LZ 37

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LZ 37
Lieutenant Warneford's Great Exploit- the first Zeppelin to be brought down by Allied aircraft, 7th June 1915. the Vc was conferred at once on Lieutenant Warneford. Art.IWMART3077.jpg
Artist's impression of the destruction of German Zeppelin LZ 37 by Sub-Lieutenant Reginald Warneford on 7 June 1915.
General information
TypeM-Class Zeppelin
National originWar Ensign of Germany 1903-1918.svg  German Empire
Manufacturer Luftschiffbau Zeppelin at Friedrichshafen
OwnersWar Ensign of Germany 1903-1918.svg  Imperial German Navy
Number built77
Construction numberLZ 37
Flights14
History
First flight4 March 1915
In service4 March 1915 – 7 June 1915
FateShot down, 7 June 1915

The airship LZ 37 was a World War I Zeppelin of the German Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial Navy). It was the first Zeppelin to be brought down during the war by an enemy plane, on the night of 6 to 7 June 1915, near Sint-Amandsberg, Belgium. [1]

Contents

History

In 1915 Zeppelins were first used by Germany for strategic bombing. [2]

LZ 37 was part of a raid with Zeppelins LZ 38 and LZ 39 . While returning, she was intercepted in the air by Reginald Warneford in his Morane Parasol during its first raid on Calais, on 7 June 1915. [3] [4] Warneford dropped six 20-pound (9 kg) Hales bombs on the zeppelin, which caught fire and crashed into the convent school of Sint-Amandsberg, next to Ghent, Belgium ( 51°3′43.2″N3°44′54.7″E / 51.062000°N 3.748528°E / 51.062000; 3.748528 ), killing two nuns. The commander of LZ 37, Oberleutnant Otto van der Haegen  [ de ], and seven members of the crew were killed. One crew member, Steuermann Alfred Mühler, survived with only superficial burns and bruises when he was precipitated from the forward gondola, landing in a bed. [5] It was the first victory of a heavier-than-air aircraft over a lighter-than-air dirigible. [1] Warneford was awarded the Victoria Cross for his achievement.

LZ 37 was based in Gontrode  [ fr; nl ], Belgium (airport location: 50°58′54.6″N3°47′17.1″E / 50.981833°N 3.788083°E / 50.981833; 3.788083 ), where also other heavy bombers Gotha G IV were based. [6] [7]

Specifications

Data from "The Zeppelin Airships - Part Two: Zeppelins of the Great War 1914–1918". Puget sound airship society. Retrieved 28 January 2011.

General characteristics

Performance

Armament

Citations

  1. 1 2 Stephenson 2004, p. 16.
  2. ↑ "The National Archives - Homepage". The National Archives. The National Archives UK. Archived from the original on 4 September 2024. Retrieved 8 February 2024.
  3. ↑ Piet, Dhanens (12 April 2013). "Zeppelin LZ 37 te Sint-Amandsberg". Luchtvaartgeschiedenis.be (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 2019-12-29. Retrieved 2019-12-29.
  4. ↑ Dhanens, Piet (2008). Een eeuw luchtvaart boven Gent (in Dutch). Vol. 1. Erembodegem (Aalst): Flying Pencil. ISBN   978-90-78878-04-9. OCLC   1074669308.
  5. ↑ History of the First World War, vol. 3, pp. 986.
  6. ↑ Ghent, Thomas (2012). "KG III Der Englandflieger". thomasgenth.de (in German). Archived from the original on 2013-09-14. Retrieved 29 June 2013.
  7. ↑ White, C. M. (1986). The Gotha summer: the German daytime air raids on England, May to August 1917. London: Hale. ISBN   978-0-7090-2791-1.

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References

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