LZ-26

Tactical*:

Z XII

Class:

Type N

Usage:

military

First Flight:

14 December 1914

LZ-26 was one of the more successful zeppelins of the war. She participated in eleven attacks in northern France and on the eastern front, dropping some 20,000 kg of bombs. She was decommissioned on 8 August 1917.

LZ-27

Tactical*:

L 4

Usage:

military

First Flight:

18 August 1914

LZ-27 led eleven reconnaissance missions over the North Sea. She participated in the first raid of England on 20 January 1915. She was caught in a storm on 17 February 1915 and forced to land in Blavandshuk. The crew was taken captive, with four members reported missing in action.

LZ-28

Tactical*:

L 5

Usage:

military

First Flight:

22 September 1914

LZ-28 participated in 47 reconnaissance missions over the North and Baltic Seas, proving especially useful in discovering enemy mines. She flew two attack missions on the eastern front, dropping 700 kg of bombs. She was damaged beyond repair by Russian air defence on 7 August 1915.

LZ-29

Tactical*:

Z X

Usage:

military

First Flight:

13 October 1914

LZ-29 participated in two attacks on Calais and Paris, dropping 1,800 kg of bombs. On the way back, she was damaged by enemy fire and dismantled after being forced to land in St. Quirin.

LZ-30

Tactical*:

Z XI

Usage:

military

First Flight:

15 November 1914

LZ-30 was used for raids on Warsaw, Grodno and other targets near the eastern front. She was destroyed in an accident on 20 May 1915.

LZ-31

Tactical*:

L 6

Usage:

military

First Flight:

3 November 1914

LZ-31 had a prominent role in repelling a British Navy attack on the German coast on Christmas Day of 1914. She logged 36 reconnaissance missions around North Sea, including several where she was called upon to mark minefields. She even participated in one successful raid on England, dropping 700 kg of bombs.

She caught fire during gas refilling in her hall at Fuhlsbuttel and burned together with LZ-36 on 16 September 1916.

LZ-32

Tactical*:

L 7

Class:

Type M

Usage:

military

First Flight:

20 November 1914

Length:

158 meters

Diameter:

14.9 meters

Gas Volume:

322,470 cu. meters

LZ-32 participated in a record 77 reconnaissance missions over the North Sea, including several unsuccessful attempts to attack the English coast. She was brought down by British cruiser fire from HMS Phaeton and HMS Galatea and finally destroyed by British submarine E 31 on 4 May 1916.

Perhaps she should have been named Rasputin.

LZ-33

Tactical*:

L 8

Usage:

military

First Flight:

17 December 1914

LZ-33 flew reconnaissance missions along the western front during early 1915. She was damaged by enemy fire during a patrol and stranded south of Ostend on 5 March 1915.

LZ-34

Usage:

military

First Flight:

6 January 1915

LZ-34 participated in two raids at the eastern front, dropping 1,110 kg of bombs. She was heavily damaged by enemy fire on 21 June 1915 and burned following forced landing near Insterburg.

LZ-35

Usage:

military

First Flight:

11 January 1915

LZ-35 flew two raids on Paris and Poperinghe (Belgium), dropping 2,420 kg of bombs. She was forced to land near Aeltre (Belgium) due to heavy damage by enemy fire. While on the ground, she was destroyed by a storm.

LZ-36

Tactical*:

L 9

Class:

Type O

Usage:

military

First Flight:

8 March 1915

Length:

161.4 meters

Diameter:

16 meters

Gas Volume:

24,900 cu. meters

LZ-36 flew 74 reconnaissance missions in the North Sea, four raids on England dropping 5683 kg of bombs, and several attacks on British submarines. She burned in her hall on 16 September 1916 together with LZ-31.

LZ-37

Class:

Type M

Usage:

military

First Flight:

4 March 1915

Length:

536 feet / 163.37 meters

Gas Volume:

1,126,000 cu. feet / 33,780 cu. meters

Engines:

Four 210 hp Maybach engines

Maximum Speed:  

60 mph / 96 kph

LZ-37 had the misfortune of being shot down during its first raid, at Calais, on 7 June 1915.

