| Zeppelin became
the accepted term for the rigid structured, lighter than air
air vessels developed during the early years of the 20th century.
The name is derived from the great pioneer of dirigible aviation
Count Ferdinand Von Zeppelin.
The basic design of these majestic ships of the sky comprised
a rigid skeleton of metal alloy which was covered by a tensioned
fabric skin. Within this structure were numerous individual
gas bags (cells) filled with Hydrogen gas. The hydrogen being
lighter than air provided the lift. An airship of this type
was powered through the sky by a number of engines set in
gondalas that hung below the lifting body. The airship was
also controlled from a separate gondala below the lifting
body. There was plenty more space within the lifting body
for passengers, cargo or a bomb load.
Ferdinand Von Zeppelin began to pioneer these great vessels
in the 1890's and the first Zeppelin flew in 1900. By 1909
21 Zeppelins had been built and were already employed as passenger
aircraft. In addition both the Geerman navy and army had appreciated
the strategic and tactical potential of the airship as military
scouts and even bombers.
By 1914 a typical German airship was over 130 m long and
could carry 9 tons of stores at 80 Kph. Their range was also
counted in many hundreds of kilometers. This carrying capacity,
speed and range was well beyond the capabilities of the primitive
aircraft of the time. A number of accidents had, however,
demonstrated the airships greatest weakness. This weakness
was the highly flammable hydrogen gas which had to be used
to provide lift.
During 1915 and 1916 the German Navy and German Army both
utilised these ships of the air as scouts and for conducting
bombing raids. The first strategic bombing raids of Britain
were also conducted by these aerial behemoths. These raids
were actually undertaken by airships designed by two competing
companies, the Zeppelin Company and Schutte-Lanz. Although
Zeppelin has become synonymous with airship construction it
was Schutte-Lanz which actually introduced a number of important
features including defensive guns, and the more streamlined
body shape and cruciform control surfaces which would become
standard on all later airships.
The German favoured use of the alloy framed Zeppelin built
airships whilst the German army generally operated the wooden
framed Schutte-Lanz vessels. To begin with allied fighters
were hopelessly incapable of effectively countering the fast
and high flying Zeppelin and Schutte-Lanz airships. By late
1916, however innovations in aircraft design and new explosive
and incendiary ammunition brought about the end of the airship's
threat as a strategic bomber. In the night skies of Autumn
1916, flyers from Hornchurch spectacularly brought about the
fiery ruin of three of Germany's greatest airships. Two of
these were the most advanced design then available. All were
destroyed because the hydrogen keeping them aloft was set
on fire. Although a few more Zeppelin raids were launched
during 1917 and even in early 1918 their threat had been effectively
countered.
After World War I, airships continued to be designed and
built by many nations as naval scouts and passenger aircraft.
Ferdinand Von Zeppelin and his close associate Hugo Eckner
continued to be at the forefront of championing the airship
as the worlds first intercontinental air liner and freight/postal
plane. It seemed that the luxurious long distance travel that
was possible with an airship had secured a place for these
leviathans of the sky. Zeppelins constantly shattered endurance
records, made intercontinental and trans- continental journeys
and even flew over the North Pol and throughout the later
1920's and early 1930's airships became the luxury queens
of the sky. A number of disasters, including the crash of
the British R101 demonstrated the danger of continuing to
use hydrogen in airship design. The Zeppelin company had begun
to contemplate using inert helium as the lifting gas but helium
was in the 1930's a new and very expensive gas that was also
denied to Germany for strategic reasons. However, on May 6th
1937 the airship dream foundered in fiery ruin as in the full
glare of world publicity the flagship and pride of the Zeppelin
fleet, the Hindenburg, exploded in flames as it came in to
land at the Lakehurst Air Station near New York.
Below are the typical statistics for one of the Super Zeppelins
L32 or L33 as shot down by Frederick Sowrey and Wulstan Tempest.
Type: Airship bomber and aerial scout
Crew; up to 30
Dimensions: c 200 m long and c 15m diameter
Powerplants; 6 x 240 hp HSLu engines
Maximum Speed: c 70 mph
Maximum Altitude: c 17,000 feet
Armament: c 15 defensive machine guns and c 7 tons of bombs
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