Zeppelin LZ 104 Zeppelin LZ 104 ( construction number ) , designated L . 59 ( tactical number ) by the German Imperial Navy and nicknamed " Das Afrika - Schiff " ( " The Africa Ship " ) , was a German dirigible during World War I , famed for attempting a long - distance resupply mission of the beleaguered garrison of Germany ' s East Africa colony . History . Africa flight . The " L . 59 " was a naval airship ordered to prepare for the resupply of " Generalmajor " Paul Emil von Lettow - Vorbeck ’ s troops . On 4 November 1917 , after a 29 hour flight from Friedrichshafen under the command of Hugo Eckener , the airship arrived at Yambol ( Jamboli ) in Bulgaria , the last available airbase before flying over two thousand miles across the Mediterranean and " Entente " - held Africa . At Jamboli " Kapitänleutnant " [ Lieutenant Commander ] Ludwig Bockholt , a regular German naval officer , met the zeppelin . He would be commander for the mission , code named " China - Sache " , loosely translated as " China Show " or " China Matter . " Because it would be impossible to resupply the airship with hydrogen gas upon its arrival in Africa , it was planned that no return trip would be made . Instead , it was projected that every part of the ship be cannibalized for use by Lettow - Vorbeck ' s bush army . The outer envelope would be used for tents , muslin linings would be bandages , duralumin framework would be for wireless towers , and so on . In addition to its own structure , " L . 59 " carried 15 tons of supplies . The cargo included machine gun s plus spares and ammunition , food , medical supplies , a medical team and Iron Cross medals . " L . 59 " ' s two initial attempts at starting the journey were foiled by weather in the Mediterranean , but on 21 November 1917 her third departure was successful and the ship made good time over Adrianople , the Sea of Marmara and the coast of Asia Minor . However , due to electrical storms over Crete , her wireless aerial was wound in and so the ship failed to receive messages from the admiralty . She crossed over the African coast at 0515 on 22 November near Mersa Matruh and via the Dakhla Oasis set a dog - leg course up the Nile . That afternoon , an engine malfunctioned when a reduction gear housing cracked ; the loss of this powerplant eliminated the prospect of radio transmission , although wireless messages could be received . The next morning she nearly crashed when heat turbulence from the dunes below and subsequent cooling reduced the buoyancy of her gas . The crew also suffered from headaches , hallucinations and general fatigue in the mid - day heat and freezing cold at night . Despite these difficulties , " L . 59 " continued on over Sudan , only to be turned back on 23 November , with the ship due west of Khartoum when she received an " abort " message . " L . 59 " ' s volunteer crew implored the commander to continue , but he ordered the ship turned back and returned to Bulgaria after averting another potential loss of buoyancy disaster over Asia Minor . She returned to base the morning of 25 November 1917 , having traveled over in 95 hours , or nearly four days in the air . When she nosed into her shed at Jamboli , the zeppelin had enough fuel remaining which could have kept her in the air for another 64 hours . Many years would pass before that record was broken . It was later claimed by Richard Meinertzhagen , the chief of British intelligence in the area based at Cairo , that this message was faked by reporting that Lettow - Vorbeck had surrendered . The British , having broken the German naval wireless code , were aware of the flight and mission . East Africa ’ s Royal Flying Corps ( RFC ) squadrons were alerted to watch for the approach of the ship . However , what turned the airship back was a signal relayed from Lettow - Vorbeck . The frail signal was amplified and forwarded by stations in friendly or neutral territories , and after some hours it reached the German naval command . The signal informed headquarters not that Lettow had surrendered , but that the Schutztruppe had been unable to hold the flatlands around Mahenge , the planned destination of the airship , and had been forced by British artillery to retreat into jagged mountains where the airship would have no chance of touching down without risking explosion . With no hope of a place to safely land and with every likelihood of her being destroyed or falling into enemy hands , the German command had no choice but to order a return . The recall signal was sent from the admiralty station at Nauen . Despite its failure , " the adventure of " L . 59 " was heroic both in scale and spirit . " Later a transcript of the radio message was reported to have been found in Germany ' s World War archives , as well as a Turko - German wireless intercept ( marked ' Secret ' ) preserved in the files of the British Public Records office . Final fate . Since the airship was not expected to return from her Africa mission , " no one knew exactly what to do with her . " Another African flight was out of the question , the ship was then offered for flights to supply the Ottoman army of Enver Pasha in Arabia , or to search for mines off Constantinople , but nothing came of that . After several reconnaissance flights and bomb dropping forays , " L . 59 " took off from Jamboli to attack the British naval base at Malta , proceeding across the Balkans to the Strait of Otranto . On the evening of 7 April 1918 the surfaced German submarine " UB - 53 " observed the airship approaching in its wake . Her commanding officer , " Oberleutnant " [ Lieutenant ] J . L . E . Sprenger , reported that he watched her fly past at about 700 feet , so " close in fact that the details of the gondola could be seen clearly . A few minutes later , Sprenger noted two bursts in the air , and shortly after a gigantic flame enveloped the airship and it nosed down into the water . " The airship ’ s destruction was not claimed by either the British or the Italians ; her loss was officially attributed to an accident . None of the 21 crew survived the crash . In popular culture . The airship and its the long - distance resupply mission was featured in " The Ghosts of Africa " , a 1980 historical novel by British - born Canadian novelist William Stevenson set during the East African Campaign . The protagonist of " O Olho de Hertzog " , a 2010 novel by João Paulo Borges Coelho , set in post - WWI Mozambique , arrives in Africa by jumping from the airship in a parachute .