Zeppelin LZ 95
{{short description|1917 military airship by Zeppelin}}
| {{Infobox aircraft begin
|name = LZ 95 (L 48) |image =L 48.jpg |size=300px |caption = |alt = }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header= |Ship country=German Empire |Ship flag=60px |Ship name=LZ 95 |Ship namesake= |Ship owner= |Ship operator=Imperial German Navy |Ship ordered= |Ship awarded= |Ship builder=Luftschiffbau Zeppelin |Ship original cost= |Ship yard number= |Ship way number= |Ship laid down= |Ship launched= |Ship sponsor= |Ship christened= |Ship completed= |Ship acquired= |Ship commissioned= |Ship recommissioned= |Ship decommissioned= |Ship maiden voyage=22 May 1917 |Ship in service= |Ship out of service= |Ship renamed= |Ship reclassified= |Ship refit= |Ship struck= |Ship reinstated= |Ship identification=LZ 95 (L 48) |Ship motto= |Ship nickname= |Ship honours= |Ship honors= |Ship captured= |Ship fate=Shot down, 17 June 1917 |Ship notes= |Ship badge= }} |
File:Wreckage of Zeppelin LZ 95 L 48 1915.jpg]]
Zeppelin LZ 95 (L 48) was a U-class zeppelin of the Imperial German Military.
Career
One successful reconnaissance mission. L 48 and its U-class sister Airships were designed to fly as high as {{Convert|20000|ft|m}}.{{sfn|Boyne|2005|p=106}}
Destruction
L 48 joined an attempted attack on London with 4 other Zeppelins, L 42, L 44, L 45 and L 47.{{sfn|Boyne|2005|p=106}} Commanded by George Eichler, on his thirteenth raid, it became lost and was intercepted and destroyed by Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.12, serial No. 6110,{{sfn|Pigott|2005|p=32}} flown by Canadian pilot Second Lieutenant Loudon Pierce Watkins.{{sfn|Boyne|2005|p=106}} He was attached to No. 37 Squadron of British Royal Flying Corps (RFC) fighters. Watkins had enlisted with his three brothers. He had been based in the UK, as home defence, since 11 December 1916.{{sfn|Mower|2009|p=56}} Watkins shot down L 48 over water near Great Yarmouth on 17 June 1917 but it crashed near Theberton, Suffolk, a village near the town of Leiston. There were three survivors; the remainder of the crew were buried at St Peter's Church, Theberton, later to be exhumed and reburied at Cannock Chase.
Of the seven Zeppelins lost over England that were shot down in 1917 during the First World War, L 48 was the only one shot down by the RFC's Home defense.{{sfn|Wise|1980|p=243}}
Specifications (LZ 95 / Type u 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=100–106}}
|prime units?=met
|crew= 19
|capacity= {{cvt|39000|kg|0}} typical disposable load
|length m=196.4
|length note=
|dia m=23.9
|dia note=
- Fineness ratio: 8.22
|volume m3=55795
|volume note=
|empty weight kg= 25750
|empty weight lb=
|empty weight note=
|gross weight kg=
|gross weight note=
|max takeoff weight kg=
|max takeoff weight lb=
|max takeoff weight note=
|fuel capacity=
|lift kg= 64750
|lift note=
|more general=
|eng1 number=5
|eng1 name=Maybach HS Lu
|eng1 type= 6-cylinder water-cooled in-line piston engines
|eng1 hp=240
|eng1 note=
|prop blade number= 2
|prop name= Lorenzen propellers
|prop dia m=
|prop dia ft=
|prop dia in=
|prop dia note=
|max speed kmh=107.6
|max speed note=
|cruise speed kmh=
|cruise speed note=
|never exceed speed kmh=
|never exceed speed mph=
|never exceed speed kts=
|never exceed speed note=
|range km=7400
|range note=
|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= 5500
|ceiling note=static
|climb rate ms=
|climb rate note=
|time to altitude=
|fuel consumption kg/km=
|fuel consumption lb/mi=
|more performance=
|guns= defensive machine-guns in gondolas and envelope top gun positions
|bombs=provision for bombs
}}
{{LZ shot down over UK}}
See also
{{Commons category}}
Bibliography
Notes
{{reflist|20em}}
References
- {{cite book |last=Boyne|first=Walter J. | authorlink =Walter J. Boyne| title = The Influence of Air Power Upon History|year=2005| publisher =Casemate Publishers| isbn= 9781844151998}} - Total pages: 464
- {{cite book |last=Liddell Hart |first=Sir Basil Henry |author-link=B. H. Liddell Hart |title=A History of the World War 1914–1918 |year=1934 |publisher=Faber |isbn=978-0-304-93653-3}}
- {{cite book |last=Mower|first=Mark | title = Zeppelin over Suffolk: The Final Raid of L48|year=2009| publisher = Pen and Sword| isbn=9781844157372}} - Total pages: 160
- {{cite book |last=Pigott|first=Peter | title = On Canadian Wings: A Century of Flight|year=2005| publisher = Dundurn| isbn=9781550029963}} - Total pages: 192
- {{cite book |last=Wise|first=Sydney F. |authorlink=Sydney F. Wise |title = Canadian Airmen and the First World War: The Official History of the Royal Canadian Air Force, Volume I|year=1980| publisher = University of Toronto Press |isbn=9780802023797 |url=https://www.canada.ca/content/dam/themes/defence/caf/militaryhistory/dhh/popular/airmen-ww1-6.pdf |access-date=17 June 2020}}
External links
- [https://thebertonandeastbridge.onesuffolk.net/history/history/zeppelin-l48/ Account with excavation report]
- [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-suffolk-40306997 BBC account]
- [https://nzhistory.govt.nz/media/photo/zeppelin-wreck Aerial photo on New Zealand government history site]
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{{Aviation accidents and incidents in 1917}}
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Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in 1917
Category:Accidents and incidents involving balloons and airships