely ineffective raids were carried out. On 10 August the antiaircraft guns had their first success, causing L 12 to come down into the sea off Zeebrugge
Zeebrugge (, from: ''Brugge aan zee'' meaning "Bruges at Sea", french: Zeebruges) is a village on the coast of Belgium and a subdivision of Bruges, for which it is the modern port. Zeebrugge serves as both the international port of Bruges-Zee ...
, and on 17–18 August L 10 became the first Navy airship to reach London. Mistaking the reservoirs of the Lea Valley for the Thames, it dropped its bombs on Walthamstow
Walthamstow ( or ) is a large town in east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London and the ancient county of Essex. Situated northeast of Charing Cross, the town borders Chingford to the north, Snaresbrook and Sout ...
and Leytonstone. L 10 was destroyed a little over two weeks later: it was struck by lightning and caught fire off Cuxhaven
Cuxhaven (; ) is an independent town and seat of the Cuxhaven district, in Lower Saxony, Germany. The town includes the northernmost point of Lower Saxony. It is situated on the shore of the North Sea at the mouth of the Elbe River. Cuxhaven ...
, and the entire crew was killed. Three Army airships set off to bomb London on 7–8 September, of which two succeeded: SL 2 dropped bombs between Southwark
Southwark ( ) is a district of Central London situated on the south bank of the River Thames, forming the north-western part of the wider modern London Borough of Southwark. The district, which is the oldest part of South London, developed ...
and Woolwich
Woolwich () is a district in southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich.
The district's location on the River Thames led to its status as an important naval, military and industrial area; a role that was maintained thr ...
: LZ 74 scattered 39 bombs over Cheshunt
Cheshunt ( ) is a town in Hertfordshire, England, north of London on the River Lea and Lee Navigation. It contains a section of the Lee Valley Park, including much of the River Lee Country Park. To the north lies Broxbourne and Wormley, ...
before heading on to London and dropping a single bomb on Fenchurch Street station
Fenchurch Street railway station, also known as London Fenchurch Street, is a central London railway terminus in the southeastern corner of the City of London. It takes its name from its proximity to Fenchurch Street, a key thoroughfare in th ...
.
The Navy attempted to follow up the Army's success the following night. One Zeppelin targeted the benzole
In the United Kingdom, benzole or benzol is a coal-tar product consisting mainly of benzene and toluene. It was originally used as a 'motor spirit', as was petroleum spirits. Benzole was also blended with petrol and sold as a motor fuel under tra ...
plant at Skinningrove and three set off to bomb London: two were forced to turn back but L 13, commanded by ''Kapitänleutnant'' Heinrich Mathy reached London. The bomb-load included a bomb, the largest yet carried. This exploded near Smithfield Market
Smithfield, properly known as West Smithfield, is a district located in Central London, part of Farringdon Without, the most westerly ward of the City of London, England.
Smithfield is home to a number of City institutions, such as St Barth ...
, destroying several houses and killing two men. More bombs fell on the textile warehouses north of St Paul's Cathedral
St Paul's Cathedral is an Anglicanism, Anglican cathedral in London and is the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London. It is on Ludgate Hill at the highest point of the City of London ...
, causing a fire which despite the attendance of 22 fire engines caused over half a million pounds of damage: Mathy then turned east, dropping his remaining bombs on Liverpool Street station
Liverpool Street station, also known as London Liverpool Street, is a central London railway terminus and connected London Underground station in the north-eastern corner of the City of London, in the ward of Bishopsgate Without. It is the ...
. The Zeppelin was the target of concentrated anti-aircraft fire, but no hits were scored and the falling shrapnel caused both damage and alarm on the ground. The raid killed 22 people and injured 87. The monetary cost of the damage was over one sixth of the total damage costs inflicted by bombing raids during the war.
After three more raids were scattered by the weather, a five-Zeppelin raid was launched by the Navy on 13 October, the "Theatreland Raid." Arriving over the Norfolk coast at around 18:30, the Zeppelins encountered new ground defences installed since the September raid; these had no success, although the airship commanders commented on the improved defences of the city. L 15 began bombing over Charing Cross
Charing Cross ( ) is a junction in Westminster, London, England, where six routes meet. Clockwise from north these are: the east side of Trafalgar Square leading to St Martin's Place and then Charing Cross Road; the Strand leading to the City ...
, the first bombs striking the Lyceum Theatre and the corner of Exeter and Wellington Streets, killing 17 and injuring 20. None of the other Zeppelins reached central London: bombs fell on Woolwich, Guildford
Guildford ()
is a town in west Surrey, around southwest of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The name "Guildf ...
, Tonbridge
Tonbridge ( ) is a market town in Kent, England, on the River Medway, north of Royal Tunbridge Wells, south west of Maidstone and south east of London. In the administrative borough of Tonbridge and Malling, it had an estimated population ...
, Croydon
Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an exten ...
, Hertford
Hertford ( ) is the county town of Hertfordshire, England, and is also a civil parish in the East Hertfordshire district of the county. The parish had a population of 26,783 at the 2011 census.
The town grew around a ford on the River Lea, n ...
and an army camp near Folkestone. A total of 71 people were killed and 128 injured. This was the last raid of 1915, as bad weather coincided with the new moon in both November and December 1915 and continued into January 1916.
Although these raids had no significant military impact, the psychological effect was considerable. The writer D. H. Lawrence
David Herbert Lawrence (11 September 1885 – 2 March 1930) was an English writer, novelist, poet and essayist. His works reflect on modernity, industrialization, sexuality, emotional health, vitality, spontaneity and instinct. His best-k ...
described one raid in a letter to Lady Ottoline Morrell
Lady Ottoline Violet Anne Morrell (16 June 1873 – 21 April 1938) was an English aristocrat and society hostess. Her patronage was influential in artistic and intellectual circles, where she befriended writers including Aldous Huxley, Siegfr ...
:
=1916
=
The raids continued in 1916. In December 1915 additional P class Zeppelins and the first of the new Q class airships, were delivered. The Q class was an enlargement of the P class with improved ceiling and bomb-load.
The Army took full control of ground defences in February 1916, and a variety of sub 4-inch (less than 102 mm) calibre guns were converted to anti-aircraft
Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based ...
use. Searchlight
A searchlight (or spotlight) is an apparatus that combines an extremely luminosity, bright source (traditionally a carbon arc lamp) with a mirrored parabolic reflector to project a powerful beam of light of approximately parallel rays in a part ...
s were introduced, initially manned by police. By mid-1916, there were 271 anti-aircraft guns and 258 searchlights across England. Aerial defences against Zeppelins were divided between the RNAS and the Royal Flying Corps
"Through Adversity to the Stars"
, colors =
, colours_label =
, march =
, mascot =
, anniversaries =
, decorations ...
(RFC), with the Navy engaging enemy airships approaching the coast while the RFC took responsibility once the enemy had crossed the coastline. Initially the War Office had believed that the Zeppelins used a layer of inert gas to protect themselves from incendiary bullets, and favoured the use of bombs or devices like the Ranken dart
The Ranken Dart was an anti-Zeppelin weapon developed during the First World War. It was an air-dropped explosive flechette-type of missile-shaped bomb which was long and wide while being of a steel and wood construcation.
It was developed for ...
. However, by mid-1916 an effective mixture of explosive, tracer and incendiary rounds had been developed. There were 23 airship raids in 1916, in which 125 tons of bombs were dropped, killing 293 people and injuring 691.
