Zeppelin LZ 48

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LZ 48 (L 15)
Zeppelin L-15.jpg
Zeppelin LZ 48 (L 15) in the water
RoleP-class reconnaissance-bomber rigid airship
National origin German Empire
Manufacturer Luftschiffbau Zeppelin
Designer Ludwig Dürr
First flight9 September 1915
StatusShot down by AA fire on 1 April 1916
Primary user Imperial German Navy
Number built1

The Imperial German Navy Zeppelin LZ 48 (L 15) was a P-class World War I zeppelin.

Contents

Operational history

The Airship took part in eight reconnaissance missions with three attacks on England dropping 5,780 kg (12,740 lb) of bombs.

Destruction

The Zeppelin was damaged by ground fire from Dartford AA battery [1] during a raid on London on 1 April 1916. The airship came down at Kentish Knock Deep in the Thames estuary. One crew member was killed; the other 17 were taken prisoner of war after being picked up by ships. [2] The gunners at Purfleet attempted to claim a prize of £500 offered by the Mayor of London for shooting down the Zeppelin, but the War Office declared them ineligible. [3] Instead the gunners received a gold medal.

Specifications

Data from , [4] Giants in the Sky: A History of the Rigid Airship [2]

General characteristics

Performance

Armament

Dirigibles shot down over the UK

Airships made about 51 bombing raids on Britain during World War I. These killed 557 and injured another 1,358 people. More than 5,000 bombs were dropped (largely on towns and cities) across Britain, causing £1.5 million (equivalent to £128,500,000in 2023) in damage. 84 airships took part, of which 30 were shot down or lost in accidents. [5]

See also

References

  1. "Super Zeppelins". Flight. VIII (No.35) (401): 739–741. 31 August 1916.
  2. 1 2 Robinson, Douglas Hill (1973). Giants in the Sky: A History of the Rigid Airship. University of Washington Press. ISBN   9780295952499.
  3. "Panorama, the Journal of the Thurrock Local History Society, Volume 39" (PDF). www.thurrock-history.org.uk.
  4. Brooks, Peter W. (1992). Zeppelin : rigid airships, 1893-1940. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press. pp. 91–95. ISBN   1560982284.
  5. Liddell Hart 1934, p. 76.