Charles Emery Rosendahl (May 15, 1892 – May 17, 1977) was a highly decorated vice admiral in the United States Navy , and an advocate of lighter-than-air flight .
109-615: Captain Ernst August Lehmann (12 May 1886 – 7 May 1937) was a German Zeppelin captain. He was one of the most famous and experienced figures in German airship travel. The Pittsburgh Press called Lehmann the best airship pilot in the world, although he was criticized by Hugo Eckener for often making dangerous maneuvers that compromised the airships. He was a victim of the Hindenburg disaster in 1937. Ernst Lehmann
218-471: A naval aviator in November 1924, Rosendahl served on the dirigible Shenandoah (ZR-1) as mooring officer and navigator. Promoted to lieutenant commander on January 5, 1925, he distinguished himself by successfully bringing the bow section of the shattered airship safely to earth after she broke up in the air on September 3, 1925, over Noble County , Ohio . For this action he was later awarded
327-591: A bomb aboard the ship. During the landing approach, he pushes the landing approach and ignores Kroger's warning that putting stress on the ships frame would be dangerous, saying it's "less dangerous than a bomb going off". He is proven wrong when although the bomb is defused, the airship explodes due to static electricity. Captain Lehmann published his first book in English with Howard Mingos in New York and in 1927 it
436-558: A bright golden finger, quite small (...) Then there was flashes near the ground—and the shaking noise. It was like Milton —then there was war in heaven. (...) I cannot get over it, that the moon is not Queen of the sky by night, and the stars the lesser lights. It seems the Zeppelin is in the zenith of the night, golden like a moon, having taken control of the sky; and the bursting shells are the lesser lights. The raids continued in 1916. In December 1915, additional P class Zeppelins and
545-410: A combination of Pomeroy and Brock explosive ammunition with Buckingham incendiary ammunition was used in fighter aircraft machine guns during 1916. The British had been concerned over the threat posed by Zeppelins since 1909, and attacked the Zeppelin bases early in the war. LZ 25 was destroyed in its hangar at Düsseldorf on 8 October 1914 by bombs dropped by Flt Lt Reginald Marix, RNAS, and
654-533: A combination of engine failure and high winds, L 3 crashing on the Danish island of Fanø without loss of life and L 4 coming down at Blaavands Huk ; eleven crew escaped from the forward gondola, after which the lightened airship with four crew members remaining in the aft engine car was blown out to sea and lost. At this stage in the war there was no clear doctrine for the use of Naval airships. A single large Zeppelin, L 5, played an unimportant part in
763-691: A consequence of the RNAS raid both the Army and Navy withdrew from their bases in Belgium. After an ineffective attack by L 10 on Tyneside on 15–16 June the short summer nights discouraged further raids for some months, and the remaining Army Zeppelins were reassigned to the Eastern and Balkan fronts. The Navy resumed raids on Britain in August, when three largely ineffective raids were carried out. On 10 August
872-479: A continuous patrol of two fighters over Paris at an altitude from which they could promptly attack arriving zeppelins avoiding the delay required to reach the zeppelin altitude. Two further missions were flown against Paris in January 1916: on 29 January LZ 79 killed 23 and injured another 30 but was so severely damaged by anti-aircraft fire that it crashed during the return journey. A second mission by LZ 77
981-471: A deathbed conversation with Commander Charles Emery Rosendahl , he said "It must have been an infernal machine." Lehmann's two-year-old son had died on Easter Sunday , 28 March 1937, a few weeks prior to the Hindenburg's last crossing and he did not really want to make the voyage. Lehmann accepted the assignment with the hope that by doing so he might have the opportunity to speak to US authorities about
1090-404: A fire which despite the attendance of 22 fire engines caused over half a million pounds of damage: Mathy then turned east, dropping his remaining bombs on Liverpool Street station . The Zeppelin was the target of concentrated anti-aircraft fire, but no hits were scored and the falling shrapnel caused both damage and alarm on the ground. The raid killed 22 people and injured 87. The monetary cost of
1199-607: A floating assembly-hall or hangar in the Bay of Manzell near Friedrichshafen on Lake Constance (the Bodensee ). The intention behind the floating hall was to facilitate the difficult task of bringing the airship out of the hall, as it could easily be aligned with the wind. The LZ 1 (LZ for Luftschiff Zeppelin , or "Zeppelin Airship") was 128 metres (420 ft) long with a hydrogen capacity of 11,000 m (400,000 cu ft),
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#17327985138001308-690: A large rigidly framed outer envelope containing several separate gasbags. He had previously encountered Union Army balloons in 1863 when he visited the United States as a military observer during the American Civil War . Count Zeppelin began to seriously pursue his project after his early retirement from the army in 1890 at the age of 52. Convinced of the potential importance of aviation, he started working on various designs in 1891, and had completed detailed designs by 1893. An official committee reviewed his plans in 1894, and he received
1417-525: A lecture given to the Union of German Engineers gained their support. Zeppelin also sought support from the industrialist Carl Berg , then engaged in construction work on the second airship design of David Schwarz . Berg was under contract not to supply aluminium to any other airship manufacturer, and subsequently made a payment to Schwarz's widow as compensation for breaking this agreement. Schwarz's design differed fundamentally from Zeppelin's, crucially lacking
