A Zeppelin was a rigid airship named after the German Count Ferdinand Von Zeppelin who pioneered the development of the airships at the beginning of the 20 century. Zeppelin conceived of the plans in 1874 and developed them in detail in 1893. The designs were patented in Germany in 1895 and in the United States in 1899.
Zeppelins were first flown commercially in 1910 by Deutsche Luftschiffahrts-AG, the world’s first airline in revenue service.
During World War I, the German military made extensive use of Zeppelins as bombers and on reconnaissance missions, killing over 500 people in bombing raids in Britain. The defeat of Germany in 1918 hindered the airship business. All German ships had to be surrendered under the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, which also prohibited Germany from building large airships. One exception was made which allowed the construction of one airship for the US Navy. In 1926 the restrictions on airship construction were lifted and construction began on the famed Graf Zeppelin.
During the 1930s the airships Graf Zeppelin and the Hindenburg operated regular transatlantic flights from Germany to North America and Brazil. The Art Deco spire of the Empire State Building was originally designed to serve as a mooring mast for Zeppelins but it was found that the high winds made this impossible.
On May 6, 1937, while landing in Lakehurst, NJ after a transatlantic flight, the tail of the famed Hindenburg caught fire. Within seconds the Zeppelin burst into flame, killing 35 of the 97 people on board. The investigation into the accident found that static electricity ignited the hydrogen which had leaked from the gasbags.
The Graf Zeppelin retired one month after the Hindenburg wreck and was turned into a museum.
La France, a French Army airship, was the first fully controllable airship, designed by Captain Charles Renard and Lieutenant Arthur Krebs, seen here in 1884. GizmodoLa Ville de Paris, a very early dirigible balloon, built by Henri Deutsch, a French petroleum businessman, circa 1904. Library of CongressGerman military officer Count Ferdinand Zeppelin, with Countess Zeppelin. Getty ImagesJuly 4, 1908- The most famous of all airships, the Zeppelin, invented by Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin (1838 – 1917). This dirigible rigid airship first flew on July 2, 1900. Library of CongressGerman engineers discovered sausage skins were the perfect material to make Zeppelin gas-bags. These came from the intestines of animals, and it took the guts of more than 250,000 cows to make a single airship.Intestines became so precious that German sausage-making was banned for a while during the war. BBCSeptember 1912- Military personnel prepare to take off in an army airship. Getty ImagesA German zeppelin caught in the searchlights during a bombing raid in 1916. Getty ImagesA German zeppelin dirigible flies over Balkan terrain during World War I, 1910s. To boost the sagging morale of their troops, the Germans sent these vulnerable airships for publicity flights. They were also used for reconnaissance missions.Crater of a Zeppelin bombing in Paris, 1916. WikipediaThe wreckage of Zeppelin L31 or L32 shot down over England 23 Sept 1916. Wikipedia1917- A British airship attached to its mooring. Getty ImagesMarch 1919- The British airship R33 in its hangar as it prepares for its first-ever flight at an aerodrome in Barlow, Yorkshire. Getty ImagesThe interior of a zeppelin gas bag being patched at Short Brothers Works in 1919. Getty ImagesTwo women who worked at Short Brothers Works building zepplins, in 1919. Getty ImagesAugust 1919- Model of the British R-34 airship at the Woolwich carnival. The R-34 made the first airship crossing of the Atlantic in July. Getty AgencyFebruary 1919- The frame of a zeppelin under construction at Short Brothers Works in Belfast. Getty ImagesGroup of men on board an airship sometime between 1915 and 1925. Library of CongressFebruary 1923- A helium-filled US Navy dirigible, the Los Angeles, formerly the ZR3, was built by the Germans as part of their war reparations. Getty ImagesA 785-foot dirigible US Navy air cruiser, the USS Akron. The USS Akron was in its third year of flight when a violent storm sent it crashing tail-first into the Atlantic Ocean shortly after midnight on April 4, 1933, of the New Jersey coast. The disaster claimed 73 lives, more than twice as many as the crash of the Hindenburg, four years later. National Naval Aviation MuseumThe USS Los Angeles, a US Navy airship built by the Zeppelin Company. WikipediaGerman boys with a toy Zeppelin (1928). Getty ImagesSeptember 1928- The Graf Zeppelin (D-LZ 127, i.e Deutsches Luftschiff Zeppelin #127) under construction. Getty ImagesGondola of LZ-127 Graf Zeppelin. airshipsAs seen in the deck plan of the German Graf Zeppelin included in this 1934 brochure, the ship’s control room was located at the very bow of the gondola, just ahead of the chart room, radio room, and kitchen. airships
