Rigid Airship - Germany

Germany

In 1900, Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin began trials of his first airship, the LZ 1. Germany had over twenty very large lighter-than-air rigid airships by the beginning of World War I, seven owned by the company Luftschiffbau Zeppelin. In the five years prior to the outbreak of war, his airline carried 32,722 passengers on over 1,588 flights totalling 172,530 kilometres (107,210 mi). Commercial airlines ended in Germany at the outbreak of the War, during which Zeppelin’s company built 95 military airships. German military airship stations had been established before the War and on September 2–3, 1914, the Zeppelin LZ 17 dropped three 200 lb bombs on Antwerp in Belgium. On January 19, 1915, two further airships dropped bombs on Norfolk, England, the third ship in the air raid returned to Germany with engine trouble before reaching England. On May 31, 1915, the first bombs fell on London. On the night of September 2–3, 1916 the first German airship was shot down over English soil by Lt. Leefe Robinson flying a BE 2c. Further bombs were dropped on London during the night of November 27–28, 1916, this time by a winged aircraft. However, the build-up of England’s defences against such aircraft led to the discontinuation of airship raids by Germany. The last casualties occurred on April 12, 1918.