1526-483: A mortgage of Count von Zeppelin's wife's estate, and a 100,000 mark contribution by Count von Zeppelin himself allowed the construction of LZ 2 , which made only a single flight on 17 January 1906. After both engines failed it made a forced landing in the Allgäu mountains, where a storm subsequently damaged the anchored ship beyond repair. Incorporating all the usable parts of LZ 2, its successor LZ 3 became
1635-418: A navigational error caused by high winds and poor visibility. The commander judged it proper to land the airship to demonstrate that the incursion was accidental, and brought the ship down on the military parade-ground at Lunéville . The airship remained on the ground until the following day, permitting a detailed examination by French airship experts. In 1909, Count Zeppelin founded the world's first airline,
1744-403: A patent, granted on 31 August 1895, with Theodor Kober producing the technical drawings. Zeppelin's patent described a Lenkbares Luftfahrzeug mit mehreren hintereinander angeordneten Tragkörpern ("Steerable aircraft with several carrier bodies arranged one behind another"), an airship consisting of flexibly articulated rigid sections. The front section, containing the crew and engines,
1853-482: A scheduled service between cities, but generally operated pleasure cruises, carrying twenty passengers. The airships were given names in addition to their production numbers. LZ 6 first flew on 25 August 1909 and was accidentally destroyed in Baden-Oos on 14 September 1910 by a fire in its hangar. The second DELAG airship, LZ 7 Deutschland , made its maiden voyage on 19 June 1910. On 28 June it set off on
1962-715: A sense of national pride regarding his work, and spontaneous donations from the public began pouring in, eventually totalling over six million marks. This enabled the Count to found the Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmbH (Airship Construction Zeppelin Ltd.) and the Zeppelin Foundation . Before World War I (1914–1918) the Zeppelin company manufactured 21 more airships. The Imperial German Army bought LZ 3 and LZ 5 (a sister-ship to LZ 4 which
2071-468: A sharp S-turn during the landing procedure might have caused a bracing wire to break and tear a gasbag, and resulted in mixture of hydrogen with air, which then likely was ignited by an electrostatic discharge. In the 1975 film The Hindenburg , Captain Lehmann was portrayed by American actor Richard Dysart , although this portrayal is inaccurate with Lehmann appearing to be quite wary of the Nazis, whereas
2180-510: A short career, first flying on 30 March 1911 and becoming damaged beyond repair when caught by a strong cross-wind while being walked out of its shed on 16 May. The company's fortunes changed with the next ship, LZ 10 Schwaben , which first flew on 26 June 1911 and carried 1,553 passengers in 218 flights before catching fire after a gust tore it from its mooring near Düsseldorf. Other DELAG ships included LZ 11 Viktoria Luise (1912), LZ 13 Hansa (1912) and LZ 17 Sachsen (1913). By
2289-476: A third raid on 4 May ended with it being brought down by anti-aircraft fire. The crew survived but were taken prisoner. When Romania entered the war in August 1916, LZ 101 was transferred to Yambol and bombed Bucharest on 28 August, 4 September and 25 September. LZ 86 transferred to Szentandras and made a single attack on the Ploiești oil fields on 4 September but was wrecked on attempting to land after
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#17327985138002398-508: A train en route to Los Angeles, California. They were married on December 22, 1934. Rosendahl published several books, as well as numerous scientific and popular articles about airships. His collected papers are held by the University of Texas at Dallas . These include notes for an unpublished study of the attack on Pearl Harbor written with the assistance of Vice Admiral Ryūnosuke Kusaka , who Rosendahl had first met and befriended on
2507-465: A voyage to publicise Zeppelins, carrying 19 journalists as passengers. A combination of adverse weather and engine failure brought it down at Mount Limberg near Bad Iburg in Lower Saxony, its hull getting stuck in trees. All passengers and crew were unhurt, except for one crew member who broke his leg when he jumped from the craft. It was replaced by LZ 8 Deutschland II , which also had
2616-535: Is a type of rigid airship named after the German inventor Ferdinand von Zeppelin ( German pronunciation: [ˈt͡sɛpəliːn] ) who pioneered rigid airship development at the beginning of the 20th century. Zeppelin's notions were first formulated in 1874 and developed in detail in 1893. They were patented in Germany in 1895 and in the United States in 1899. After the outstanding success of
2725-744: The Assistant Secretary of the Navy , and then on April 23, 1942, to the office of Chief of Naval Operations , under the Director of Fleet Training, for airship training and base selection. On September 6, 1942, Rosendahl took command of the heavy cruiser Minneapolis (CA-36) . The ship was torpedoed during the Battle of Tassafaronga , off Guadalcanal , on November 30, 1942, losing 80 feet (24 m) of her bows and had three of four boilers knocked out. Rosendahl kept her afloat and reached
2834-521: The Battle of the Dogger Bank on 24 January 1915. L 5 was carrying out a routine patrol when it picked up Admiral Hipper 's radio signal announcing that he was engaged with the British battle cruiser squadron. Heading towards the German fleet's position, the Zeppelin was forced to climb above the cloud cover by fire from the British fleet: its commander then decided that it was his duty to cover
2943-650: The DELAG to serve as pilot of the passenger airship LZ 17 Sachsen . He commanded a total of 550 flights of this ship. During the First World War , Captain Lehmann commanded army and navy airships, beginning with the Sachsen after it had been taken over by the Army, followed by the LZ ;XII, and finally the navy ships LZ 90, LZ 98, and LZ 120. His attack on Antwerp (Belgium) on August 25/26 (during