The first raid of 1916 was carried out by the German Navy. Nine Zeppelins were sent to Liverpool on the night of 31 January – 1 February. A combination of poor weather and mechanical problems scattered them across the Midlands
The Midlands (also referred to as Central England) are a part of England that broadly correspond to the Kingdom of Mercia of the Early Middle Ages, bordered by Wales, Northern England and Southern England. The Midlands were important in the In ...
and several towns were bombed. A total of 61 people were reported killed and 101 injured by the raid.["Damage in the Raid." ''The Times,'' 5 February 1916, p. 7.] Despite ground fog, 22 aircraft took off to find the Zeppelins but none succeeded, and two pilots were killed when attempting to land. One airship, the L 19, came down in the North Sea because of engine failure and damage from Dutch ground-fire. Although the wreck stayed afloat for a while and was sighted by a British fishing trawler
A fishing trawler is a commercial fishing vessel designed to operate fishing trawls. Trawling is a method of fishing that involves actively dragging or pulling a trawl through the water behind one or more trawlers. Trawls are fishing nets th ...
, the boat's crew refused to rescue the Zeppelin's crew because they were outnumbered, and all 16 crew died.
Further raids were delayed by an extended period of poor weather and also by the withdrawal of the majority of Naval Zeppelins in an attempt to resolve the recurrent engine failures. Three Zeppelins set off to bomb Rosyth
Rosyth ( gd, Ros Fhìobh, "headland of Fife") is a town on the Firth of Forth, south of the centre of Dunfermline. According to the census of 2011, the town has a population of 13,440.
The new town was founded as a Garden city-style suburb ...
on 5–6 March but were forced by high winds to divert to Hull, killing 18, injuring 52 and causing £25,005 damage. At the beginning of April raids were attempted on five successive nights. Ten airships set off on 31 March: most turned back and L 15, damaged by antiaircraft fire and an aircraft attacking using Ranken darts, came down in the sea near Margate. Most of the 48 killed in the raid were victims of a single bomb which fell on an Army billet in Cleethorpes
Cleethorpes () is a seaside town on the estuary of the Humber in North East Lincolnshire, England with a population of 38,372 in 2020. It has been permanently occupied since the 6th century, with fishing as its original industry, then develo ...
. The following night two Navy Zeppelins bombed targets in the north of England, killing 22 and injuring 130. On the night of 2/3 April a six-airship raid was made, targeting the naval base at Rosyth
Rosyth ( gd, Ros Fhìobh, "headland of Fife") is a town on the Firth of Forth, south of the centre of Dunfermline. According to the census of 2011, the town has a population of 13,440.
The new town was founded as a Garden city-style suburb ...
, the Forth Bridge
The Forth Bridge is a cantilever railway bridge across the Firth of Forth in the east of Scotland, west of central Edinburgh. Completed in 1890, it is considered a symbol of Scotland (having been voted Scotland's greatest man-made wonder in ...
and London. None of the airships bombed their intended targets; 13 were killed, 24 injured and much of the £77,113 damage was caused by the destruction of a warehouse in Leith
Leith (; gd, Lìte) is a port area in the north of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith. In 2021, it was ranked by ''Time Out'' as one of the top five neighbourhoods to live in the world.
The earliest ...
containing whisky. Raids on 4/5 April and 5/6 April had little effect, as did a five-Zeppelin raid on 25/6 April and a raid by a single Army Zeppelin the following night. On 2/3 July a nine-Zeppelin raid against Manchester and Rosyth was largely ineffective due to weather conditions, and one was forced to land in neutral Denmark, its crew being interned.
On 28–29 July the first raid to include one of the new and much larger R-class Zeppelins, L 31, took place. The 10-Zeppelin raid achieved very little; four turned back early and the rest wandered over a fog-covered landscape before giving up. Adverse weather dispersed raids on 30–31 July and 2–3 August, and on 8–9 August nine airships attacked Hull with little effect. On 24–25 August 12 Navy Zeppelins were launched: eight turned back without attacking and only Heinrich Mathy's L 31 reached London; flying above low clouds, 36 bombs were dropped in 10 minutes on south east London. Nine people were killed, 40 injured and £130,203 of damage was caused.
Zeppelins were very difficult to attack successfully at high altitude, although this also made accurate bombing impossible. Aeroplanes struggled to reach a typical altitude of , and firing the solid bullets usually used by aircraft Lewis guns was ineffectual: they made small holes causing inconsequential gas leaks. Britain developed new bullets, the Brock containing oxidant potassium chlorate
Potassium chlorate is a compound containing potassium, chlorine and oxygen, with the molecular formula KClO3. In its pure form, it is a white crystalline substance. After sodium chlorate, it is the second most common chlorate in industrial use. ...
, and the Buckingham filled with phosphorus
Phosphorus is a chemical element with the symbol P and atomic number 15. Elemental phosphorus exists in two major forms, white phosphorus and red phosphorus, but because it is highly reactive, phosphorus is never found as a free element on Ea ...
, which reacted with the chlorate to catch fire and hence ignite the Zeppelin's hydrogen. These had become available by September 1916.
The biggest raid to date was launched on 2–3 September, when twelve German Navy and four Army airships set out to bomb London. A combination of rain and snowstorms scattered the airships while they were still over the North Sea. Only one of the naval airships came within seven miles of central London, and both damage and casualties were slight. The newly commissioned Schütte-Lanz SL 11 dropped a few bombs on Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For gov ...
while approaching London: it was picked up by searchlights as it bombed Ponders End
Ponders End is the southeasternmost part of Enfield, north London, centred on the Hertford Road. Situated to the west of the River Lee Navigation, it became industrialised through the 19th century, similar to the Lea Valley in neighbouring E ...
and at around 02:15 it was intercepted by a B.E.2c flown by Lt. William Leefe Robinson, who fired three 40-round drums of Brocks and Buckingham ammunition into the airship. The third drum started a fire and the airship was quickly enveloped in flames. It fell to the ground near Cuffley
Cuffley is a village in the civil parish of Northaw and Cuffley, in the Welwyn Hatfield district of south-east Hertfordshire located between Cheshunt and Potters Bar. It has a population of just over 4,000 people. and is part of Broxbourne ...
, witnessed by the crews of several of the other Zeppelins and many on the ground; there were no survivors. The victory earned Leefe Robinson a Victoria Cross; the pieces of SL 11 were gathered up and sold as souvenirs by the Red Cross
The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million Volunteering, volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure re ...
to raise money for wounded soldiers.
The loss of SL 11 to the new ammunition ended the German Army's enthusiasm for raids on Britain. The German Navy remained aggressive, and another 12-Zeppelin raid was launched on 23–24 September. Eight older airships bombed targets in the Midlands and northeast, while four R-class Zeppelins attacked London. L 30 did not even cross the coast, dropping its bombs at sea. L 31 approached London from the south, dropping a few bombs on the southern suburbs before crossing the Thames and bombing Leyton
Leyton () is a town in east London, England, within the London Borough of Waltham Forest. It borders Walthamstow to the north, Leytonstone to the east, and Stratford to the south, with Clapton, Hackney Wick and Homerton, across the River L ...
, killing eight people and injuring 30.
