LZ 114

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LZ 114 as "Dixmude" with an additional gondola

The Zeppelin LZ 114 , known as “Dixmude” in France , was the last rigid airship that had been built for the German Navy during the First World War . The military designation was L 72 . However, it was no longer used and had to be given to France as reparation .

"Dixmude" is the French spelling of the municipality of Diksmuide in West Flanders , which was completely destroyed in the First World War but was rebuilt afterwards.

history

The completion of LZ 114 came shortly before the war ended in Löwentaler airship hangar of the Zeppelin airship GmbH.

After the end of the war, the Zeppelins (including Ernst A. Lehmann ) actually wanted to take the LZ 114 on a transatlantic demonstration trip to New York and back without stopping over or adding petrol: since the LZ 114 was still built as a war airship and not as a commercial airship, it had enough fuel to cross the Atlantic in both directions without stopping under normal weather conditions. The ship had already been prepared and equipped for this purpose in the spring of 1919. The Reichsmarineamt also agreed. If the trip had taken place, it would have been the first non-stop crossing of the Atlantic in the air. However, the Reich government suddenly refused permission. The reason is not known. It is speculated that this was due to Allied pressure. The British rigid airship R34 became the first airship to cross the Atlantic in July 1919; an aircraft achieved this achievement just a few days before the R34.

The maiden voyage of LZ 114 did not take place until the following year on February 9th (July 9th?) 1920 under Hugo Eckener .

In the course of the reparations demand of the Allies, the airship was on 10/11. Transferred to France by Captain A. Heinen in July 1920. The goal was initially Maubeuge . The French navy named the ship "Dixmude" there. All in all, little happened in the next three years because the hall was too small and the necessary replacement of the gas cells took a long time. The ship's commanding officer was Jean du Plessis de Grenedan.

The ship was later moved to the new airship base Cuers-Pierrefeu near Toulon . There the Zeppelin LZ 121 "Méditerranée" (previously "Nordstern") joined the "Dixmude".

Activities with the airship also increased again. The "Dixmude" made some remarkable trips. It was also the only former German naval airship that performed even better as the spoils of the Allies.

In some pictures an additional passenger cabin, which was installed a few meters behind the command gondola, can be seen.

Rides

(Selection)

  • On August 2, 1923, the "Dixmude" undertook an 18-hour journey along the Mediterranean coast .
  • On the second trip Corsica was circled.
  • From August 30th to September 2nd a 2800-kilometer round trip was carried out over Algiers , Tunis , Bizerte , Sardinia and Corsica.
  • From September 25th to 30th, the airship broke the world record for airships at the time with a journey time of 118 hours and 41 minutes over the Mediterranean and the Sahara . 7200 kilometers were covered.
  • In October the ship made a round trip through France. It also took part in maneuvers of the fleet.
  • On another round trip from November 21st to 24th, the ship got into bad weather near Cap Ferrat and was heavier by nine tons due to the rainwater. Nevertheless, I managed to make a safe journey back.

The end

On December 18, 1923, the ship under Jean du Plessis de Grenedan set out on another long-distance voyage across Africa. The course led via Tunis, into the Sahara via Touggourt and the oasis In Salah . Then they wanted to continue in the direction of Colomb- Bechar , but the ship turned due to strong headwinds at Bou Saad and tried to sail east around the Atlas. The last sighting was over the Gulf of Gabès . There were no survivors. On December 28, wreckage and the body of the commander were found on the south coast of Sicily . A charred tank was found on January 4th.

Various facts about this accident are unclear. Some sources state that there was no further evidence of the loss, while other sources report that the ship went up in flames on December 23, 1923 at 2:27 a.m. in a thunderstorm near Pantelleria . The number of deaths and thus the number of crew members also fluctuates between 50 and 52.

After this event, enthusiasm for airships in France sank to a low point. Measured in terms of the number of victims, the loss of the "Dixmude" was the second worst disaster for an airship to date after the USS Akron . In Pierrefeu-du-Var there are one or two monuments to commemorate this accident.

technology

  • Carrying gas volume: 68,500 cubic meters of hydrogen in 16 gas cells
  • Length: 226.5 m
  • largest diameter: 23.9 m
  • Empty weight: 28.5 t
  • Payload: about 51 t
  • Drive: six Maybach motors with 180 kW (245 hp) each on six wood propellers
  • Top speed: around 117 (?) Km / h

literature

  • Peter Kleinheins: LZ 120 "Bodensee" and LZ 121 "Nordstern". Airships in the shadow of the Versailles Treaty. Zeppelin Museum, Friedrichshafen 1994, ISBN 3-926162-80-5 .
  • Peter Kleinheins: The big zeppelins. The history of airship construction. 3. Edition. Springer, Berlin 2005, ISBN 3-54021170-5 .
  • Ernst A. Lehmann: On air patrol and world travel. Experiences of a zeppelin leader in war and peace. Schmidt and Günther, Leipzig 1936.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Flight, THE FRENCH AIRSHIP CATASTROPHE - The "Dixmude" Now Assumed Lost; Edition: January 3, 1924; Page 9; online as PDF , accessed on December 26, 2016.
  2. ↑ a b Dixmude Tank Found; Aviation; Edition of January 28, 1924 page 99; online behind the registration barrier in the Aviation.com archive ; Retrieved December 26, 2016