3052-511: The Department of Commerce inquiry into the accident and stated: When I saw the first blaze I knew the ship was doomed and I also thought that there would immediately be an explosion which would flatten every building at the field and kill everybody looking on. I thought it was curtains for all of us. On August 6, 1938, he was relieved of command of NAS Lakehurst, and on August 31, he reported to Pearl Harbor to serve as executive officer of
3161-735: The Distinguished Flying Cross . From March 9, 1926, he served as executive officer , and then as commanding officer from May 10, of the dirigible Los Angeles (ZR-3) , making numerous flights for crew training, radio compass station calibration and flight tests for National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA). Los Angeles also took part in the searches for Nungesser and Coli 's aircraft The White Bird , and Frances Wilson Grayson 's Dawn , both of which went missing during attempts on trans-Atlantic flights . In January 1928 Rosendahl flew Los Angeles out to sea off Newport, Rhode Island , to rendezvous with
3270-646: The Graf as she made her first Atlantic crossing from Friedrichshafen to Lakehurst. On May 9, 1929, he was relieved as commanding officer of Los Angeles and assumed duty as the commander of the Rigid Airship Training and Experimental Squadron at NAS Lakehurst. In August he was aboard the Graf Zeppelin ' s "Round the World" flight as observer and watch officer. On June 27, 1930, Rosendahl
3379-576: The Hindenburg in 1936. In 1935, when Hermann Göring created the Deutsche Zeppelin Reederei to increase Nazi influence over zeppelin operations, Captain Lehmann was named director of the new airline. Captain Lehmann served as commanding officer on more than 100 of the flights of the Graf Zeppelin between 1928 and 1936. In 1936, he commanded 10 round-trip flights to Lakehurst on the new Hindenburg . Captain Lehmann
Ernst A. Lehmann - Misplaced Pages Continue
3488-429: The benzole plant at Skinningrove and three set off to bomb London: two were forced to turn back but L 13, commanded by Kapitänleutnant Heinrich Mathy reached London. The bomb-load included a 300-kilogram (660 lb) bomb, the largest yet carried. This exploded near Smithfield Market , destroying several houses and killing two men. More bombs fell on the textile warehouses north of St Paul's Cathedral , causing
3597-440: The 24-hour trial flight ended when LZ 4 had to make a landing at Echterdingen near Stuttgart because of mechanical problems. During the stop, a storm tore the airship away from its moorings on the afternoon of 5 August 1908. It crashed into a tree, caught fire, and quickly burnt out. No one was seriously injured. This accident would have finished Zeppelin's experiments, but his flights had generated huge public interest and
3706-490: The 6 m/s ( 21.6 km/h (13.4 mph) ) velocity attained by the French airship La France . Despite this performance, the shareholders declined to invest more money, and so the company was liquidated, with Count von Zeppelin purchasing the ship and equipment. The Count wished to continue experimenting, but he eventually dismantled the ship in 1901. Donations, the profits of a special lottery , some public funding,
3815-488: The Army and the Navy. At the war’s outset, the Army assumed control of the three remaining DELAG airships, having already decommissioned three older Zeppelins, including Z I. Throughout the war, the Navy primarily used its Zeppelins for reconnaissance missions. Although Zeppelin bombing raids, especially those aimed at London, captivated the German public’s imagination, they had limited material success. Nevertheless, these raids—along with later bombing raids by airplanes—led to
3924-465: The British 3rd Light Cruiser squadron which was in the area. HMS Yarmouth launched its Sopwith Pup , and Sub-Lt. B. A. Smart succeeded in shooting the Zeppelin down in flames. The cause of the airship's loss was not discovered by the Germans, who believed the Zeppelin had been brought down by anti-aircraft fire from ships. At the beginning of the conflict, the German command had high hopes for
4033-705: The Deutsche Luftschiffahrts-Aktiengesellschaft (German Airship Travel Corporation), generally known as DELAG to promote his airships, initially using LZ 6, which he had hoped to sell to the German Army. Notable aviation figures like Orville Wright offered critical perspectives on the Zeppelin; in a September 1909 New York Times interview, Wright compared airships to steam engines nearing their developmental peak, while seeing airplanes as akin to gas engines with untapped potential for innovation.The airships did not provide
4142-538: The Empire State Building was originally designed to serve as a mooring mast for Zeppelins and other airships, although it was found that high winds made that impossible and the plan was abandoned. The Hindenburg disaster in 1937, along with political and economic developments in Germany in the lead-up to World War II , hastened the demise of airships. The principal feature of the Zeppelin's design
4251-527: The Kaiser, Z X (LZ 29), LZ 35 and the Schütte-Lanz airship SL 2 set off to bomb Paris : SL 2 was damaged by artillery fire while crossing the front and turned back but the two Zeppelins reached Paris and dropped 1,800 kg (4,000 lb) of bombs, killing only one and wounding eight. On the return journey Z X was damaged by anti-aircraft fire and was damaged beyond repair in
4360-713: The Lighter-Than-Air Museum Association at Lakehurst. The Navy conditionally deeded land to the LTA Museum Association, but because the group was unsuccessful in raising funds, the land reverted to NAS Lakehurst. The United States Navy ended airship operations in August 1962. Rosendahl was aboard the N class blimp ZPG-3W on the final flight. Rosendahl died on May 17, 1977, at the Naval Hospital Philadelphia . On June 30, 1932, he met Jean Wilson on