L 32 was piloted by ''Oberleutnant'' Werner Peterson of the Naval Airship Service, who had only taken command of L 32 in August 1916. L 32 approached from the south, crossing the English Channel close to Dungeness light house, passing Tunbridge Wells at 12:10 and dropping bombs on Sevenoaks
Sevenoaks is a town in Kent with a population of 29,506 situated south-east of London, England. Also classified as a civil parish, Sevenoaks is served by a commuter main line railway into London. Sevenoaks is from Charing Cross, the traditio ...
and Swanley
Swanley is a town and civil parish in the Sevenoaks District of Kent, England, southeast of central London, adjacent to the Greater London boundary and within the M25 motorway periphery. The population at the 2011 census was 16,226.
History
...
before crossing over Purfleet
Purfleet-on-Thames is a town in the Thurrock unitary authority, Essex, England. It is bordered by the A13 road to the north and the River Thames to the south and is within the easternmost part of the M25 motorway but just outside the Greater Lon ...
. After receiving heavy gunfire and encountering a multitude of anti-aircraft search lights over London, Peterson decided to head up the Essex coast from Tilbury and abort the mission. Water ballast was dropped to gain altitude and L 32 climbed to 13,000 feet. Shortly afterwards at 12:45 L 32 was spotted by 2nd Lieutenant Frederick Sowrey of the Royal Flying Corps, who had taken off from nearby RAF Hornchurch
Royal Air Force Hornchurch or RAF Hornchurch is a former Royal Air Force Royal Air Force station, sector station in the parish of Hornchurch, Essex (now the London Borough of Havering in Greater London), located to the southeast of Romford. The a ...
(known at the time as Sutton's Farm). As Sowrey approached he fired three drums of ammunition into the hull of L 32, including the lates
Bock & Pomeroy
incendiary rounds. L 32, according to witness accounts, violently turned and lost altitude, burning from both ends and along its back. The airship narrowly missed Billericay High Street as it passed over, one witness saying the windows to her home rattled and the Zeppelin sounded like a hissing freight train. L 32 continued down Hill side and came down at Snail's Hall Farm off Green Farm Lane in Great Burstead
Great Burstead is an urban settlement in Essex, England - it is contiguous with the town of Billericay.
History
By tradition, the origins of the church, St Mary Magdalene, at Great Burstead are linked to Saint Cedd (d.664). Cedd, a missionary m ...
, crashing at 01:30 on farm land; the 650-foot-long airship struck a large oak tree.
The entire 22 crew were killed. Two crew members jumped rather than be burned (one was said to be Werner Peterson). The crew's bodies were kept in a barn nearby until the 27th September when the Royal Flying Corps transported them to nearby Great Burstead Church. They were interred there until 1966, when they were reinterred at the German Military Cemetery in Cannock Chase
Cannock Chase (), often referred to locally as The Chase, is a mixed area of countryside in the county of Staffordshire, England. The area has been designated as the Cannock Chase Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and is managed by Forestry E ...
. Attending the scene of the crash site were the Royal Naval Intelligence, who recovered the latest secret code book which was found within the gondola of the crashed L32.
L 33 dropped a few incendiaries over Upminster
Upminster is a suburban town in East London, England, within the London Borough of Havering. Located east-northeast of Charing Cross, it is one of the district centres identified for development in the London Plan.
Historically a rural vill ...
and Bromley-by-Bow, where it was hit by an anti-aircraft shell, despite being at an altitude of . As it headed towards Chelmsford it began to lose height and came down close to Little Wigborough
Little Wigborough is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Great and Little Wigborough, in the Colchester borough of Essex, England and forms part of Winstred Hundred Parish Council.
Little Wigborough is located between Peld ...
.
The airship was set alight by its crew, but inspection of the wreckage provided the British with much information about the construction of Zeppelins, which was used in the design of the British R33-class airships.
The next raid came on 1 October 1916. Eleven Zeppelins were launched at targets in the Midlands and at London. Only L 31, commanded by the experienced Heinrich Mathy making his 15th raid, reached London. As the airship neared Cheshunt at about 23:20 it was picked up by searchlights and attacked by three aircraft from No. 39 Squadron. 2nd lieutenant Wulstan Tempest succeeded in setting fire to the airship, which came down near Potters Bar. All 19 crew died, many jumping from the burning airship.
For the next raid, on 27–28 November, the Zeppelins avoided London for targets in the Midlands. Again the defending aircraft were successful: L 34 was shot down over the mouth of the Tees and L 21 was attacked by two aircraft and crashed into the sea off Lowestoft
Lowestoft ( ) is a coastal town and civil parish in the East Suffolk (district), East Suffolk district of Suffolk, England.OS Explorer Map OL40: The Broads: (1:25 000) : . As the List of extreme points of the United Kingdom, most easterly UK se ...
. There were no further raids in 1916 although the Navy lost three more craft, all on 28 December: SL 12 was destroyed at Ahlhorn by strong winds after sustaining damage in a poor landing, and at Tondern L 24 crashed into the shed while landing: the resulting fire destroyed both L 24 and the adjacent L 17.[Whitehouse, Arch, ''The Zeppelin Fighters'', New York: Ace Books, 1966, no ISBN number, p. 182.]
=1917
=
To counter the increasingly effective defences new Zeppelins were introduced which had an increased operating altitude of and a ceiling of . The first of these S-class Zeppelins, LZ 91 (L 42) entered service in February 1917. They were basically a modification of the R-class, sacrificing strength and power for improved altitude. The surviving R-class Zeppelins were adapted by removing one of the engines. The improved safety was offset by the extra strain on the airship crews caused by altitude sickness and exposure to extreme cold and operating difficulties caused by cold and unpredictable high winds encountered at altitude.
The first raid of 1917 did not occur until 16–17 March: the five Zeppelins encountered very strong winds and none reached their targets. This experience was repeated on 23–24 May. Two days later 21 Gotha bomber
''Gothaer Waggonfabrik'' (''Gotha'', GWF) was a German manufacturer of rolling stock established in the late nineteenth century at Gotha. During the two world wars, the company expanded into aircraft building.
World War I
In World War I, Go ...
s attempted a daylight raid on London. They were frustrated by heavy clouds but the effort led the Kaiser to announce that airship raids on London were to stop; under pressure he later relented to allow the Zeppelins to attack under "favorable circumstances".
On 16–17 June, another raid was attempted. Six Zeppelins were to take part, but two were kept in their shed by high winds and another two were forced to return by engine failure. L 42 bombed Ramsgate, hitting a munitions store. The month-old L 48, the first U class Zeppelin, was forced to drop to where it was caught by four aircraft and destroyed, crashing near Theberton
Theberton is a village in Suffolk, England. It is located north-east of Saxmundham, and miles north of Leiston, its post town.
History
During the First World War, a German Zeppelin airship, L48, was shot down near Theberton at 02:00 on t ...
, Suffolk.
After ineffective raids on the Midlands and the north of England on 21–22 August and 24–25 September, the last major Zeppelin raid of the war was launched on 19–20 October, with 13 airships heading for Sheffield
Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire ...
, Manchester and Liverpool
Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...
. All were hindered by an unexpected strong headwind at altitude. L 45 was trying to reach Sheffield, but instead it dropped bombs on Northampton and London: most fell in the north-west suburbs but three 300 kg (660 lb) bombs fell in Piccadilly
Piccadilly () is a road in the City of Westminster, London, to the south of Mayfair, between Hyde Park Corner in the west and Piccadilly Circus in the east. It is part of the A4 road that connects central London to Hammersmith, Earl's Cour ...
