LZ 29

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The Zeppelin LZ 29 was Count Zeppelin's 29th airship and the thirteenth airship of the German Army

history

The first trip from LZ 29 took place on October 13, 1914. The army took over the airship under the military ID Z X.

ZX was on reconnaissance trips on the western front from Düsseldorf . On February 21, 1915, the zeppelin launched an attack on Calais and dropped 900 kg bombs on the city, which was an important ferry port for supplies from England to France.

From March 13, 1915, the ship was stationed in Brussels-Evere . On March 20, 1915, ZX received orders to attack Paris together with LZ 35 and SL 2 that night . SL 2 got bullet damage over the front line and only drove as far as Compiègne , where the Schütte-Lanz airship dropped its bombs. The ZX and LZ 35 reached Paris, which was already prepared for the attack and whose anti-aircraft searchlights searched the sky for the zeppelins, but whose anti-aircraft guns initially only caught a cloud, but then fired at the German airships, but the grenades exploded far below the ride height of the zeppelins. The bright illumination of the city was favorable for the air raid for the airships, whereas London was darkened during air raids. L X dropped 900 kg bombs over the city and the flak fragments falling back on the city probably caused some damage.

After leaving Paris, LX crossed the front at Hell Werden at Noyon , where the French were waiting for the airship. Despite the altitude of 3000 meters, they scored heavy hits in the gas cells of the zeppelin while crossing the front line. On the German side, the Z X was accompanied by fighter planes to protect it from attacks by French aircraft, but the ship was not attacked by the French. To keep the leaky ship in the air, the crew threw everything that was expendable overboard: the machine guns, fuel tanks, oil containers, tools, equipment and finally their coats and boots. But in the end the Z X had to make an emergency landing near Sankt Quirin and the badly damaged zeppelin could only be scrapped.

Technical specifications

  • Carrying gas volume: 22,500 m³ hydrogen
  • Length: 158.0 m
  • Diameter: 14.90 m
  • Payload: 9.2 t
  • Drive: three Maybach engines, each 210 hp (154 kW)
  • Speed: 22.5 m / s (81 km / h)

See also

literature

  • Peter Meyer: Airships - The History of the German Zeppelins. Wehr & Wissen, Koblenz / Bonn 1980.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Ernst A. Lehmann : On air patrol and world travel . Wegweiser-Verlag, Berlin 1936, pages 69-71