page_title: Zeppelin
section_title: Before World War I
hierarchical_section_title: Zeppelin / History / Before World War I
caption_attribution_description: LZ7 Zeppelin Deutsch: Zeppelin LZ7 English: LZ7 Zeppelin Passenger ship
context_page_description: A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship named after the German Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin who pioneered rigid airship development at the beginning of the 20th century. Zeppelin's notions were first formulated in 1874 and developed in detail in 1893. They were patented in Germany in 1895 and in the United States in 1899. After the outstanding success of the Zeppelin design, the word zeppelin came to be commonly used to refer to all rigid airships. Zeppelins were first flown commercially in 1910 by Deutsche Luftschiffahrts-AG, the world's first airline in revenue service. By mid-1914, DELAG had carried over 10,000 fare-paying passengers on over 1,500 flights. During World War I, the German military made extensive use of Zeppelins as bombers and as scouts, killing over 500 people in bombing raids in Britain.
  The defeat of Germany in 1918 temporarily slowed the airship business. Although DELAG established a scheduled daily service between Berlin, Munich, and Friedrichshafen in 1919, the airships built for this service eventually had to be surrendered under the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, which also prohibited Germany from building large airships.
context_section_description: Before World War I (1914–1918) the Zeppelin company manufactured 21 more airships. The Imperial German Army bought LZ 3 and LZ 5 (a sister-ship to LZ 4 which was completed in May 1909) and designated them Z 1 and Z II respectively. Z II was wrecked in a gale in April 1910, while Z I flew until 1913, when it was decommissioned and replaced by LZ 15, designated ersatz Z I. First flown on 16 January 1913, it was wrecked on 19 March of the same year. In April 1913 its newly built sister-ship LZ 15 (Z IV) accidentally intruded into French airspace owing to a navigational error caused by high winds and poor visibility. The commander judged it proper to land the airship to demonstrate that the incursion was accidental, and brought the ship down on the military parade-ground at Lunéville. The airship remained on the ground until the following day, permitting a detailed examination by French airship experts.
  In 1909 Count Zeppelin founded the world's first airline, the Deutsche Luftschiffahrts-Aktiengesellschaft (German Airship Travel Corporation), generally known as DELAG to promote his airships, initially using LZ 6, which he had hoped to sell to the German Army. The airships did not provide a scheduled service between cities, but generally operated pleasure cruises, carrying twenty passengers. The airships were given names in addition to their production numbers. LZ 6 first flew on 25 August 1909 and was accidentally destroyed in Baden-Oos on 14 September 1910 by a fire in its hangar.
  The second DELAG airship, LZ 7 Deutschland, made its maiden voyage on 19 June 1910. On 28 June it set off on a voyage to publicise Zeppelins, carrying 19 journalists as passengers. A combination of adverse weather and engine failure brought it down at Mount Limberg near Bad Iburg in Lower Saxony, its hull getting stuck in trees. All passengers and crew were unhurt, except for one crew member who broke his leg when he jumped from the craft. It was replaced by LZ 8 Deutschland II, which also had a short career, first flying on 30 March 1911 and becoming damaged beyond repair when caught by a strong cross-wind when being walked out of its shed on 16 May. The company's fortunes changed with the next ship, LZ 10 Schwaben, which first flew on 26 June 1911 and carried 1,553 passengers in 218 flights before catching fire after a gust tore it from its mooring near Düsseldorf. Other DELAG ships included LZ 11 Viktoria Luise (1912), LZ 13 Hansa (1912) and LZ 17 and LZ 17Sachsen (1913). By the outbreak of World War I in August 1914 1588 flights had carried 10,197 fare-paying passengers.
   
  On 24 April 1912 the Imperial German Navy ordered its first Zeppelin—an enlarged version of the airships operated by DELAG—which received the naval designation Z 1 and entered Navy service in October 1912. On 18 January 1913 Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz, Secretary of State of the German Imperial Naval Office, obtained the agreement of Kaiser Wilhelm II to a five-year program of expansion of German naval-airship strength, involving the building of two airship bases and constructing a fleet of ten airships. The first airship of the program, L 2, was ordered on 30 January. L 1 was lost on 9 September near Heligoland when caught in a storm while taking part in an exercise with the German fleet. 14 crew members drowned, the first fatalities in a Zeppelin accident. Less than six weeks later, on 17 October, LZ 18 (L 2) caught fire during its acceptance trials, killing the entire crew. These accidents deprived the Navy of most of its experienced personnel: the head of the Admiralty Air Department was killed in the L 1 and his successor died in the L 2. The Navy was left with three partially trained crews. The next Navy zeppelin, the M class L 3, did not enter service until May 1914: in the meantime, Sachsen was hired from DELAG as a training ship.
  By the outbreak of war in August 1914 Zeppelin had started constructing the first M class airships, which had a length of 158 m (518 ft), with a volume of 22,500 cubic metres (794,500 cu ft) and a useful load of 9,100 kilograms (20,100 lb).
caption: LZ 7 Deutschland
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