, Camberwell
Camberwell () is a district of South London, England, in the London Borough of Southwark, southeast of Charing Cross.
Camberwell was first a village associated with the church of St Giles and a common of which Goose Green is a remnant. This ...
and Hither Green, causing most of the casualties that night. L 45 then reduced altitude to try to escape the winds but was forced back into the higher air currents by a B.E.2e. The airship then had mechanical failure in three engines and was blown over France, eventually coming down near Sisteron
Sisteron (; , oc, label=Mistralian norm, Sisteroun; from oc, label= Old Occitan, Sestaron) is a commune in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, southeastern France.
Sisteron is situated on the banks of the rive ...
; it was set on fire and the crew surrendered. L 44 was brought down by ground fire over France: L 49 and L 50 were also lost to engine failure and the weather over France. L 55 was badly damaged on landing and later scrapped.
There were no more raids in 1917, although the airships were not abandoned but refitted with new, more powerful, engines.
=1918
=
There were only four raids in 1918, all against targets in the Midlands and northern England. Five Zeppelins attempted to bomb the Midlands on 12–13 March to little effect. The following night three Zeppelins set off, but two turned back because of the weather: the third bombed Hartlepool
Hartlepool () is a seaside and port town in County Durham, England. It is the largest settlement and administrative centre of the Borough of Hartlepool. With an estimated population of 90,123, it is the second-largest settlement in County D ...
, killing eight and injuring 29. A five-Zeppelin raid on 12–13 April was also largely ineffective, with thick clouds making accurate navigation impossible. However some alarm was caused by the other two, one of which reached the east coast and bombed Wigan
Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the north-east and Warrington ...
, believing it was Sheffield: the other bombed Coventry
Coventry ( or ) is a city in the West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its city status until the Middle Ages. The city is governed b ...
in the belief that it was Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...
. The final raid on 5 August 1918 involved four airships and resulted in the loss of ''L.70'' and the death of its entire crew under the command of ''Fregattenkapitän'' Peter Strasser, head of the Imperial German Naval Airship Service and the ''Führer der Luftschiffe''. Crossing the North Sea during daylight, the airship was intercepted by a Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...
DH.4 biplane
A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While a ...
piloted by Major Egbert Cadbury
Major (Honorary Air Commodore) Sir Egbert "Bertie" Cadbury (20 April 1893 – 12 January 1967) was a British businessman, a member of the Cadbury family, who as a First World War pilot shot down two Zeppelins over the North Sea: '' L.21'' on 2 ...
, and shot down in flames.
Technological progress
Zeppelin technology improved considerably as a result of the increasing demands of warfare. The company came under government control, and new personnel were recruited to cope with the increased demand, including the aerodynamicist Paul Jaray and the stress engineer Karl Arnstein
Karl Arnstein (March 24, 1887, Prague – December 12, 1974, Bryan, Ohio) was one of the most important 20th century airship engineers and designers in Germany and the United States of America. He was born in Prague, Bohemia (now the Czech Repu ...
. Many of these technological advances originated from Zeppelin's only serious competitor, the Mannheim
Mannheim (; Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (german: Universitätsstadt Mannheim), is the second-largest city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg after the state capital of Stuttgart, and Germany's ...
-based Schütte-Lanz company. While their dirigibles were never as successful, Professor Schütte's more scientific approach to airship design led to important innovations including the streamlined hull shape, the simpler cruciform fins (replacing the more complicated box-like arrangements of older Zeppelins), individual direct-drive engine cars, anti-aircraft machine-gun positions, and gas ventilation shafts which transferred vented hydrogen to the top of the airship. New production facilities were set up to assemble Zeppelins from components fabricated in Friedrichshafen.
The pre-war M-class designs were quickly enlarged, to produce the long duralumin P-class, which increased gas capacity from to , introduced a fully enclosed gondola and had an extra engine. These modifications added to the maximum ceiling, around 9 km/h (6 mph) to the top speed, and greatly increased crew comfort and hence endurance. Twenty-two P-class airships were built; the first, LZ 38, was delivered to the Army on 3 April 1915. The P class was followed by a lengthened version, the Q class.
In July 1916 Luftschiffbau Zeppelin introduced the R-class, 199.49 m (644 ft 8 in) long, and with a volume of . These could carry loads of three to four tons of bombs and reach speeds of up to , powered by six Maybach
Maybach (, ) is a 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 ''Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmbH'', and ...
engines.
In 1917, following losses to the air defences over Britain, new designs were produced which were capable of flying at much higher altitudes, typically operating at around . This was achieved by reducing the weight of the airship by reducing the weight of the structure, halving the bomb load, removing the defensive armament and by reducing the number of engines to five. However these were not successful as bombers: the greater height at which they operated greatly hindered navigation, and their reduced power made them vulnerable to unfavorable weather conditions.
At the beginning of the war Captain Ernst A. Lehmann
Captain Ernst August Lehmann (12 May 1886 – 7 May 1937) was a German Zeppelin captain. He was one of the most famous and experienced figures in German airship travel. The ''Pittsburgh Press'' called Lehmann the best airship pilot in the world ...
and Baron Gemmingen, Count Zeppelin's nephew, developed an observation car for use by dirigibles. This was equipped with a wicker chair, chart table, electric lamp and compass, with telephone line and lightning conductor part of the suspension cable. The car's observer would relay navigation and bomb dropping orders to the Zeppelin flying within or above the clouds, so remaining invisible from the ground.[ Lehmann, The Zeppelins] Although used by Army airships, they were not used by the Navy, since Strasser considered that their weight meant an unacceptable reduction in bomb load.
End of the war
The German defeat also marked the end of German military dirigibles, as the victorious Allies demanded a complete abolition of German air forces and surrender of the remaining airships as reparations
Reparation(s) may refer to:
Christianity
* Restitution (theology), the Christian doctrine calling for reparation
* Acts of reparation, prayers for repairing the damages of sin
History
*War reparations
**World War I reparations, made from ...
. Specifically, the Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles (french: Traité de Versailles; german: Versailler Vertrag, ) was the most important of the peace treaties of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1 ...
contained the following articles dealing explicitly with dirigibles:
;Article 198:"The armed forces of Germany must not include any military or naval air forces ... No dirigible shall be kept."
;Article 202:"On the coming into force of the present Treaty, all military and naval aeronautical material ... must be delivered to the Governments of the Principal Allied and Associated Powers ... In particular, this material will include all items under the following heads which are or have been in use or were designed for warlike purposes:
:'' ..'
:* "Dirigibles able to take to the air, being manufactured, repaired or assembled."
:* "Plant for the manufacture of hydrogen."
:* "Dirigible sheds and shelters of every kind for aircraft."
:"Pending their delivery, dirigibles will, at the expense of Germany, be maintained inflated with hydrogen; the plant for the manufacture of hydrogen, as well as the sheds for dirigibles may at the discretion of the said Powers, be left to Germany until the time when the dirigibles are handed over."
On 23 June 1919, a week before the treaty was signed, many Zeppelin crews destroyed their airships in their halls in order to prevent delivery, following the example of the Scuttling of the German fleet at Scapa Flow two days earlier. The remaining dirigibles were transferred to France, Italy, Britain, and Belgium in 1920.
