the airships

The dream of floating fortresses that could rain devastation on the enemy was tested in World War One. The reality proved to be very different. The German Air Command's plan for the conquest of Britain failed to achieve it's intended goal. The promise of the Airship's potential was an empty one
 


Photograph of a German Zeppelin taken in 1916.


Italian Dirigible tipo M was powered by Fiat S76 A Engine.


Italian Forlanini Airship powered by Isotta Fraschini V5 Engine .

The First Zeppelin Kill


Zeppelin LZ 37
Country: Germany
Length: 521 feet
Volume: 935,000 cubic feet
Lifting Gas: hydrogen
Armament: four machine guns

On June 17, 1915, Lt. R.A.J. Warneford of the RNAF was flying toward Ostend. I was his first night flight, and he was going to bomb theZeppelin sheds at Evere. He spotted a large cigar-shaped object in the clouds. As he drew nearer he saw that it was the German Zeppelin LZ 37.

Warneford's Morane Saulnier L only carried a few bombs and a carbine. The Zeppelin continued to fire at him as it's crew dumped ballast. The LZ 37 rose rapidly higher into the sky. Warneford struggled to gain altitude. Warneford pursued the Zeppelin into the early morning.

Suddenly the Zeppelin nosed down and began to lose altitude. Warneford pushed his plane until he was over the zeppelin and released his bombs. After a few moments, there was a tremendous explosion, and the Zeppelin LZ 37 fell to the earth engulfed in flames. Lt. Warneford was the first Allied flier to bring down a Zeppelin.


View from a German Zeppelin

the birth of strategic bombing

  

The Birth of Strategic Bombing was in WWI when German Zeppelins began raiding London from bases in occupied Belgium. Small attacks against England were carried out early in the war, but by October 1915, "squadron-size" raids by numerous Zeppelins had begun, always at night and in the dark of the moon. Early in September 1916, a British fighter shot down an airship, and three weeks later, two Zeppelins attempting to attack London were also destroyed. Although Zeppelin performance was gradually improved, so were British balloons, and improved anti-aircraft defences and heavy losses continued. After a disastrous raid on August 5, 1918, the Germans practically discontinued Zeppelin warfare. There were 159 Zeppelin attacks against England in WWI, resulting in the death of 557 people, primarily civilians, and damages of $7,500,000.