4469-618: The M class L 3, did not enter service until May 1914: in the meantime, Sachsen was hired from DELAG as a training ship. By the outbreak of war in August 1914, Zeppelin had started constructing the first M class airships, which had a length of 158 m (518 ft), with a volume of 22,500 cubic metres (794,500 cu ft) and a useful load of 9,100 kilograms (20,100 lb). Their three Maybach C-X engines produced 470 kilowatts (630 hp) each, and they could reach speeds of up to 84 kilometres per hour (52 mph). During World War I, Germany’s airships were operated separately by
Ernst A. Lehmann - Misplaced Pages Continue
4578-554: The Zeppelin design, the word zeppelin came to be commonly used to refer to all forms of rigid airships . Zeppelins were first flown commercially in 1910 by Deutsche Luftschiffahrts-AG (DELAG), the world's first airline in revenue service. By mid-1914, DELAG had carried over 10,000 fare-paying passengers on over 1,500 flights. During World War I , the German military made extensive use of Zeppelins as bombers and as scouts . Numerous bombing raids on Britain resulted in over 500 deaths. The defeat of Germany in 1918 temporarily slowed
4687-420: The agreement of Kaiser Wilhelm II to a five-year program of expansion of German naval-airship strength, involving the building of two airship bases and constructing a fleet of ten airships. The first airship of the program, L 2, was ordered on 30 January. L 1 was lost on 9 September near Heligoland when caught in a storm while taking part in an exercise with the German fleet. 14 crew members drowned,
4796-419: The aircraft carrier Saratoga (CV-3) and moored to the ship's stern to take on fuel and stores. Further experimental flights were undertaken, mooring to the airship tender Patoka (AO-9) during long-range flights. In July 1928 Rosendahl traveled to Britain to observe their airship activities, and then to Germany for the trials of the airship Graf Zeppelin . In October he was an observer aboard
4905-526: The airship business. Although DELAG established a scheduled daily service between Berlin , Munich , and Friedrichshafen in 1919, the airships built for that service eventually had to be surrendered under the terms of the Treaty of Versailles , which also prohibited Germany from building large airships. An exception was made to allow the construction of one airship for the United States Navy ,
5014-517: The airship commanders commented on the improved defences of the city. L 15 began bombing over Charing Cross , the first bombs striking the Lyceum Theatre and the corner of Exeter and Wellington Streets, killing 17 and injuring 20. None of the other Zeppelins reached central London: bombs fell on Woolwich, Guildford , Tonbridge , Croydon , Hertford and an army camp near Folkestone. A total of 71 people were killed and 128 injured. This
5123-747: The airship was in reconnaissance over the North Sea and the Baltic , and the majority of airships manufactured were used by the Navy. Patrolling had priority over any other airship activity. During the war almost 1,000 missions were flown over the North Sea alone, compared with about 50 strategic bombing raids. The German Navy had some 15 Zeppelins in commission by the end of 1915 and was able to have two or more patrolling continuously at any one time. However, their operations were limited by weather conditions. On 16 February, L 3 and L 4 were lost owing to
5232-400: The airships, which were considerably more capable than contemporary light fixed-wing machines: they were almost as fast, could carry multiple machine guns, and had enormously greater bomb -load range and endurance. Contrary to expectation, it was not easy to ignite the hydrogen using standard bullets and shrapnel. The Allies only started to exploit the Zeppelin's great vulnerability to fire when
5341-531: The antiaircraft guns had their first success, causing L 12 to come down into the sea off Zeebrugge , and on 17–18 August L 10 became the first Navy airship to reach London. Mistaking the reservoirs of the Lea Valley for the Thames, it dropped its bombs on Walthamstow and Leytonstone. L 10 was destroyed a little over two weeks later: it was struck by lightning and caught fire off Cuxhaven , and
5450-416: The cabins was necessary. The Hindenburg did maintain a pressurized air-locked smoking room: no flame was allowed, but a single electric lighter was provided, which could not be removed from the room. Access to Zeppelins was achieved in a number of ways. The Graf Zeppelin ' s gondola was accessed while the vessel was on the ground, via gangways. The Hindenburg also had passenger gangways leading from
5559-571: The damage was over one sixth of the total damage costs inflicted by bombing raids during the war. After three more raids were scattered by the weather, a five-Zeppelin raid was launched by the Navy on 13 October, the "Theatreland Raid." Arriving over the Norfolk coast at around 18:30, the Zeppelins encountered new ground defences installed since the September raid; these had no success, although
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#17327985138005668-553: The destroyer Claxton (DD-140) , before being ordered to duty at the Naval Academy as an instructor in Department of Electrical Engineering and Physics in September. When the Navy's Bureau of Navigation circulated a letter asking for volunteers for rigid airship duty, Rosendahl volunteered. He reported to Naval Air Station Lakehurst , New Jersey , to be trained in airship operation on April 7, 1923. Designated
5777-558: The diversion of men and resources from the Western Front. Additionally, the fear of these attacks impacted industrial production to some extent. Early offensive operations by Army airships quickly revealed their extreme vulnerability to ground fire when flown at low altitudes, leading to the loss of several airships. Since no dedicated bombs had been developed at the time, these early raids dropped artillery shells instead. On 20 March 1915, temporarily forbidden from bombing London by