A total of 84 Zeppelins were built during the war. Over 60 were lost, roughly evenly divided between accident and enemy action. 51 raids had been made on England alone, in which 5,806 bombs were dropped, killing 557 people and injuring 1,358 while causing damage estimated at £1.5 million. It has been argued the raids were effective far beyond material damage in diverting and hampering wartime production: one estimate is that the due to the 1915–16 raids "one sixth of the total normal output of munitions was entirely lost."
After World War I
Renaissance
Count von Zeppelin had died in 1917, before the end of the war. Dr. Hugo Eckener, who had long envisioned dirigibles as vessels of peace rather than of war, took command of the Zeppelin business, hoping to quickly resume civilian flights. Despite considerable difficulties, they completed two small passenger airships; LZ 120 ''Bodensee'' (scrapped in July 1928), which first flew in August 1919 and in the following months transported passengers between Friedrichshafen and Berlin, and a sister-ship ''LZ 121 Nordstern'', which was intended for use on a regular route to Stockholm
Stockholm () is the capital and largest city of Sweden as well as the largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people live in the municipality, with 1.6 million in the urban area, and 2.4 million in the metropo ...
.
However, in 1921 the Allied Powers demanded that these should be handed over as war reparations as compensation for the dirigibles destroyed by their crews in 1919. Germany was not allowed to construct military aircraft and only airships of less than were permitted. This brought a halt to Zeppelin's plans for airship development, and the company temporarily had to resort to manufacturing aluminium cooking utensils.
Eckener and his co-workers refused to give up and kept looking for investors and a way to circumvent Allied restrictions. Their opportunity came in 1924. The United States had started to experiment with rigid airships, constructing one of their own, the ZR-1 USS ''Shenandoah'', and buying the R38 (based on the Zeppelin L 70) when the British airship programme was cancelled. However, this broke apart and caught fire during a test flight above the Humber
The Humber is a large tidal estuary on the east coast of Northern England. It is formed at Trent Falls, Faxfleet, by the confluence of the tidal rivers Ouse and Trent. From there to the North Sea, it forms part of the boundary between ...
on 23 August 1921, killing 44 crewmen.
Under these circumstances, Eckener managed to obtain an order for the next American dirigible. Germany had to pay for this airship itself, as the cost was set against the war reparation accounts, but for the Zeppelin company this was unimportant. LZ 126 made its first flight on 27 August 1924.
On 12 October at 07:30 local time the Zeppelin took off for the US under the command of Hugo Eckener. The ship completed its voyage without any difficulties in 80 hours 45 minutes. American crowds enthusiastically celebrated the arrival, and President Calvin Coolidge
Calvin Coolidge (born John Calvin Coolidge Jr.; ; July 4, 1872January 5, 1933) was the 30th president of the United States from 1923 to 1929. Born in Vermont, Coolidge was a Republican lawyer from New England who climbed up the ladder of Ma ...
invited Eckener and his crew to the White House
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...
, calling the new Zeppelin an "angel of peace".
Given the designation ZR-3 USS ''Los Angeles'' and refilled with helium (partly sourced from the ''Shenandoah'') after its Atlantic crossing, the airship became the most successful American airship. It operated reliably for eight years until it was retired in 1932 for economic reasons. It was dismantled in August 1940.
Golden age
With the delivery of ''LZ 126'', the Zeppelin company had reasserted its lead in rigid airship construction, but it was not yet quite back in business. In 1926 restrictions on airship construction were relaxed by the Locarno treaties
The Locarno Treaties were seven agreements negotiated at Locarno, Switzerland, during 5 to 16 October 1925 and formally signed in London on 1 December, in which the First World War Western European Allied powers and the new states of Central a ...
, but acquiring the necessary funds for the next project proved a problem in the difficult economic situation of post–World War I Germany, and it took Eckener two years of lobbying and publicity work to secure the realization of ''LZ 127''.
Another two years passed before 18 September 1928, when the new dirigible, christened ''Graf Zeppelin'' in honour of the Count, flew for the first time. With a total length of and a volume of 105,000 m3, it was the largest dirigible to have been built at the time.
Eckener's initial purpose was to use ''Graf Zeppelin'' for experimental and demonstration purposes to prepare the way for regular airship traveling, carrying passengers and mail to cover the costs. In October 1928 its first long-range voyage brought it to Lakehurst, the voyage taking 112 hours and setting a new endurance record for airships. Eckener and his crew, which included his son Hans, were once more welcomed enthusiastically, with confetti parades in New York and another invitation to the White House. ''Graf Zeppelin'' toured Germany and visited Italy, Palestine, and Spain. A second trip to the United States was aborted in France due to engine failure in May 1929.
In August 1929 ''Graf Zeppelin'' departed for another daring enterprise: a circumnavigation
Circumnavigation is the complete navigation around an entire island, continent, or astronomical body (e.g. a planet or moon). This article focuses on the circumnavigation of Earth.
The first recorded circumnavigation of the Earth was the ...
of the globe. The growing popularity of the "giant of the air" made it easy for Eckener to find sponsors. One of these was the American press tycoon William Randolph Hearst
William Randolph Hearst Sr. (; April 29, 1863 – August 14, 1951) was an American businessman, newspaper publisher, and politician known for developing the nation's largest newspaper chain and media company, Hearst Communications. His flamboya ...
, who requested that the tour officially start in Lakehurst. As with the October 1928 flight to New York, Hearst had placed a reporter, Grace Marguerite Hay Drummond-Hay, on board: she therefore became the first woman to circumnavigate the globe by air. From there, ''Graf Zeppelin'' flew to Friedrichshafen, then Tokyo, Los Angeles, and back to Lakehurst, in 21 days 5 hours and 31 minutes. Including the initial and final trips between Friedrichshafen and Lakehurst and back, the dirigible had travelled .
In the following year, ''Graf Zeppelin'' undertook trips around Europe, and following a successful tour to Recife
That it may shine on all (Matthew 5:15)
, image_map = Brazil Pernambuco Recife location map.svg
, mapsize = 250px
, map_caption = Location in the state of Pernambuco
, pushpin_map = Brazil#South Am ...
, Brazil in May 1930, it was decided to open the first regular transatlantic airship line. This line operated between Frankfurt
Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...
and Recife, and was later extended to Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...
, with a stop in Recife. Despite the beginning of the Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
and growing competition from fixed-wing aircraft, ''LZ 127'' transported an increasing volume of passengers and mail across the ocean every year until 1936. The ship made another spectacular voyage in July 1931 when it made a seven-day research trip to the Arctic
The Arctic ( or ) is a polar regions of Earth, polar region located at the northernmost part of Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean, adjacent seas, and parts of Canada (Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut), Danish Realm (Greenla ...
. This had already been a dream of Count von Zeppelin twenty years earlier, which could not be realized at the time due to the outbreak of war.
Eckener intended to follow the successful airship with another larger Zeppelin, designated LZ 128. This was to be powered by eight engines, in length, with a capacity of . However the loss of the British passenger airship R101
R101 was one of a pair of British rigid airships completed in 1929 as part of a British government programme to develop civil airships capable of service on long-distance routes within the British Empire. It was designed and built by an Air Mi ...
on 5 October 1930 led the Zeppelin company to reconsider the safety of hydrogen-filled vessels, and the design was abandoned in favour of a new project, LZ 129. This was intended to be filled with inert helium
Helium (from el, ἥλιος, helios, lit=sun) is a chemical element with the symbol He and atomic number 2. It is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic, inert, monatomic gas and the first in the noble gas group in the periodic table. ...
