When a German aristocrat, brigadier general Ferdinand Zeppelin retired from the army in 1891, he devoted himself to the study of aeronautics. His proposals to the government for a "lighter than air flying machine" were rejected in 1894, but nevertheless he would invest all his money into a company producing airships.
By 1898, Zeppelin had constructed his first airship. The foundation of the airship were in its hydrogen-filled gas bags, carried inside a steel skeleton. It weighed 12 tons and contained 400,000 cubic feet of hydrogen and was driven by propellers connected to a pair of 15 horsepower Daimler engines. When the Zeppelin LZ made its flight on July 2nd, 1900, the German government decided to fund the project.
In March 1909 the German army purchased the Zeppelin Z1. These Zeppelins could reach a maximum speed of 136 km/h and reach a height of 4250 meters. They were armed with five machine guns and could carry 2,000 kilograms of bombs.
(Z1 taking off)
At the start of the war, the Zeppelin's were used in bombing raids. A Zeppelin was used to bomb Liège in Belgium on August 6th, 1914, but had to make an emergency landing after encountering Belgian artillery fire. Over the next few weeks three more Zeppelins were destroyed by ground forces. While the Zeppelin's were an easy target to hit, the Germans continued to use them for attacks on France in January 1915.
Two Zeppelin naval airships flew over the English coast, bombing Great Yarmouth and King's Lynn. Zeppelin would commence a bombing raid on London on May 31st, 1915, killing 28 people and injuring 60 more.
Zeppelins were used at the Battle of Verdun in 1916, with four being brought down by ground fire, bringing an end to their use on the Western Front. They continued to be used to attack the British home front, but British fighter pilots and anti-aircraft gunners became efficient at taking them down.
115 Zeppelin's were used by the German military, with 77 destroyed or damaged
beyond repair. After the war, Zeppelin's were used for civilian transport.
(Civilian Zeppelin flying over lower Manhattan)
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