A German naval zeppelin during the First World WarCredit: Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Ferdinand, Graf von Zeppelin was born in Konstanz in 1838. Aged 25, he made his first balloon flights in Minnesota, while acting as a Union Army observer during the American Civil War. He went on to a career in the armies of Württemberg, Prussia, and imperial Germany, before retiring and focusing on his great love – rigid dirigible airships.
His vision was to build lighter-than-air vessels from individual hydrogen gasbags held in a rigid frame. A ropey test flight on Lake Constance in July 1900 happily brought more funding, and he was soon able to found the company that would make his airships famous –Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmbH,
The first test flight on Lake Constance in 1900
By 1906 one of his airships managed a 24-hour flight, and his reputation was made. In 1910 a passenger service was launched, and the German military quickly saw the ships’ offensive potential. Zeppelins flew higher than the heavier-than-air aircraft of the day, and could stay airborne for over 100 hours, meaning they could theoretically be used in long-range bombing missions.
Ferdinand von ZeppelinCredit: German Federal Archive
By the start of 1915, the Kaiser had approved their use against Britain. On 19 January, Zeppelin L3 and Zeppelin L4 took off, headed for Humberside. Strong winds blew them off course, and they ended up over Great Yarmouth and King’s Lynn, where each killed two people with its bombloads. These were the first recorded casualties of Zeppelin attack in the UK.
Raids continued for the rest of the war, as Zeppelin technology improved, and the crews flew the airships ever higher to evade fixed-wing aircraft. The hydrogen in the Zeppelins’ gas bags was not especially ignitable by normal bullets, and it was only when incendiary rounds were added that Zeppelins started being brought down.
The aftermath of the bombing of King's LynnCredit: Imperial War Museum/PA
After the war, the Zeppelin company continued to develop the airships’ designs and capabilities, with the Graf Zeppelin eventually pioneering a transatlantic passenger route. Their inventor did not live to see this, but between 1928 and 1937 the Graf Zeppelin clocked up 144 ocean crossings. Its big brother, the Hindenburg – which measured 245 metres long – completed 10 transatlantic trips carrying 1,002 passengers, but disaster struck on 6 May 1937, when it exploded for unknown reasons on landing at Lakehurst, New Jersey. Thirty-six lives were lost, and public confidence in the Zeppelins evaporated.
Once the Second World War broke out, action in the skies moved to faster and more aggressive heavier-than-air aircraft. Once Allied bombers destroyed the main Zeppelin factory, no more were made.
These days Zeppelins are again built by Luftschiffbau Zeppelingroup, but using helium instead, a far more stable gas.