.
''Hindenburg'', the end of an era
The coming to power of the Nazi Party
The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that crea ...
in 1933 had important consequences for Zeppelin Luftschiffbau. Zeppelins became a propaganda tool for the new regime: they would now display the Nazi swastika
The swastika (卐 or 卍) is an ancient religious and cultural symbol, predominantly in various Eurasian, as well as some African and American cultures, now also widely recognized for its appropriation by the Nazi Party and by neo-Nazis. It ...
on their fins and occasionally tour Germany to play march music and propaganda speeches to the people. In 1934 Joseph Goebbels
Paul Joseph Goebbels (; 29 October 1897 – 1 May 1945) was a German Nazi politician who was the ''Gauleiter'' (district leader) of Berlin, chief propagandist for the Nazi Party, and then Reich Minister of Propaganda from 1933 to 19 ...
, the Minister of Propaganda, contributed two million reichsmarks towards the construction of LZ 129 and in 1935 Hermann Göring
Hermann Wilhelm Göring (or Goering; ; 12 January 1893 – 15 October 1946) was a German politician, military leader and convicted war criminal. He was one of the most powerful figures in the Nazi Party, which ruled Germany from 1933 to 1 ...
established a new airline directed by Ernst Lehmann
Captain Ernst August Lehmann (12 May 1886 – 7 May 1937) was a German Zeppelin captain. He was one of the most famous and experienced figures in German airship travel. The ''Pittsburgh Press'' called Lehmann the best airship pilot in the world ...
, the ''Deutsche Zeppelin Reederei
Deutsche Zeppelin-Reederei (), abbreviated DZR, is a German limited-liability company that operates commercial passenger zeppelin flights. The current incarnation of the DZR was founded in 2001 and is based in Friedrichshafen. It is a subsidiary ...
'', as a subsidiary of ''Lufthansa
Deutsche Lufthansa AG (), commonly shortened to Lufthansa, is the flag carrier of Germany. When combined with its subsidiaries, it is the second- largest airline in Europe in terms of passengers carried. Lufthansa is one of the five founding m ...
'' to take over Zeppelin operations. Hugo Eckener was an outspoken anti-Nazi: complaints about the use of Zeppelins for propaganda purposes in 1936 led Goebbels to declare "Dr. Eckener has placed himself outside the pale of society. Henceforth his name is not to be mentioned in the newspapers and his photograph is not to be published".
On 4 March 1936 LZ 129 ''Hindenburg'' (named after former President of Germany
The president of Germany, officially the Federal President of the Federal Republic of Germany (german: link=no, Bundespräsident der Bundesrepublik Deutschland),The official title within Germany is ', with ' being added in international corres ...
, Paul von Hindenburg
Paul Ludwig Hans Anton von Beneckendorff und von Hindenburg (; abbreviated ; 2 October 1847 – 2 August 1934) was a German field marshal and statesman who led the Imperial German Army during World War I and later became President of Germany fro ...
) made its first flight. The ''Hindenburg'' was the largest airship ever built. It had been designed to use non-flammable helium, but the only supplies of the gas were controlled by the United States, which refused to allow its export. So, in what proved to be a fatal decision, the ''Hindenburg'' was filled with flammable hydrogen
Hydrogen is the chemical element with the symbol H and atomic number 1. Hydrogen is the lightest element. At standard conditions hydrogen is a gas of diatomic molecules having the formula . It is colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic, an ...
. Apart from the propaganda missions, ''LZ 129'' was used on the transatlantic service alongside ''Graf Zeppelin''.
On 6 May 1937, while landing in Lakehurst after a transatlantic flight, the tail of the ship caught fire, and within seconds, the ''Hindenburg'' burst into flames, killing 35 of the 97 people on board and 1 member of the ground crew. The cause of the fire has not been definitively determined. The investigation into the accident concluded that static electricity
Static electricity is an imbalance of electric charges within or on the surface of a material or between materials. The charge remains until it is able to move away by means of an electric current or electrical discharge. Static electricity is na ...
had ignited hydrogen which had leaked from the gasbags, although there were allegations of sabotage
Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening a polity, effort, or organization through subversion, obstruction, disruption, or destruction. One who engages in sabotage is a ''saboteur''. Saboteurs typically try to conceal their identitie ...
. 13 passengers and 22 crew, including Ernst Lehmann, were killed.
Despite the apparent danger, there remained a list of 400 people who still wanted to fly as Zeppelin passengers and had paid for the trip. Their money was refunded in 1940.
''Graf Zeppelin'' was retired one month after the ''Hindenburg'' wreck and turned into a museum. The intended new flagship Zeppelin was completed in 1938 and, inflated with hydrogen, made some test flights (the first on 14 September), but never carried passengers. Another project, ''LZ 131'', designed to be even larger than ''Hindenburg'' and ''Graf Zeppelin II'', never progressed beyond the production of a few ring frames.
''Graf Zeppelin II'' was assigned to the ''Luftwaffe
The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...
'' and made about 30 test flights prior to the beginning of World War II. Most of those flights were carried out near the Polish
Polish may refer to:
* Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe
* Polish language
* Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent
* Polish chicken
*Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...
border, first in the Sudeten mountains
The Sudetes ( ; pl, Sudety; german: Sudeten; cs, Krkonošsko-jesenická subprovincie), commonly known as the Sudeten Mountains, is a geomorphological subprovince in Central Europe, shared by Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic. They consis ...
region of Silesia
Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. Silesia is split ...
, then in the Baltic Sea region. During one such flight ''LZ 130'' crossed the Polish border near the Hel Peninsula
Hel Peninsula (; pl, Mierzeja Helska, Półwysep Helski; csb, Hélskô Sztremlëzna; german: Halbinsel Hela or ''Putziger Nehrung'') is a sand bar peninsula in northern Poland separating the Bay of Puck from the open Baltic Sea. It is loc ...
, where it was intercepted by a Polish Lublin R-XIII
The Lublin R-XIII was the Polish army cooperation plane (observation and liaison plane), designed in the early-1930s in the Plage i Laśkiewicz factory in Lublin. It was the main army cooperation plane in the Invasion of Poland. Its variant Lubli ...
aircraft from Puck naval airbase and forced to leave Polish airspace. During this time, ''LZ 130'' was used for electronic scouting missions, and was equipped with various measuring equipment. In August 1939, it made a flight near the coastline of Great Britain in an attempt to determine whether the 100 metre towers erected from Portsmouth
Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council.
Portsmouth is the most dens ...
to Scapa Flow
Scapa Flow viewed from its eastern end in June 2009
Scapa Flow (; ) is a body of water in the Orkney Islands, Scotland, sheltered by the islands of Mainland, Graemsay, Burray,S. C. George, ''Jutland to Junkyard'', 1973. South Ronaldsay and ...
were used for aircraft radio location. Photography, radio wave interception, magnetic and radio frequency analysis were unable to detect operational British Chain Home
Chain Home, or CH for short, was the codename for the ring of coastal Early Warning radar stations built by the Royal Air Force (RAF) before and during the Second World War to detect and track aircraft. Initially known as RDF, and given the off ...
radar
Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance (''ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, w ...
due to searching in the wrong frequency range. The frequencies searched were too high, an assumption based on the Germans' own radar systems. The mistaken conclusion was that the British towers were not connected with radar operations, but were for naval radio communications.