5886-406: The east coast and around the Thames estuary, but bombing accuracy was poor owing to the height at which the airships flew and navigation was problematic. The airships relied largely on dead reckoning , supplemented by a radio direction-finding system of limited accuracy. After blackouts became widespread, many bombs fell at random on uninhabited countryside. The first raid on England took place on
5995-738: The economics of an airship line between Stockholm and the Mediterranean , with a stopover in Friedrichshafen . These plans were never realized. In 1921 he spent four months in the United States to prepare for a planned New York to Chicago airship route, and in 1922 he tried to negotiate with the United States and England for a route to go over North Atlantic . With the founding of the Goodyear Zeppelin Corporation in 1923, Captain Lehmann served as Vice President in charge of engineering. In 1924, Captain Lehmann
6104-401: The entire crew was killed. Three Army airships set off to bomb London on 7–8 September, of which two succeeded: SL 2 dropped bombs between Southwark and Woolwich : LZ 74 scattered 39 bombs over Cheshunt before heading on to London and dropping a single bomb on Fenchurch Street station . The Navy attempted to follow up the Army's success the following night. One Zeppelin targeted
6213-410: The exact composition of which was kept secret for years. Early Zeppelins used rubberized cotton for the gasbags, but most later craft used goldbeater's skin made from cattle gut. The first Zeppelins had long cylindrical hulls with tapered ends and complex multi-plane fins . During World War I, following the lead of the rival firm Schütte-Lanz Luftschiffbau, almost all later airships changed to
6322-428: The exterior by the dining area, and forced-warm air could be circulated from the water that cooled the forward engines. The new design did prevent passengers from enjoying the views from the windows of their berths, which had been a major attraction on the Graf Zeppelin . On both the older and newer vessels, the external viewing windows were often open during flight. The flight altitude was so low that no pressurization of
6431-575: The extreme cold, and one of the airships was destroyed in a forced landing at Seerappen . The plan was subsequently abandoned. In 1917 the German High Command made an attempt to use a Zeppelin to deliver supplies to Lettow-Vorbeck's forces in German East Africa . L 57 , a specially lengthened craft was to have flown the mission but was destroyed shortly after completion. A Zeppelin then under construction, L 59 ,
6540-567: The first fatalities in a Zeppelin accident. Less than six weeks later, on 17 October, LZ 18 (L 2) caught fire during its acceptance trials, killing the entire crew. These accidents deprived the Navy of most of its experienced personnel: the head of the Admiralty Air Department was killed in the L ;1 and his successor died in the L 2. The Navy was left with three partially trained crews. The next Navy zeppelin,
6649-571: The first of the new Q class airships were delivered. The Q class was an enlargement of the P ;class with improved ceiling and bomb-load. Charles Emery Rosendahl Rosendahl was born in Chicago, Illinois , although his family subsequently relocated to Kansas and Texas and, in 1910, he was appointed to the Naval Academy from the latter state and was later commissioned in
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#17327985138006758-541: The first truly successful Zeppelin. This renewed the interest of the German military, but a condition of purchase of an airship was a 24-hour endurance trial. This was beyond the capabilities of LZ 3, leading Zeppelin to construct his fourth design, the LZ 4 , first flown on 20 June 1908. On 1 July it was flown over Switzerland to Zürich and then back to Lake Constance, covering 386 km (240 mi) and reaching an altitude of 795 m (2,608 ft). An attempt to complete
6867-498: The flight despite unfavorable weather conditions, which resulted in high winds damaging the Hindenburg ' s lower fin as the airship was being removed from its hangar. Eckener criticised Lehmann harshly and publicly for endangering the new airship and the entire zeppelin program to impress the Nazis. However, Lehmann never actually joined the Nazi Party despite his apparent support and may have only pretended to be sympathetic to
6976-495: The following morning. It was initially believed that Lehmann would recover from his injuries; he was scheduled to be transferred from a local hospital to one in New York City for further treatment, until he took a sudden turn for the worse overnight and died early in the morning. At his death, he apparently believed that the Hindenburg was sabotaged. He came out of the burning wreckage saying "I don't understand it." During
7085-524: The following night bombed the suburbs of Asnières and Versailles, with little effect. Airship operations in the Balkans started in the autumn of 1915, and an airship base was constructed at Szentandras . In November 1915, LZ 81 was used to fly diplomats to Sofia for negotiations with the Bulgarian government. This base was also used by LZ 85 to conduct two raids on Salonika in early 1916:
7194-529: The ground directly into its hull which could be withdrawn entirely, ground access to the gondola, and an exterior access hatch via its electrical room; this latter was intended for crew use only. On some long-distance zeppelins, engines were powered by a special Blau gas produced by the Zeppelin facility in Friedrichshafen. The combustible Blau gas was formulated to make its weight near that of air, so that its storage and consumption had little effect on
7303-456: The light cruiser Milwaukee (CL-5) . On May 23, 1940, he was assigned to the office of the Secretary of the Navy for duty in airship evaluations, and was promoted to the rank of captain on July 13. In September he became the senior member of the board created to investigate sites for new airship stations. On February 25, 1941, he was detached from that duty to serve in the office of
