Zeppelin LZ 95

Zeppelin LZ 95 (L 48) was a U-class zeppelin of the Imperial German Military.

LZ 95 (L 48)
History
German Empire
Name: LZ 95
Operator: Imperial German Navy
Builder: Luftschiffbau Zeppelin
Maiden voyage: 22 May 1917
Identification: LZ 95 (L 48)
Fate: Shot down, 28 November 1916
Wreckage of Zeppelin LZ 95 (L 48), near Leiston

Career

One successful reconnaissance mission. L 48 and its U-class sister Airships were designed to fly high as 20,000 feet (6,100 m).[1]

Destruction

L 48 joined attempted attack on London with 4 other Zeppelins, L 42, L 44, L 45 and L 47.[1] Commanded by George Eichler, on his thirteenth raid, it became lost and was intercepted and destroyed by Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.12, serial No. 6110[2], flown by Canadian pilot Second Lieutenant Loudon Pierce Watkins.[1] He was attached to No. 37 Squadron of British Royal Flying Corps (RFC) fighters. Watkins enlisted with his three brothers. He had been based in the UK, as home defence, since 11 December 1916.[3] Watkins shot down L 48 over water near Great Yarmouth on 17 June 1917 but it crashed near Leiston. Three survivors; crew buried at Theberton, Suffolk, later to be exhumed and reburied at Cannock Chase.

Of the seven Zeppelins lost over England that were shot down in 1917 during the First World War, L 48 was the only one shot down by the RFC's Home defence.[4]

Specifications (LZ 95 / Type u zeppelin)

Data from Zeppelin : rigid airships, 1893-1940[5]

General characteristics

  • Crew: 19
  • Capacity: 39,000 kg (85,980 lb) typical disposable load
  • Length: 196.4 m (644 ft 4 in)
  • Diameter: 23.9 m (78 ft 5 in)
  • Fineness ratio: 8.22
  • Volume: 55,795 m3 (1,970,400 cu ft)
  • Empty weight: 25,750 kg (56,769 lb)
  • Useful lift: 64,750 kg (142,750 lb)
  • Powerplant: 5 × Maybach HS Lu 6-cylinder water-cooled in-line piston engines, 180 kW (240 hp) each
  • Propellers: 2-bladed Lorenzen propellers

Performance

  • Maximum speed: 107.6 km/h (66.9 mph, 58.1 kn)
  • Range: 7,400 km (4,600 mi, 4,000 nmi)
  • Service ceiling: 5,500 m (18,000 ft) static

Armament

  • Guns: defensive machine-guns in gondolas and envelope top gun positions
  • Bombs: provision for bommbs

Zeppelins shot down over the UK

Airships made about 51 bombing raids on Britain during the war. These killed 557 and injured another 1,358 people. More than 5,000 bombs were dropped on towns across Britain, causing £1.5 million in damage. 84 airships took part, of which 30 were either shot down or lost in accidents.[6]

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See also

Bibliography

Notes

  1. Boyne 2005, p. 106.
  2. Pigott 2005, p. 32.
  3. Mower 2009, p. 56.
  4. Wise 1980, p. 243.
  5. Brooks, Peter W. (1992). Zeppelin : rigid airships, 1893-1940. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press. pp. 100–106. ISBN 1560982284.
  6. Liddell Hart, Sir Basil Henry (1934). A History of the World War 1914-1918. Faber. p. 76. ISBN 9780304936533. - Total pages: 635

References

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