LZ-38

Class:

Type M

Usage:

military

First Flight:

3 April 1915

Length:

536 feet / 163.37 meters

Gas Volume:

1,126,000 cu. feet / 33,780 cu. meters

Engines:

Four 210 hp Maybach engines

Maximum Speed:  

60 mph / 96 kph

In marked contrast to its sister ship the LZ-37, LZ-38 flew the first bombing raid on London on 31 May 1915, and an additional five successful raids on Harwich, Ramsgate, Southend (twice), and London, dropping 8,360 kg of bombs. She was destroyed by British bombing of her hall in Brussels.

LZ-39

Usage:

military

First Flight:

24 April 1915

LZ-39 flew three raids at the western and two at the eastern front, dropping 4,184 kg of bombs in total. She was heavily damaged by enemy fire on 17 December 1915 and decommissioned following a forced landing.

LZ-40

Tactical*:

L 10

Usage:

military

First Flight:

13 May 1915

LZ-40 flew eight reconnaissance missions around the North Sea. She participated in five attacks on England, dropping 9,900 kg of bombs. She flew in the great raid on London of 17-18 August 1915 during which Leyton was bombed causing ten deaths and injuring 48 people. She was destroyed in a thunderstorm on 3 September 1915 near Cuxhaven.

LZ-41

Tactical*:

L 11

Class:

Type P

Usage:

military

First Flight:

7 June 1915

Length:

536.4 feet / 163.5 meters

Diameter:

61.4 feet / 18.7 meters

Gas Volume:

1,126,400 cu. feet / 31,900 cu. meters

Engines:

Four 240 hp Maybach HSLu engines

Maximum Speed:  

60.4 mph / 97 kph

LZ-41 flew 31 reconnaissance missions, including one during the Battle of Jutland. She participated in twelve raids on England dropping 15,543 kg of bombs. She was decommissioned on 25 April 1916.

LZ-42

Tactical*:

LZ-72

Class:

Type P

Usage:

military

First Flight:

15 June 1915

Length:

536.4 feet / 163.5 meters

Diameter:

61.4 feet / 18.7 meters

Gas Volume:

1,126,400 cu. feet / 31,900 cu. meters

Engines:

Four 240 hp Maybach HSLu engines

Maximum Speed:  

60.4 mph / 97 kph

LZ-42 was only used as a school ship, as her skeleton metal was of poor quality. She was decommissioned in February of 1917.

LZ-43

Tactical*:

L 12

Class:

Type P

Usage:

military

First Flight:

21 June 1915

Length:

536.4 feet / 163.5 meters

Diameter:

61.4 feet / 18.7 meters

Gas Volume:

1,126,400 cu. feet / 31,900 cu. meters

Engines:

Four 240 hp Maybach HSLu engines

Maximum Speed:  

60.4 mph / 97 kph

LZ-43 flew five reconnaissance missions. She was towed back to Ostend after taking heavy damage in a raid on London, Harwich, and the Humber region on 10 August 1915 but burned down during subsequent disassembly.

LZ-44

Tactical*:

LZ-74

Class:

Type P

Usage:

military

First Flight:

8 July 1915

Length:

536.4 feet / 163.5 meters

Diameter:

61.4 feet / 18.7 meters

Gas Volume:

1,126,400 cu. feet / 31,900 cu. meters

Engines:

Four 240 hp Maybach HSLu engines

Maximum Speed:  

60.4 mph / 97 kph

LZ-44 flew two attacks on England, dropping 3,500 kg of bombs. She was scrapped after she crashed into a mountain in misty weather on 8 October 1915.

