The
Imperial German Army Zeppelin LZ 76 (L-m33) was a
R-class World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
zeppelin.
Operational history
On 23 September 1916 a bombing raid was planned for London. That night, a Zeppelin group (
LZ 72 31 L 32, L 33 and L 34) set out to complete the mission. They succeeded in dropping of bombs on London and surrounding counties. On its first mission, anti-aircraft damaged LZ 76 its commander Kapitan-Leutnant Alois Bocker changed its course over Essex. It was here that the airship was attacked by
39 Home Defence Squadron night fighters from Hainault Farm.
Alfred Brandon was flying a
B.E.2e fighter when he attacked Zeppelin LZ 76, helping to bring the airship down in a field. Even after dropping guns and equipment, Bocker calculated that the ship would not make it safely across the North Sea, and he landed in
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 Peldon ...
,
Essex
Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Grea ...
, the morning of 24 September 1916 with no fatalities. Right away, the crew set out to destroy the airship but were only partly successful in burning the hull. British engineers examined the skeleton and later used the plans as a basis for the construction of airships ''
R33'' and ''
R34 R34 may refer to:
* R34 (New York City Subway car)
* R34 (South Africa)
* HM Airship ''R.34'', a rigid airship of the Royal Air Force
* , a destroyer of the Royal Navy
* Nissan Skyline (R34), a mid-size car
* Nissan Skyline GT-R (R34), a sports ca ...
''.
Specifications (LZ 76 / Type R zeppelin)
See also
*
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 ...
References
Footnotes
Bibliography
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Accidents and incidents involving balloons and airships
Airships of Germany
Aviation accidents and incidents in 1916
Hydrogen airships
Zeppelins