After the beginning of the Second World War on 1 September, the ''Luftwaffe'' ordered LZ 127 and ''LZ 130'' moved to a large Zeppelin hangar in Frankfurt, where the skeleton of LZ 131 was also located. In March 1940 Göring ordered the scrapping of the remaining airships, and on 6 May the Frankfurt hangars were demolished.
Cultural influences
Zeppelins have been an inspiration to music, cinematography and literature. The 1930 movie Hell's Angels, directed by Howard Hughes
Howard Robard Hughes Jr. (December 24, 1905 – April 5, 1976) was an American business magnate, record-setting pilot, engineer, film producer, and philanthropist, known during his lifetime as one of the most influential and richest people in th ...
, features an unsuccessful Zeppelin raid on London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
during World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
. In 1934, the calypsonian Attila the Hun
Attila (, ; ), frequently called Attila the Hun, was the ruler of the Huns from 434 until his death in March 453. He was also the leader of a tribal empire consisting of Huns, Ostrogoths, Alans, and Bulgars, among others, in Central and Ea ...
recorded "Graf Zeppelin", commemorating the airship's visit to Trinidad.
Zeppelins are often featured in alternate history
Alternate history (also alternative history, althist, AH) is a genre of speculative fiction of stories in which one or more historical events occur and are resolved differently than in real life. As conjecture based upon historical fact, altern ...
and parallel universe fiction. They feature prominently in the popular fantasy novels of the ''His Dark Materials
''His Dark Materials'' is a trilogy of fantasy novels by Philip Pullman consisting of '' Northern Lights'' (1995; published as ''The Golden Compass'' in North America), ''The Subtle Knife'' (1997), and ''The Amber Spyglass'' (2000). It follows ...
'' trilogy and ''The Book of Dust
''The Book of Dust'' is a trilogy of fantasy novels by Philip Pullman, which expands his trilogy ''His Dark Materials''. The books further chronicle the adventures of Lyra Belacqua and her battle against the theocratic organisation known as the ...
'' series by Philip Pullman
Sir Philip Nicholas Outram Pullman (born 19 October 1946) is an English writer. His books include the fantasy trilogy ''His Dark Materials'' and ''The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ'', a fictionalised biography of Jesus. In 2008, ''The ...
. In the American science fiction series, ''Fringe
Fringe may refer to:
Arts
* Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the world's largest arts festival, known as "the Fringe"
* Adelaide Fringe, the world's second-largest annual arts festival
* Fringe theatre, a name for alternative theatre
* The Fringe, the ...
'', Zeppelins are a notable historical idiosyncrasy that helps differentiate the series' two parallel universes, also used in ''Doctor Who
''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...
'' in the episodes " The Rise of the Cybermen" and "The Age of Steel
"The Age of Steel" is the sixth episode of the second series of the British science fiction television programme ''Doctor Who''. It was first broadcast on BBC One on 20 May 2006 and is the second part of a two-part story. The first part, " Ris ...
" when the TARDIS
The TARDIS (; acronym for "Time And Relative Dimension In Space") is a fictional hybrid of the time machine and spacecraft that appears in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'' and its various spin-offs. Its exterior ap ...
crashes in an alternate reality where Britain is a 'People's Republic
People's republic is an official title, usually used by some currently or formerly communist or left-wing states. It is mainly associated with Soviet republic (system of government), soviet republics, socialist states following People's democracy ...
' and Pete Tyler, Rose Tyler
Rose Tyler is a fictional character in the British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who''. She was created by series producer Russell T Davies and portrayed by Billie Piper. With the revival of ''Doctor Who'' in 2005, Rose was introd ...
's father, is alive and is a wealthy inventor.[Hanson, Andrew]
"Pinkner and Wyman: the Evil Geniuses behind ''Fringe''."
''Los Angeles Times,'' 20 May 2010. Retrieved: 17 June 2011. They are also seen in the alternate reality 1939 plot line in the film ''Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow
''Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow'', often shortened to ''Sky Captain'', is a 2004 science fiction action- adventure film written and directed by Kerry Conran in his directorial debut, and produced by Jon Avnet, Sadie Frost, Jude Law an ...
'', and have an iconic association with the steampunk
Steampunk is a subgenre of science fiction that incorporates retrofuturistic technology and aesthetics inspired by 19th-century industrial steam-powered machinery. Steampunk works are often set in an alternative history of the Victorian era or ...
subcultural movement in broader terms. In 1989, Japanese animator Miyazaki released ''Kiki's Delivery Service
is a 1989 Japanese Anime, animated fantasy film written, produced, and directed by Hayao Miyazaki, adapted from the Kiki's Delivery Service (novel), 1985 novel by Eiko Kadono. It was animated by Studio Ghibli for Tokuma Shoten, Yamato Transpor ...
'', which features a Zeppelin as a plot element. A Zeppelin was used in ''Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
''Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade'' is a 1989 American action film, action-adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg, from a story co-written by executive producer George Lucas. It is the third installment in the Indiana Jones, ''Indiana ...
'', when Jones and his father try to escape from Germany in a Zeppelin.
In 1968, English rock band Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ci ...
chose their name after Keith Moon
Keith John Moon (23 August 19467 September 1978) was an English drummer for the rock band the Who. He was noted for his unique style of playing and his eccentric, often self-destructive behaviour and addiction to drugs and alcohol.
Moon grew ...
, drummer of The Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup consisted of lead singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist and singer Pete Townshend, bass guitarist and singer John Entwistle, and drummer Keith Moon. They are considered ...
, told guitarist Jimmy Page
James Patrick Page (born 9 January 1944) is an English musician who achieved international success as the guitarist and founder of the rock band Led Zeppelin. Page is prolific in creating guitar riffs. His style involves various alternative ...
that his idea to create a band would "go down like a lead balloon." Page's manager Peter Grant suggested changing the spelling of "Lead" to "Led" to avoid mispronunciation. "Balloon" was replaced with "Zeppelin" as Jimmy Page saw it as a symbol of "the perfect combination of heavy and light, combustibility and grace." For the group's self-titled debut album, Page suggested the group use a picture of the ''Hindenburg'' crashing in New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
in 1937, much to Countess Eva von Zeppelin's disgust. Von Zeppelin tried to sue the group for using her family name, but the case was eventually dismissed.
Modern era
Since the 1990s Zeppelin Luftschifftechnik
Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmbH is a German aircraft manufacturing company. It is perhaps best known for its leading role in the design and manufacture of rigid airships, commonly referred to as ''Zeppelins'' due to the company's prominence. The name ...
, a daughter enterprise of the Zeppelin conglomerate that built the original German Zeppelins, has been developing Zeppelin "New Technology" (NT) airships. These vessels are semi-rigids based partly on internal pressure, partly on a frame.
The Airship Ventures
Airship Ventures Inc. was a private company that offered sight-seeing rides (which the company called "flightseeing") in a 12-passenger Zeppelin NT out of a World War II United States Navy hangar at Moffett Federal Airfield near Mountain View, Ca ...
company operated zeppelin passenger travel to California from October 2008 to November 2012 with one of these Zeppelin NT
The Zeppelin NT (''"Neue Technologie"'', German for ''new technology'') is a class of helium-filled airships being manufactured since the 1990s by the German company Zeppelin Luftschifftechnik GmbH (ZLT) in Friedrichshafen. The initial model i ...
airships.