LZ-45

Tactical*:

L 13

Class:

Type P

Usage:

military

First Flight:

23 July 1915

Length:

536.4 feet / 163.5 meters

Diameter:

61.4 feet / 18.7 meters

Gas Volume:

1,126,400 cu. feet / 31,900 cu. meters

Engines:

Four 240 hp Maybach HSLu engines

Maximum Speed:  

60.4 mph / 97 kph

LZ-45 flew 45 reconnaissance missions and fifteen attacks on England, dropping 20,667 kg of bombs. She was decommissioned on 25 April 1917.

LZ-46

Tactical*:

L 14

Class:

Type P

Usage:

military

First Flight:

9 August 1915

Length:

536.4 feet / 163.5 meters

Diameter:

61.4 feet / 18.7 meters

Gas Volume:

1,126,400 cu. feet / 31,900 cu. meters

Engines:

Four 240 hp Maybach HSLu engines

Maximum Speed:  

60.4 mph / 97 kph

LZ-46 was the most successful German Naval airship. She flew 42 reconnaissance missions and 17 attacks on England, dropping 22,045 kg of bombs. This was despite the fact that the High Command took her out of service during 1917 and 1918.

Rather than allower her to become war reparations, her crew destroyed her on 23 June 1919.

LZ-47

Tactical*:

LZ-77

Class:

Type P

Usage:

military

First Flight:

24 August 1915

Length:

536.4 feet / 163.5 meters

Diameter:

61.4 feet / 18.7 meters

Gas Volume:

1,126,400 cu. feet / 31,900 cu. meters

Engines:

Four 240 hp Maybach HSLu engines

Maximum Speed:  

60.4 mph / 97 kph

LZ-47 participated in six attacks on England and France, dropping 12,610 kg of bombs. She was destroyed by enemy fire on 21 February 1916 in the Battle of Verdun.

LZ-48

Tactical*:

L 15

Class:

Type P

Usage:

military

First Flight:

9 September 1915

Length:

536.4 feet / 163.5 meters

Diameter:

61.4 feet / 18.7 meters

Gas Volume:

1,126,400 cu. feet / 31,900 cu. meters

Engines:

Four 240 hp Maybach HSLu engines

Maximum Speed:  

60.4 mph / 97 kph

LZ-48 flew eight reconnaissance missions and attacks on England, dropping 5,780 kg of bombs. She was damaged by ground fire during a raid on London on 1 April 1916. She landed at Knock Deep in the Thames estuary, and seventeen members of her crew were captured, only one having died.

LZ-49

Tactical*:

LZ-79

Class:

Type P

Usage:

military

First Flight:

2 August 1915

Length:

536.4 feet / 163.5 meters

Diameter:

61.4 feet / 18.7 meters

Gas Volume:

1,126,400 cu. feet / 31,900 cu. meters

Engines:

Four 240 hp Maybach HSLu engines

Maximum Speed:  

60.4 mph / 97 kph

LZ-49 dropped 4,440 kg in two attacks on Brest-Litovsk and Kovel. During an attack on Paris on 30 January 1916, she was hit by French fire and damaged beyond repair in a forced landing near Ath.

LZ-50

Tactical*:

L 16

Class:

Type P

Usage:

military

First Flight:

23 September 1915

Length:

536.4 feet / 163.5 meters

Diameter:

61.4 feet / 18.7 meters

Gas Volume:

1,126,400 cu. feet / 31,900 cu. meters

Engines:

Four 240 hp Maybach HSLu engines

Maximum Speed:  

60.4 mph / 97 kph

LZ-50 flew 44 reconnaissance missions and twelve attacks on England, dropping 18,048 kg of bombs. She famously delivered supplies to isolated German islands in the winter of 1916.

She was damaged beyond repair in a forced landing near Brunsbüttel on 19 October 1917.

LZ-51

Tactical*:

LZ-81

Class:

Type P

Usage:

military

First Flight:

7 October 1915

Length:

536.4 feet / 163.5 meters

Diameter:

61.4 feet / 18.7 meters

Gas Volume:

1,126,400 cu. feet / 31,900 cu. meters

Engines:

Four 240 hp Maybach HSLu engines

Maximum Speed:  

60.4 mph / 97 kph

LZ-51 was used at the South-Eastern and the Western Fronts. She participated in one attack on Etables (France) and two attacks on Bucharest, dropping a total of 4,513 kg of bombs.