7412-549: The mines' locations. In 1917, the Royal Navy began to take effective countermeasures against airship patrols over the North Sea. In April, the first Curtiss H.12 Large America long-range flying boats were delivered to RNAS Felixstowe , and in July 1917, the aircraft carrier HMS Furious entered service and launching platforms for aeroplanes were fitted to the forward turrets of some light cruisers. On 14 May, L 22
7521-630: The mission. Its replacement, LZ 86, was damaged by anti-aircraft fire during its second attack on Bucharest on 26 September and was damaged beyond repair in the resulting forced landing, and was replaced by LZ 97. At the instigation of the Kaiser a plan was made to bomb Saint Petersburg in December 1916. Two Navy zeppelins were transferred to Wainoden on the Courland Peninsula . A preliminary attempt to bomb Reval on 28 December ended in failure caused by operating problems due to
7630-401: The more familiar streamlined shape with cruciform tail fins. Zeppelins were propelled by several internal combustion engines , mounted in gondolas or engine cars attached outside the structural framework. Some of these could provide reverse thrust for manoeuvring while mooring. Early models had a fairly small externally-mounted gondola for passengers and crew beneath the frame. This space
7739-639: The night of 19–20 January 1915. Two Zeppelins, L 3 and L 4, intended to attack targets near the River Humber but, diverted by strong winds, eventually dropped their bombs on Great Yarmouth , Sheringham , King's Lynn and the surrounding villages, killing four and injuring 16. Material damage was estimated at £7,740. The Kaiser authorised the bombing of the London docks on 12 February 1915, but no raids on London took place until May. Two Navy raids failed due to bad weather on 14 and 15 April, and it
7848-477: The night) was the first bombing from the air of civilians in world history, killing 10 people. After the war, Captain Lehmann continued his involvement with the airships, which were returned to civilian use. He made preparations to fly the naval airship L 72 on the first transatlantic crossing of an airship in 1919, but permission was denied by the German government. In 1920, he spent six months in Sweden studying
7957-456: The order for which saved the company from extinction. In 1926, the restrictions on airship construction were lifted and, with the aid of donations from the public, work began on the construction of LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin . That revived the company's fortunes and, during the 1930s, the airships Graf Zeppelin , and the even larger LZ 129 Hindenburg operated regular transatlantic flights from Germany to North America and Brazil. The spire of
8066-642: The outbreak of World War I in August 1914, 1588 flights had carried 10,197 fare-paying passengers. On 24 April 1912, the Imperial German Navy ordered its first Zeppelin—an enlarged version of the airships operated by DELAG—which received the naval designation Z 1 and entered Navy service in October 1912. On 18 January 1913 Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz , Secretary of State of the German Imperial Naval Office, obtained
8175-470: The previous unsuccessful attacks had been made by an aircraft operating from one of the Royal Navy's seaplane carriers; now realising that there was a new threat, Strasser ordered airships patrolling in the Terschilling area to maintain an altitude of at least 4,000 m (13,000 ft), considerably reducing their effectiveness. On 21 August, L 23, patrolling off the Danish coast, was spotted by
8284-588: The rank of ensign in June 1914, upon graduation from the academy. He was then ordered to join the armored cruiser West Virginia (ACR-5) off Mexico during the Veracruz crisis . After West Virginia was decommissioned he served briefly on the battleship Oregon (BB-3) and the protected cruiser St. Louis (C-20) , before reporting for duty aboard the protected cruiser Cleveland (C-19) on May 14, 1915. On September 15, 1916, he returned to
8393-496: The real Lehmann was a well-known Nazi supporter, at least publicly. In the 2007 docudrama Hindenburg: The Untold Story , Polish actor Aleksander Trabczynski portrayed Lehmann. In the fictional 2011 RTL television movie of the disaster, he was portrayed by Ulrich Noethen . In this film, he supports the Gestapo in their brutal torture of Merten Kroger for the alleged murder of a passenger, but orders his release upon seeing proof of
8502-528: The recommissioned West Virginia , which was subsequently renamed the Huntington . On June 19, 1917, he received promotion to lieutenant (junior grade) , and to full lieutenant on August 31, 1918, having served aboard the Huntington escorting convoys of troops and supplies to Europe during World War I . From June 6, 1918, Rosendahl served as an engineering officer, putting the new destroyer McKean (DD-90) into commission. On July 30, 1919, he
8611-459: The regime. (Only Max Pruss and Anton Wittemann of the seven active zeppelin commanders were Party members of the NSDAP). After Lehmann's death, Eckener blamed Pruss's handling of the airship but also suggested that Lehmann was responsible for pressuring Pruss to make the flight. Although Eckener did not rule out other causes, after investigating the disaster himself, he testified to the inquiry that
8720-410: The resulting forced landing. Three weeks later LZ 35 suffered a similar fate after bombing Poperinghe . Paris mounted a more effective defense against zeppelin raids than London. Zeppelins attacking Paris had to first fly over the system of forts between the front and the city, from which they were subjected to anti-aircraft fire with reduced risk of collateral damage . The French also maintained
8829-435: The retreating German fleet rather than observe British movements. In 1915, patrols were only carried out on 124 days and in other years the total was considerably less. They prevented British ships from approaching Germany, spotted when and where the British were laying mines and later aided in the destruction of those mines. Zeppelins would sometimes land on the sea next to a minesweeper, bring aboard an officer and show him