In May 2011, Goodyear announced that they would replace their fleet of blimp
A blimp, or non-rigid airship, is an airship (dirigible) without an internal structural framework or a keel. Unlike semi-rigid and rigid airships (e.g. Zeppelins), blimps rely on the pressure of the lifting gas (usually helium, rather than hydr ...
s with Zeppelin NTs, resurrecting their partnership that ended over 70 years ago. Goodyear placed an order for three Zeppelin NTs, which then entered service between 2014 and 2018.
Modern zeppelins are held aloft by the inert gas helium, eliminating the danger of combustion illustrated by the ''Hindenburg''. It has been proposed that modern zeppelins could be powered by hydrogen fuel cells.[N.A. Hydrogen key to revival of modern-day zeppelins, Winnipeg conference hears. Canadian Press, The erial online n.d.:Available from: Newspaper Source Plus, Ipswich, MA. Accessed 10 December 2015.] Zeppelin NTs are often used for sightseeing trips; for example, D-LZZF (c/n 03) was used for Edelweiss's birthday celebration performing flights over Switzerland in an Edelweiss livery, and it is now used, weather permitting, on flights over Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and ...
.
See also
* Airship hangar
Airship hangars (also known as airship sheds) are large specialized buildings that are used for sheltering airships during construction, maintenance and storage. Rigid airships always needed to be based in airship hangars because weathering was a s ...
* Buoyancy compensator (aviation)
The static buoyancy of airships in flight is not constant. It is therefore necessary to control the altitude of an airship by controlling its buoyancy: buoyancy compensation.
Changes which have an effect on buoyancy
* Changes in air temperature ...
* Lane hydrogen producer
The Lane hydrogen producer was an apparatus for hydrogen production based on the steam-iron process and water gas invented in 1903 by British engineer, Howard Lane.
History
The first commercial Lane hydrogen producer was commissioned in 1904. By ...
* List of airships of the United States Navy
List of airships of the United States Navy identifies the airships
An airship or dirigible balloon is a type of aerostat or lighter-than-air aircraft that can navigate through the air Powered aircraft, under its own power. Aerostats gain th ...
* List of Schütte-Lanz airships
Schütte-Lanz (SL) is the name of a series of rigid airships designed and built by the Luftschiffbau Schütte-Lanz company from 1909 until 1917. One research and four passenger airships were planned for post-war use, but were never built. The Sc ...
* List of Zeppelins
This is a complete list of Zeppelins constructed by the German Zeppelin companies from 1900 until 1938. Other rigid airships that are also sometimes referred to as zeppelins but not built by Zeppelin are not included.
The Zeppelin company base ...
* Zeppelin Museum Friedrichshafen
The Zeppelin Museum Friedrichshafen is a museum in Friedrichshafen in Germany, the birthplace of the Zeppelin airship. The museum houses the largest collection on airship travel in the world, and chronicles the history of the Zeppelin airship ...
References
Notes
Citations
Bibliography
* Boulton, James T., ed. '' The Selected Letters of D. H. Lawrence.'' Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University, 2000. .
* Boyne, Walter J. et al. ''Air Warfare: An International Encyclopedia.'' Santa Barbara, California: ABC-Clio, 2002. .
* Castle, Ian. ''London 1914–17: The Zeppelin Menace.'' Oxford, UK: Osprey, 2008. .
* Cole, Christopher and Cheesman, E. F. ''The Air Defence of Great Britain 1914–1918''. London: Putnam, 1984. .
* Cross, Wilbur. ''Zeppelins of World War I.'' London: Paragon House, 1991. .
*
*Dooley, Sean C
"The Development of Material-Adapted Structural Form."
Part II: Appendices
'' THÈSE NO 2986. ''École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
École may refer to:
* an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée)
* École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France
* École, Savoi ...
,'' 2004.
* Dürr, Dr. Ludwig. – ''25 Years of Zeppelin Airship Construction'', Lulu online publishing, 2013.
* Eckener, Hugo, translated by Leigh Fanell
''Count Zeppelin: The Man and His Work''. London: Massie, 1938 – (ASIN: B00085KPWK) ( extract pp. 155–157, 210–211).
*
* Liddell Hart, B. H. ''A History of the World War 1914–1918.'' London: Faber & Faber, 1934.
*
* Robinson, Douglas H. ''Giants in the Sky: History of the Rigid Airship.'' Henley-on-Thames, UK: Foulis, 1973. .
* Robinson, Douglas H. ''The Zeppelin in Combat.'' Henley-on-Thames, UK: Foulis, 1971 (3rd ed.). .
*
* Schiller, Hans von. – ''The Zeppelin Book'', Lulu online publishing, 2017.
* Stephenson, Charles. ''Zeppelins: German Airships, 1900–40.'' Oxford, UK: Osprey, 2004. .
* Swinfield, J. ''Airship: Design, Development and Disaster''. London: Conway, 2012.
*
* Willmott, H.P. ''First World War''. London: Dorling Kindersley
Dorling Kindersley Limited (branded as DK) is a British multinational publishing company specialising in illustrated reference books for adults and children in 63 languages.
It is part of Penguin Random House, a subsidiary of German media co ...
, 2003. .
Further reading
* Althoff, William F. ''USS Los Angeles: The Navy's Venerable Airship and Aviation Technology''. Sterling, Virginia: Potomac Books Inc., 2003. .
* Archbold, Rich and Ken Marschall. ''Hindenburg, an Illustrated History''. New York: Warner Books, 1994. .
* Brooks, Peter. ''Zeppelin: Rigid Airships 1893–1940 ''. London: Putnam Aeronautical Books, 2004. .
* Griehl, Manfred and Joachim Dressel. ''Zeppelin! The German Airship Story''. London: Arms & Armour, 1990. .
*
* McPhee, John. ''The Deltoid Pumpkin Seed''. London: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1992. .
* Mowthorpe, Ces. ''Battlebags: British Airships of the First World War'' (An Illustrated History). London: Sutton Publishing, 1995. .
Danish Post & Tele Museum Zeppelin articles
*
*
*
*
*
"Zeppelin Exhibition – An online exhibition about Zeppelins."
''Post & Tele Museum'', Denmark.
Patents
*, "Navigable balloon". 14 March 1899. Ferdinand Graf Zeppelin.
*, "Method of destroying aircraft", Filed 11 April 1916. Joseph A. Steinmetz
*, "Light weight girder". Filed 28 June 1920. Karl Arnstein.
*, "Airship". Filed 19 August 1922; Issued 20 November 1923. Julius Erhardt
*, "Rigid airship with separate gas cells". Filed 27 November 1922; Issued August 1929. Hugo Eckener
External links
How did London civilians respond to the German airship raids of 1915?
Airships.net – Illustrated history of passenger Zeppelins
* ttp://www.ezep.de/zpj/zpj.html Zeppelin Post Journal – Quarterly publication for Zeppelin mail and airship memorabiliabr>Zeppelin Luftschifftechnik GmbH – The original company, now developing the ''Zeppelin NT''
Dark Autumn: The 1916 German Zeppelin Offensive
Die deütschen Luftstreitkräfte im Weltkriege edited by Georg Paul Neumann 1920 [German][Books google].
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Vehicles introduced in 1900
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