One of her more daring adventures involved transporting a diplomatic commission over enemy Serbia on 9 November 1915. She was stranded near Turnovo (Bulgaria) on 27 September 1916 and subsequently scuttled.

LZ-52

Tactical*:

L 18

Class:

Type P

Usage:

military

First Flight:

3 November 1915

Length:

536.4 feet / 163.5 meters

Diameter:

61.4 feet / 18.7 meters

Gas Volume:

1,126,400 cu. feet / 31,900 cu. meters

Engines:

Four 240 hp Maybach HSLu engines

Maximum Speed:  

60.4 mph / 97 kph

LZ-52 was destroyed in a fire at Tondem during refueling on 17 November 1915.

LZ-53

Tactical*:

L 17

Class:

Type P

Usage:

military

First Flight:

20 October 1915

Length:

536.4 feet / 163.5 meters

Diameter:

61.4 feet / 18.7 meters

Gas Volume:

1,126,400 cu. feet / 31,900 cu. meters

Engines:

Four 240 hp Maybach HSLu engines

Maximum Speed:  

60.4 mph / 97 kph

LZ-53 flew 27 reconnaissance missions and nine attacks on England, dropping 10,724 kg of bombs. She was destroyed in her hall on 28 December 1916 when LZ-69 broke her back and took fire across the hall's entrance.

LZ-54

Tactical*:

L 19

Class:

Type P

Usage:

military

First Flight:

27 November 1915

Length:

536.4 feet / 163.5 meters

Diameter:

61.4 feet / 18.7 meters

Gas Volume:

1,126,400 cu. feet / 31,900 cu. meters

Engines:

Four 240 hp Maybach HSLu engines

Maximum Speed:  

60.4 mph / 97 kph

LZ-54 participated in one raid on England on 31 January 1916, dropping 1,600 kg of bombs. With three engines failing, she came under Dutch fire and sank in the North Sea, drowning all crew members as the nearby English fishing trawler King Stephen refused to come to their assistance.

LZ-55

Tactical*:

LZ-85

Class:

Type P

Usage:

military

First Flight:

12 September 1915

Length:

536.4 feet / 163.5 meters

Diameter:

61.4 feet / 18.7 meters

Gas Volume:

1,126,400 cu. feet / 31,900 cu. meters

Engines:

Four 240 hp Maybach HSLu engines

Maximum Speed:  

60.4 mph / 97 kph

LZ-55 participated in six attacks, dropping 14,200 kg of bombs on Dünaburg (Latvia), Minsk, the railroads of Riga, and Saloniki (three times). Damaged by fire from Battleship HMS Agamemnon on 5 May 1916, she stranded in the Wardar marshes.

LZ-56

Tactical*:

LZ-86

Class:

Type P

Usage:

military

First Flight:

10 October 1915

Length:

536.4 feet / 163.5 meters

Diameter:

61.4 feet / 18.7 meters

Gas Volume:

1,126,400 cu. feet / 31,900 cu. meters

Engines:

Four 240 hp Maybach HSLu engines

Maximum Speed:  

60.4 mph / 97 kph

LZ-56 participated in seven attacks, dropping 14,800 kg of bombs along the Eastern and South-Eastern front. She crashed on 3 September 1916 when the fore and aft nacelle broke away from her hull after a raid.

LZ-57

Tactical*:

LZ-87

Class:

Type P

Usage:

military

First Flight:

6 December 1915

Length:

536.4 feet / 163.5 meters

Diameter:

61.4 feet / 18.7 meters

Gas Volume:

1,126,400 cu. feet / 31,900 cu. meters

Engines:

Four 240 hp Maybach HSLu engines

Maximum Speed:  

60.4 mph / 97 kph

A much-storied airship, LZ-57 participated in two attacks on Ramsgate and Margate, dropping 3000 kg of bombs.

