LZ 99

L 54
Type:	Zeppelin type u
Design country:	German Empire
Manufacturer:	Airship construction Zeppelin , Friedrichshafen
First flight:	May 28, 1916 LZ 62
Commissioning:	June 1916
Production time:	1916-1917
Number of pieces:	17th

LZ 99 (L 54) was a Zeppelin military airship of the German Imperial Navy that entered service on August 13, 1917. The Zeppelin was located in Wittmundhaven and Tondern . The second commander of the airship, Horst Treusch von Buttlar-Brandenfels , was the only commander of an airship to be awarded the Pour le Mérite order .
During a British air raid on the base in North Schleswig , L 54 was destroyed in its hall on July 19, 1918.

Technical description of the airship

The type u airship was 196.5 meters long with a diameter of 23.9 meters and it was powered by five Maybach engines with 240 hp each. The zeppelin had four gondolas and four propellers. The shell contained fourteen gas cells with a total of 55,800 cubic meters of capacity for the hydrogen as the carrier gas .
The first ascent of the airship LZ 99 took place on August 13, 1917. It was delivered to the Navy, where it was given the identification L 54 .

By converting the engines in March 1918, the engine output was increased to 260 hp each.

Locations

The guide gondola of L 54 with the Pour le Mérite

The first commander of the Zeppelin stationed in Wittmundhaven was Kapitänleutnant Ludwig Bockholt , who had previously commanded the L 23 and later became known through the world record run with the L 59 to Africa. After four trips and on September 5, the transfer to Nordschleswig under Bockholt from August 20 to September 11, 1917, Lieutenant Treusch von Buttlar-Brandenfels in Tønder took command of the L 6 , L 11 , L 25 and L 30 had commanded. From Buttlar the ship commands another 27 voyages; On March 13, 1918, a squadron attack took place on the batteries of Spurn Head and Grimsby . The airship got into heavy gunfire and a propeller hurled ice buildup into the hull. A subsequent gas entry into the cabin caused two crew members to faint and L 54 was only able to reach their home port with great difficulty .
Captain Treusch von Buttlar-Brandenfels was awarded the Order Pour le Mérite on April 9, 1918 after this mission ; the Pour le Mérite order was also painted on the front of his gondola.

On July 19, 1918, the L 54 was destroyed together with the L 60 by an aircraft bombing raid on its berth in Tondern. Seven Sopwith Camel single-seaters, each armored with a 50 kg bomb , took off from the aircraft carrier Furious near the coast.

See also

• List of Zeppelins

Literature and Sources

• Sources: Peter Meyer: Airships - The History of the German Zeppelins . Bernard & Graefe Verlag, Bonn 1996, ISBN 3-7637-5951-4 .

Web links

Commons : LZ 99 / L 54  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Zeppelin Museum Tondern
• Operations and commandments in the First World War

Individual evidence

1. ↑ zeppelin-museum.dk - L 54 Accessed December 28, 2016
2. ↑ Peter Meyer: Airships - The History of the German Zeppelins . Bernard & Graefe Verlag, Bonn 1996, ISBN 3-7637-5951-4 .
3. ↑ zeppelin-museum.dk ( Memento of the original from March 6, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved December 28, 2016