8938-539: The safety of Tulagi . For this action he was subsequently awarded the Navy Cross . On May 15, he returned to NAS Lakehurst and assumed duty as the Chief of Naval Airship Training Command, receiving promotion to rear admiral on May 26, 1943. This service lasted through World War II , until he retired on November 1, 1946. He was advanced to the rank of vice admiral on the same day. Between 1947 and 1952 Rosendahl
9047-592: The sheds at Cologne as well as the Zeppelin works in Friedrichshafen were also attacked. These raids were followed by the Cuxhaven Raid on Christmas Day 1914, one of the first operations carried out by ship-launched aeroplanes. Airship raids on Great Britain were approved by the Kaiser on 7 January 1915, although he excluded London as a target and further demanded that no attacks be made on historic buildings. The raids were intended to target only military sites on
9156-403: The total damage was assessed at £18,596. Aware of the problems that the Germans were experiencing in navigation, this raid caused the government to issue a D notice prohibiting the press from reporting anything about raids that was not mentioned in official statements. Only one of the 15 defensive sorties managed to make visual contact with the enemy, and one of the pilots, Flt Lieut D. M. Barnes,
9265-488: The use of helium gas in the German airships. Lehmann often came into conflict with Hugo Eckener over the safety of his piloting techniques. Lehmann cancelled important flight tests for the Hindenburg to fulfill a request by the Nazi Ministry of Propaganda for the Hindenburg and the Graf Zeppelin to take part in a propaganda flight ( Deutschlandfahrt ) in support of Adolf Hitler. Lehmann insisted on making
9374-540: The use of separate gasbags inside a rigid envelope. In 1898, Count Zeppelin founded the Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Luftschiffahrt (Society for the Promotion of Airship Flight), contributing more than half of its 800,000 mark share-capital himself. Responsibility for the detail design was given to Kober, whose place was later taken by Ludwig Dürr , and construction of the first airship began in 1899 in
9483-464: The weather, and as the airships returned to Evere (Brussels) they ran into a counter-raid by RNAS aircraft flying from Furnes , Belgium . LZ 38 was destroyed on the ground and LZ 37 was intercepted in the air by R. A. J. Warneford , who dropped six bombs on the airship, setting it on fire. All but one of the crew died. Warneford was awarded the Victoria Cross for his achievement. As
9592-411: The zeppelin's buoyancy . Blau gas was used on the first zeppelin voyage to America, starting in 1929. Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin 's interest in airship development began in 1874, when he was inspired by a lecture given by Heinrich von Stephan on the subject of "World Postal Services and Air Travel" to outline the basic principle of his later craft in a diary entry dated 25 March 1874. It describes
9701-439: Was 117.35 m (385.0 ft) long with a gas capacity of 9,514 m (336,000 cu ft). The middle section was 16 metres (52 feet 6 inches) long with an intended useful load of 599 kg (1,321 lb) and the rear section 39.93 m (131.0 ft) long with an intended load of 1,996 kg (4,400 lb). Count Zeppelin's attempts to secure government funding for his project proved unsuccessful, but
9810-411: Was a fabric-covered, rigid metal framework of transverse rings and longitudinal girders enclosing a number of individual gasbags. This allowed the craft to be much larger than non-rigid airships , which relied on the inflation of a single-pressure envelope to maintain their shape. The framework of most Zeppelins was made of duralumin , a combination of aluminium , copper , and two or three other metals,
9919-419: Was a skilled accordion player, which he often used to entertain passengers on long flights with renditions of Wagner pieces or German folk songs. Although Max Pruss was the commanding officer of the last flight of the Hindenburg , Captain Lehmann was the most senior officer on board, but was there only as an observer. He was severely burned when the Zeppelin caught fire at Lakehurst on 6 May 1937, and died
10028-669: Was an aeronautical consultant and a vice-president of the Flettner Aircraft Corporation, New York. In 1953 he was appointed executive director of the National Air Transport Coordinating Committee, a group set up to study air transport problems in the greater New York area after three crashes in Elizabeth, New Jersey , during 1952. Rosendahl retired to Toms River , New Jersey , in 1960 to write and to organize
10137-588: Was assigned to the Bureau of Aeronautics , in Washington, D.C. , and from October 21, 1931, to June 23, 1932, commanded the new dirigible Akron (ZRS-4) , during which time experiments in the role as an airborne aircraft carrier were tried. Between July 1932 and June 1934 Rosendahl served at sea on board the battleship West Virginia (BB-48) and heavy cruiser Portland (CA-33) . On June 11, 1934, he assumed command at NAS Lakehurst , and
10246-569: Was being translated by Leonhard Adelt, who was on board with Lehmann as a guest during the Hindenburg ' s last flight. The book had recently been published in German when the Hindenburg was destroyed. The English translation, completed by Jay Dratler, was published later in 1937 with a preface and closing chapter by the American airship captain Charles E. Rosendahl , who had interviewed Lehmann on his deathbed. Zeppelin A Zeppelin
10355-717: Was born in 1886 in Ludwigshafen am Rhein . At the age of 14, he decided that he wanted to build ships. He studied engineering at the Technische Hochschule Berlin and received his degree in 1912. By this time, he had already joined the navy and had attained the rank of naval reserve lieutenant. Upon graduation, he began work at the Imperial Dockyards in Kiel . He did not find this work satisfying so, encouraged by Dr. Hugo Eckener , he joined
