LZ 32

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The Zeppelin LZ 32 was Count Zeppelin's 32nd airship and the seventh airship of the Imperial Navy .

history

The first run of LZ 32 took place on November 20, 1914. The navy took over the airship under the military ID L 7.

On November 21, 1914, three English aircraft attacked the floating construction hall of LZ 32 on Lake Constance with the zeppelin in it with light bombs. The airship suffered no damage in the air strike.

At the end of January 1915, L 7 was moved to the North Sea and carried out reconnaissance trips across the sea. During the four trips the ship made for bombing raids on the east coast of England, each time the target could not be reached.

On January 31, 1916, the L 7 was badly damaged on landing at its home port of Tondern , but could be repaired again. When the battle cruiser Seydlitz, which was badly damaged by mine hits on April 24, 1916, returned to its base in Wilhelmshaven , L 7 operated air security for the ailing ship.

End of LZ 32 / L 7

On May 4, 1916, L 7 was shot at during a reconnaissance voyage over the North Sea north of Horns Reef by the English light cruisers Phaeton and Galatea , with the airship being hit in its gas cells and losing altitude. The light cruisers belonged to the associations that protected the aircraft mother ship Engadine during an attack voyage against the airship port of Tondern. The English submarine E31 was also used to secure the Engadine and sighted the zeppelin, which was moving low. Believing that airships were attacking, E31 disappeared. But when the submarine saw the damaged zeppelin drifting through its periscope, E31 reappeared and shot L 7. There were eleven dead on L 7. Seven men of the crew were rescued by E31 .

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: 22.4 m / s

See also

literature

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