A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship named after the German inventor Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin who pioneered rigid airship development at the beginning of the 20th century. Zeppelin's notions were first formulated in 1874 and developed in detail in 1893. They were patented in Germany in 1895 and in the United States in 1899. After the outstanding success of the Zeppelin design, the word zeppelin came to be commonly used to refer to all rigid airships. Zeppelins were first flown commercially in 1910 by Deutsche Luftschiffahrts-AG (DELAG), the world's first airline in revenue service. By mid-1914, DELAG had carried over 10,000 fare-paying passengers on over 1,500 flights. During World War I, the German military made extensive use of Zeppelins as bombers and as scouts, killing over 500 people in bombing raids in Britain.
An airship, dirigible balloon or blimp is a type of aerostat or lighter-than-air aircraft that can navigate through the air under its own power. Aerostats gain their lift from a lifting gas that is less dense than the surrounding air.
Luftschiffertruppe, a German word meaning "airshipmen's troop", was the designation of the German airship units.
A rigid airship is a type of airship in which the envelope is supported by an internal framework rather than by being kept in shape by the pressure of the lifting gas within the envelope, as in blimps and semi-rigid airships. Rigid airships are often commonly called Zeppelins, though this technically refers only to airships built by the Luftschiffbau Zeppelin company.
HMA No. 9r was a rigid airship designed and built by Vickers at Walney Island just off Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria. It was ordered in 1913 but did not fly until 27 November 1916 when it became the first British rigid airship to do so. It was dismantled in June 1918 after being flown for around 165 hours, mainly for experimental purposes.
A semi-rigid airship is an airship which has a stiff keel or truss supporting the main envelope along its length. The keel may be partially flexible or articulated and may be located inside or outside the main envelope. The outer shape of the airship is maintained by gas pressure, as with the non-rigid "blimp". Semi-rigid dirigibles were built in significant quantity from the late 19th century but in the late 1930s they fell out of favour along with rigid airships. No more were constructed until the semi-rigid design was revived by the Zeppelin NT in 1997.
The Zeppelin LZ 1 was the first truly successful experimental rigid airship. It was first flown from a floating hangar on Lake Constance, near Friedrichshafen in southern Germany on 2 July 1900. "LZ" stood for Luftschiff Zeppelin, or "Airship Zeppelin"
The Zeppelin P Class was the first Zeppelin airship type to be produced in quantity after the outbreak of the First World War. 22 of the type were built as well as 12 of a lengthened version, the Q Class . They were used for many of the airship bombing raids on the United Kingdom in 1915-16, for naval patrol work over the North Sea and Baltic and were also deployed on the eastern and south-eastern fronts.
The Zeppelin R Class was a type of rigid airship developed by Zeppelin Luftschiffbau in 1916 for use by the Imperial German Navy and the German Army for bombing and naval patrol work. Introduced in July 1916 at a time when British air defences were becoming increasingly capable, several were lost in the first months of operation, leading the Germans to reconsider their technical requirements and eventually to develop airships capable of bombing from a greater height. Most surviving examples were modified to meet these requirements, by reducing weight at the expense of performance. A total of 17 were built.
The Imperial German Navy Zeppelin LZ 47 was a P-class World War I zeppelin. Destroyed by enemy fire on 21 February 1916 in the Battle of Verdun, killing the crew of 15.
The Imperial German Navy Zeppelin LZ 48 was a P-class World War I zeppelin.
The Imperial German Navy Zeppelin LZ 53 was a P-class World War I zeppelin.
Zeppelin "L 30" was the first R-class "Super Zeppelin" of the German Empire. It was the most successful airship of the First World War with 31 reconnaissance flights and 10 bombing runs carrying a total of 23,305 kg of bombs, with the first ones targeting England, and the four final raids targeting Livonia and Ösel (Saaremaa). At the time of its construction, It was the world's largest Zeppelin, and with its 6 engines, "L 30" could reach speeds higher than 100 km/h, making it the fastest Zeppelin in the world too.
The LZ 59 was a World War I German Navy Airship and was the first Q-Class zeppelin with a then record length of 178.5 metres. It was allocated the tactical numbering L 20 and carried out a total of 19 flights, including 2 raids on England and 10 reconnaissance missions.
The LZ 85, tactical number L 45, also known as Zeppelin of Laragne by the French public, was a World War I R-Class zeppelin of the German Navy that carried out a total of 27 flights, including 3 raids on England and 12 reconnaissance missions.
Zeppelin LZ 55 was a P class Zeppeling of the Imperial German Army in World War I. It was shot down by the old British pre-dreadnough battleship HMS Agamemnon in 1916 during Salonika campaign
The Imperial German Army Zeppelin LZ 76 (L-33) was a R-class World War I zeppelin.
