LZ 121

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LZ 121 north star

The Zeppelin LZ 121 Nordstern , later renamed Méditerranée , was a German airship that was built after the First World War for the DELAG passenger service to Scandinavia , but had to be given to France as a reparation payment in 1921 .

LZ 121 was the sister ship of LZ 120 Bodensee .

Construction and maiden voyage

The construction largely corresponded to that of the LZ 120 Bodensee , but the ship was extended by ten to a total of 131 meters during construction. Another change was the reduction in size of the upper tail fin . The main external distinguishing feature was the curved shapes on the windows of the gondola. At LZ 120 they were rectangular. Inside, the passenger compartments within the gondola were asymmetrically divided in contrast to the LZ 120. There was one row of seats on the right and two on the left, which resulted in a passenger capacity of 30 people from the start, ten more than originally planned for Lake Constance .

The completion took place in January 1920, the commissioning was planned for the spring. However, the operation of LZ 120 and LZ 121 was banned by the Allies around the end of 1919 (the exact date is not known). The Zeppelins hoped, however, that it was only a temporary, compulsory break.

During the conference of the victorious powers of the First World War in Spa in July 1920 and by a written order from the chairman of the commission, General E. A. Mastermann, dated August 9, 1920, it was determined that LZ 120 and LZ 121 had to be delivered to the victorious powers as reparation payments. In a note from the inter-allied aviation control commission to the Reich government, it was announced on November 16, 1920 that the conference of ambassadors had decided to have the two ships confiscated. The protests by the German government were unsuccessful. LZ 121 was awarded to France. In May 1921, the French authorities announced that an airship hangar for the zeppelin was ready in Saint-Cyr-l'École near Versailles . LZ 121 Nordstern was then made ready to drive for the first time.

On June 8, 1921, the zeppelin set out on its only journey in Germany. 13 crew members and 30 passengers were on board the test drive. Most of them were members of the Zeppelin factory , but no French. The trip took 3 hours and 45 minutes. Various maneuvers such as steering tests and speed tests were carried out to determine the characteristics of the ship. A ballast generator was also tested during this voyage. He should make it possible to take water from the bottom to weight for the buoyancy compensator to win, since the spent fuel airships will be easier.

Overpass

On June 13, 1921, LZ 121 began its transfer journey to France. Around 10,000 people said goodbye to the Zeppelin in Friedrichshafen. Departure was at 11:30 a.m., Paris was reached at 8:10 p.m., the landing time in Saint-Cyr-l'École was 9:12 p.m. with a crew of eleven who largely corresponded to the test drive crew. There were also five passengers on board, including at least three French officers. The long journey time of almost ten hours for the 683 kilometers is explained by strong northwest winds on that day.

LZ 121 as Méditerranée

LZ 121 was handed over to the French airline Société anonyme de navigation aérienne ( Sana ). She wanted to operate airship transport between southern France and Algeria with the Zeppelin. The airship was renamed to the appropriate name Méditerranée ('Mediterranean Sea').

In December, the airship with its new name was under way over Paris for the first time. In April 1922, the Méditerranée was handed over to the French Navy. The relocation to the airship base in Rochefort / Biskaya took place on May 2nd . There were also more spacious halls there. Several trips were made for exercise and training.

On 27./28. In July the ship was relocated to its temporary new home at the Cuers-Pierrefou naval base near Toulon . The Dixmude was waiting for her on landing . The former war zeppelin LZ 114, also a reparations charge, was shut down in the airship hangar . In the following time, more practice and training trips were undertaken for the Dixmude team . On October 10, 1922, for example, a splash on the Étang de Berre near Marseille was practiced.

One of the main weaknesses of the zeppelins in those days was the gas cells. They aged very quickly (as with LZ 120 ) and had a high gas loss. New gas cells arrived in November. They were manufactured by Nieuport-Astra and have proven themselves very well. The maintenance work lasted until July 28, 1923.

In 1923 the Méditerranée took part in maneuvers of the French Navy in the Mediterranean. On 10/11 She went to Algiers on August 25th, 1923, and to Rome on October 25th .

After the loss of the Dixmude on December 21, 1923, the operation of LZ 121 was limited to short-haul journeys. In August 1926 the ship was decommissioned. The fixtures and fittings were dismantled. In September 1926, the framework of LZ 121 was tested with increasing loads until it was destroyed.

Three years later, in 1929, the team of LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin found a main ring of LZ 121 on a visit with their airship in the airship hangar of the Cuers base , which was hung on the wall there.

technology

The length was 131 meters, ten meters more than the LZ 120. A cylindrical part in the form of a further main and secondary ring was inserted behind the two front engine nacelles.

  • Gas cells: 13
  • Volume: 22,500 cubic meters
  • Carrying gas: hydrogen
  • Dead weight: 16 t
  • Payload: 11.5 t
  • Drive: 4 water-cooled Maybach MB-IVa six-cylinder in - line engines with a total of 720 kW (3 propellers)
  • Top speed: 127 km / h

literature

  • Peter Kleinheins: LZ 120 Bodensee and LZ 121 Nordstern - airships in the shadow of the Versailles Treaty . Ed .: Zeppelin Museum. Friedrichshafen 1994, ISBN 3-926162-80-5 . (Main source)
  • Peter Kleinheins, Wolfgang Meighörner (ed.): The large zeppelins - The history of airship construction . 3. revised Edition. Springer, Berlin 2005, ISBN 3-540-21170-5 .

Web links

Commons : LZ 121 Nordstern  - Collection of images, videos and audio files