Zeppelin LZ 55
{{about|the Zeppelin LZ 55 (LZ85) that crashed 5 May 1916|the Zeppelin that crashed on 20 October 1917|Zeppelin LZ85}}
Zeppelin LZ 55 (Army tactical number LZ 85) was a P-class Zeppelin of the Imperial German Army in World War I. It was shot down by the old British pre-dreadnought battleship HMS Agamemnon in 1916 during the Salonika campaign
File:Wreckage of LZ 85 next to the White Tower of Thessaloniki.jpg
History
File:HMS Agamemnon searchlight crew Salonika 1916 IWM Q 31980.jpg| access-date = May 4, 2020 }}]]
On 5 May 1916 LZ55 made another attack on Thessaloniki (Salonika) harbour. Part way through the attack it was caught in spotlights.{{sfn|Moody|Wakefield|2011|p=}} and all the ships in the area opened fire with their anti-aircraft guns.{{sfn|Buxton|2008|p=}} LZ55 continued its attack but {{HMS|Agamemnon|1906|6}}'s 12-pounder anti-aircraft gun hit LZ 55; breaking it in half according to one of the crew. The airship crashed in the swamps at the mouth of the Vardar River west of Thessaloniki and its crew were captured.{{sfn|Burt|1988|p=298}} {{sfn|Tennyson|2013|p=478}} The crash site soon became a tourist attraction, with a report that "a dozen Canadian nurses. They had come up ... and waded through to it. What a sight they did look, skirts up round their waists wading through mud and slime up to their knees."{{sfn|Moody|Wakefield|2011|p=}}
The metal structure of the Zeppelin was dragged by Allied soldiers from the swamps to the White Tower of Thessaloniki.{{sfn|Moody|Wakefield|2011|p=}} There it was reconstructed so that Allied engineers could study how the Germans built airships.{{cn|date=May 2020}}
Specifications (LZ55 / P-class zeppelin)
{{Aircraft specs
|ref=Zeppelin : rigid airships, 1893-1940{{cite book |last1=Brooks |first1=Peter W. |title=Zeppelin : rigid airships, 1893-1940 |date=1992 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution Press |location=Washington, D.C. |isbn=1560982284 |pages=91–95}}
|prime units?=met
|crew=18
|capacity={{cvt|16200|kg|0}} typical disposable load
|length m=163.5
|length note=
|dia m=18.7
|dia note=maximum
- Fineness ratio: 8.68
|volume m3=31900
|volume note=in 15 gas cells
|empty weight kg=20800
|empty weight lb=
|empty weight note=
|gross weight kg=
|gross weight lb=
|gross weight note=
|max takeoff weight kg=
|max takeoff weight lb=
|max takeoff weight note=
|fuel capacity={{cvt|4800|kg|0}} maximum
|lift kg=37000
|lift note=typically
- Gas loading: {{cvt|1.16|kg/m3|lb/cuft}}
|more general=
|eng1 number=4
|eng1 name=Maybach HS Lu
|eng1 type=6-cylinder water-cooled in-line piston engines
|eng1 hp=240
|eng1 note=
::::(initially with 4x {{cvt|210|hp|0|order=flip}} Maybach C-X engines)
|prop blade number=2
|prop name=fixed-pitch propellers
|prop dia m=
|prop dia ft=
|prop dia in=
|prop dia note=
|max speed kmh=96
|max speed note=
|cruise speed kmh=90
|cruise speed mph=
|cruise speed kts=
|cruise speed note=
|never exceed speed kmh=
|never exceed speed mph=
|never exceed speed kts=
|never exceed speed note=
|range km=4300
|range note=at {{cvt|90|km/h|mph kn}}
|combat range km=
|combat range miles=
|combat range nmi=
|combat range note=
|ferry range km=
|ferry range miles=
|ferry range nmi=
|ferry range note=
|endurance=
|ceiling m=2800
|ceiling note=static
|climb rate ms=
|climb rate ftmin=
|climb rate note=
|time to altitude=
|fuel consumption kg/km=
|fuel consumption lb/mi=
|power/mass=
|thrust/weight=
|more performance=
|armament=machine guns in hull-top positions and gondolas with provision for bombs
|avionics=
}}
See also
Bibliography
- {{cite book |last=Burt |first=R. A. | title = British Battleships, 1889-1904|year=1988| publisher = Naval Institute Press| isbn=9780870210617}}
- {{cite book |last=Buxton |first=Ian | title = Big Gun Monitors |year=2008| publisher = Pen and Sword| isbn= 9781783469116 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ymGCAwAAQBAJ&q=Agamemnon+zeppelin+1916&pg=PT202|access-date=4 May 2020}}
- {{cite book |last1=Moody|first1=Simon |last2=Wakefield|first2=Alan | title = Under the Devil's Eye: The British Military Experience in Macedonia, 1915–18|year=2011| publisher = Casemate Publisher| isbn= 9781844682669|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G7bNDwAAQBAJ&q=White+Tower+LZ+85+reconstructed&pg=PT242| access-date=4 May 2020}}
- {{cite book |last=Tennyson|first=Brian Douglas | title = The Canadian Experience of the Great War: A Guide to Memoirs |year=2013| publisher = Scarecrow Press| isbn= 9780810886803}}
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Category:Accidents and incidents involving balloons and airships
Category:Accidents and incidents involving military aircraft
Category:Airships of the Imperial German Navy
Category:1910s German bomber aircraft