In July of 1916 she was transferred to the German Navy where she participated in 16 reconnaissance missions around the Baltic Sea. She was later used as a school ship. Decommissioned in July 1917.

LZ-58

Tactical*:

LZ-88 / L 25

Class:

Type P

Usage:

military

First Flight:

14 November 1915

Length:

536.4 feet / 163.5 meters

Diameter:

61.4 feet / 18.7 meters

Gas Volume:

1,126,400 cu. feet / 31,900 cu. meters

Engines:

Four 240 hp Maybach HSLu engines

Maximum Speed:  

60.4 mph / 97 kph

LZ-58 participated in 14 reconnaissance missions and three attacks, dropping 4,249 kg of bombs along the Western Front. In January of 1917, she was handed over to the German Navy who used her for experiments.

Decommissioned in September 1917.

LZ-59

Tactical*:

L 20

Class:

Type Q

Usage:

military

First Flight:

21 November 1915

Length:

585.4 feet / 178.5 meters

Diameter:

61.3 feet / 18.7 meters

Gas Volume:

1,264,100 cu. feet / 35,800 cu. meters

Engines:

Four 240 hp Maybach HSLu engines

Maximum Speed:  

55.7 mph / 90 kph

LZ-59 participated in six reconnaissance missions and two attacks on England, dropping 2,864 kg of bombs. She ran out of fuel after the second attack on 4 May 1916 and stranded near Stavanger (Norway). The crew was taken into custody. Kapitänleutnant Stabbert escaped six months later.

LZ-60

Tactical*:

LZ-90

Class:

Type P

Usage:

military

First Flight:

1 January 1916

Length:

536.4 feet / 163.5 meters

Diameter:

61.4 feet / 18.7 meters

Gas Volume:

1,126,400 cu. feet / 31,900 cu. meters

Engines:

Four 240 hp Maybach HSLu engines

Maximum Speed:  

60.4 mph / 97 kph

LZ-60 participated in four attacks, on Bar-le-Duc, Norwich, London, and Etables, dropping 8,860 kg of bombs. On 7 November 1916 she was caught in a storm in the the North Sea and never seen again.

LZ-61

Tactical*:

L 21

Class:

Type P

Usage:

military

First Flight:

10 January 1916

Length:

536.4 feet / 163.5 meters

Diameter:

61.4 feet / 18.7 meters

Gas Volume:

1,126,400 cu. feet / 31,900 cu. meters

Engines:

Four 240 hp Maybach HSLu engines

Maximum Speed:  

60.4 mph / 97 kph

LZ-61 participated in 17 reconnaissance missions and ten attacks on England, dropping 14,442 kg of bombs. She was intercepted and destroyed by English fighters firing phosphor shells off Lowestoft on 28 November 1916.

LZ-62

Tactical*:

L 30

Class:

Type R "Super Zeppelin"

Usage:

military

First Flight:

28 May 1916

Length:

649.3 feet / 198 meters

Diameter:

78.3 feet / 23.9 meters

Gas Volume:

1,949,600 cu. feet / 55,000 cu. meters

Engines:

Six 240 hp Maybach HSLu engines

Maximum Speed:  

62.2 mph / 100 kph

First of the "Super-Zeppelin" Class, LZ-62 participated in 31 reconnaissance missions above the North and Baltic Sea and at the Eastern Front and ten raids on England, dropping 23,305 kg of bombs. She was retired on 17 November 1917.

In 1920 she was transferred to Belgium as a war reparation where she was disassembled. Some components, including an engine car, are preserved at the Royal Army and Military History Museum, Brussels.

LZ-63

Tactical*:

LZ-93

Usage:

military

First Flight:

23 February 1916

LZ-63 participated in three attacks on Dunkirk, Mardick and Harwich, dropping 3240 kg bombs. Decommissioned in 1917.