LZ 18 (L 2) country Germany
LZ 18 (Navy designation L 2) was the second Zeppelin airship to be bought by the Imperial German Navy. It caught fire and crashed with the loss of all aboard on 17 October 1913 before entering service.Design
On 18 January 1913 Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz, Secretary of State of the German Imperial Naval Office, got Kaiser Wilhelm II to agree to a five-year  expansion program of German naval airship strength.  A contract was placed for the first airship on 30 January, one requirement being that the craft should be capable of bombing England.  The design was heavily influenced by the naval architect Felix Pietzker, who was an advisor to the German Admiralty Aviation Department.  Construction started in May.  The length and overall height of the ship were limited by the size of the Navy's airship shed at Fuhlsbüttel, but Pietzker's proposals enabled the diameter of the airship to be increased without increasing  overall height firstly by changing the position of the keel, moving it from outside the main hull structure to within it, and secondly by placing the engine cars closer to the hull. It was powered by four 130 kilowatts (180 hp) Maybach C-X engines in two engine cars, each car driving a pair of four-bladed propellers which were mounted either side of the envelope via driveshafts and bevel gears. The ship was controlled from a third gondola mounted in front of the forward engine car.
Nation State Land Territory