10464-545: Was completed in May 1909) and designated them Z I and Z II respectively. Z II was wrecked in a gale in April 1910, while Z I flew until 1913, when it was decommissioned and replaced by LZ 15, designated ersatz Z I. First flown on 16 January 1913, it was wrecked on 19 March of the same year. In April 1913 its newly built sister-ship LZ 15 (Z IV) accidentally intruded into French airspace owing to
10573-575: Was decided to delay further attempts until the more capable P class Zeppelins were in service. The Army received the first of these, LZ 38, and Erich Linnarz commanded it on a raid over Ipswich on 29–30 April and another, attacking Southend on 9–10 May. LZ 38 also attacked Dover and Ramsgate on 16–17 May, before returning to bomb Southend on 26–27 May. These four raids killed six people and injured six, causing property damage estimated at £16,898. Twice Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) aircraft tried to intercept LZ 38 but on both occasions it
10682-458: Was driven by two 15 horsepower (11 kW) Daimler engines each driving a pair of propellers mounted either side of the envelope via bevel gears and a driveshaft, and was controlled in pitch by moving a weight between its two nacelles . The first flight took place over Lake Constance on 2 July 1900. Damaged during landing, it was repaired and modified and proved its potential in two subsequent flights made on 17 and 24 October 1900, bettering
10791-419: Was either able to outclimb the aircraft or was already at too great an altitude for the aircraft to intercept. On 31 May Linnarz commanded LZ 38 on the first raid against London. In total some 120 bombs were dropped on a line stretching from Stoke Newington south to Stepney and then north toward Leytonstone . Seven people were killed and 35 injured. 41 fires were started, burning out seven buildings and
10900-404: Was killed on attempting to land. The first naval attempt on London took place on 4 June: strong winds caused the commander of L 9 to misjudge his position, and the bombs were dropped on Gravesend . L 9 was also diverted by the weather on 6–7 June, attacking Hull instead of London and causing considerable damage. On the same night an Army raid of three Zeppelins also failed because of
11009-508: Was never heated, because fire outside of the kitchen was considered too risky, and during trips across the North Atlantic or Siberia passengers were forced to bundle in blankets and furs to keep warm and were often miserably cold. By the time of the Hindenburg several important changes had made traveling much more comfortable: the passenger space had been relocated to the interior of the framework, passenger rooms were insulated from
11118-599: Was ordered to the Pacific Coast for further duty, first serving on the cruiser Brooklyn (CA-3) as gunnery officer, and receiving promotion to lieutenant commander on January 27, 1920. In August he began fitting out new destroyers, commissioning, and delivering them to the fleet; they included the William Jones (DD-308) , Yarborough (DD-314) , Marcus (DD-321) , and Melvin (DD-335) . On July 11, 1921, Rosendahl assumed command of
11227-401: Was promoted to commander on February 1, 1935. Rosendahl served as an official observer on the German airship Hindenburg , on transatlantic flights between Frankfurt and Rio de Janeiro in August and September 1936. He was in command at Lakehurst on the night of May 6, 1937, and witnessed the destruction of the Hindenburg , leading fire fighting and rescue efforts. He later testified at
11336-752: Was reprinted in London. The Zeppelins: The Development of the Airship, with the Story of the Zeppelin Air Raids in the World War . Captain Lehmann recounts his personal experiences as a zeppelin captain in war and peace in Auf Luftpatrouille und Weltfahrt: Erlebnisse eines Zeppelin Fuhrers in Krieg und Frieden . Captain Lehmann's last book, Zeppelin: The Story of Lighter-than-air Craft ,
11445-459: Was second-in-command of LZ 126 on the first nonstop transatlantic flight between the European and American mainlands. The purpose of the flight was to deliver the Zeppelin to its new owners, the United States Navy , who rechristened the ship USS Los Angeles . By 1929, Lehmann had filed a declaration of intent to become a United States citizen, but changed his mind when he was given charge of
11554-424: Was shot down near Terschelling Bank by an H.12 flown by Lt. Galpin and Sub-Lt. Leckie, which had been alerted following interception of its radio traffic. Two abortive interceptions were made by Galpin and Leckie on 24 May and 5 June. On 14 June, L 43 was brought down by an H.12 flown by Sub Lts. Hobbs and Dickie. On the same day Galpin and Leckie intercepted and attacked L 46. The Germans had believed that
11663-417: Was the last raid of 1915, as bad weather coincided with the new moon in both November and December 1915 and continued into January 1916. Although these raids had no significant military impact, the psychological effect was considerable. The writer D. H. Lawrence described one raid in a letter to Lady Ottoline Morrell : Then we saw the Zeppelin above us, just ahead, amid a gleaming of clouds: high up, like
11772-399: Was then modified for the mission: it set off from Yambol on 21 November 1917 and nearly reached its destination, but was ordered to return by radio. Its journey covered 6,400 km (4,000 mi) and lasted 95 hours. It was then used for reconnaissance and bombing missions in the eastern Mediterranean. It flew one bombing mission against Naples on 10–11 March 1918. A planned attack on Suez
11881-618: Was turned back by high winds, and on 7 April 1918 it was on a mission to bomb the British naval base at Malta when it caught fire over the Straits of Otranto , with the loss of all its crew. On 5 January 1918, a fire at Ahlhorn destroyed four of the specialised double sheds along with four Zeppelins and one Schütte-Lanz. In July 1918, the Tondern raid conducted by the RAF and Royal Navy, destroyed two Zeppelins in their sheds. The main use of
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