What role did the German airship play in the First World War?

The airship L-2 1 of the German Imperial Navy is flying silently in the thin air in central England at a speed of 40 knots, below which is the vast green pastures and dark forests in Norfolk. Four Maibakh gasoline engines propelled its huge body out of the clouds. Captain Kurt Frankenberg looks south in the observation room. Seventy miles away, the dazzling searchlights over London shone on another German airship. L-2 1 pulled into some light clouds again. When he set sail again, Captain Cooter found another companion, spraying a towering pillar of fire and slowly falling to the ground like a bright torch in the dark. A crew member took out his camera and took some photos of the burning ship falling to the ground. Kurt and his men confirmed the loss of another German airship. What they didn't know was that the crashed airship was Germany's ace airship-the L-3 1 airship of the German Navy, and its captain was Heinrich Marty. The death of him and his ace crew had a far-reaching impact on German airship operations.

When World War I broke out, lighter-than-air aircraft technology had reached a fairly high level. According to the technical level at that time, the airship built by the German company Zeppelin can be regarded as a miracle in science and engineering technology. Each airship has beautiful lines, huge volume and the unique "buzzing" sound of high-power aero-engines, which pushes the lines of German airships across the sky. When people see led zeppelin for the first time, they will fall in love with its majesty and magic as if they were enchanted by a spell. On the other hand, an aircraft heavier than air is an ugly newborn and can only carry one or two people. Airships can easily carry tons of goods. Compared with the airship that stands proudly in the sky like a dinosaur, the heavier-than-air aircraft is just a humble and harmless little mammal.

After the war broke out, both the German army and navy established their own airship fleets. The German navy usually uses the aluminum keel airship manufactured by Zeppelin Company, numbered L (Luftschiff). The airship of the German Air Force is usually a wooden keel airship manufactured by shuttere-Lanz company, numbered SL. SL airship was not accepted by the German Navy because of its weight. After the war, both navy and air force airships began to bomb Britain in an attempt to destroy British industrial bases from the air and undermine British morale. 1965438+On the night of August 5, 2004, Z-6 West Berlin fighter successfully bombed the Belgian fortress of Liege. On August 26th, the German airship bombed Antwerp for a week, and on August 30th, it bombed Paris. 1915 65438+1October19, German airships began to bomb the British mainland. This idea of being too conceited about one's own military means is a common phenomenon for the bureaucrats of the General Staff of major European powers who valued militarism at the beginning of the 20th century. Just like modern "invincible artillery" and "unsinkable warships", the German military naively thinks that led zeppelin is the ultimate weapon in their hands. When the airship came out, it was invincible and invincible, and all countries surrendered. Of course, when the first world war broke out, the plane was so naive that there was no power to stop the airship from coming. Few planes can fight at night, but ordinary planes have just discovered the airship, and the only thing they can do is to poke two small holes in its thick skin. At that time, the only thing that could stop these German air mammoths from visiting their British cousins was the changeable weather over the North Sea. These airships usually take off at night from bases in Germany, such as Kukes Port, Cologne and Dü sseldorf, and arrive over Britain when the lights are on. Street lamps and lights from houses in British cities are their best road signs-the word "blackout" did not appear at that time. After dropping their dangerous goods, they turned around and flew east, and returned to Germany before dawn the next day. 1915 65438+1October19, German led zeppelin attacked the eastern part of England for the first time from the height of 1500m. On May 3rd1,the German airship LZ-38 attacked London for the first time under the command of Captain Linnaz, killing 7 people and injuring 3 1. In the early morning of June 7, the airship LZ-37 was shot down by a pilot of the Royal Air Force near Calais, France, with a small bomb of 6 kg. 1On October 20th, 1 1 airship bombed London, Lu Haijun, but three of them were destroyed by the storm.

By 19 16, the German navy had two types of airships. From L- 13 to L-24 are old airships, which constitute the main force of long-range air strikes in Germany. The updated L-30 series airships are numbered from L-30 to L-34. The Kaiser and the German General Staff have high hopes for these airships. They are not simple improvements of old led zeppelin, but brand-new designs. These new airships are huge, with a volume of 65,438+0,589,000 cubic feet, and can carry more bombs. But in terms of speed and climbing height, they did not surpass their predecessors by much. However, judging from the level of air defense forces at that time, good flight performance was not needed. The Germans certainly don't fantasize that the British will stay on the ground and be bombed. However, even if the British plane smashed Led Zeppelin into a sieve, it could barely fly back to Germany-of course, this required some risks and troubles. In order to reduce the trouble, the volume of the airbag is increased and its lifting force is improved. It's not good to make a lot of small holes, but the last thing Germans want to see is another thing-detonating the hydrogen in led zeppelin airbags. Unfortunately, it wasn't long before the British came up with the idea.

Led zeppelin's air strikes during the First World War.

19 16 in the summer, three kinds of machine gun bullets developed by the British for many years were officially put into use. Two of them are named "Pomeroy" and "Brock" after the inventor, which are high-explosive bullets. The other "Buckingham" is an incendiary bomb filled with white phosphorus. If these bullets are used alone to shoot Led Zeppelin, the effect is very limited. But when they are mixed together, they become deadly weapons. Those high-explosive bullets punctured the hydrogen airbag of the airship, so that the escaped high-purity hydrogen was fully mixed with the air, and then the mixed gas was detonated by the incendiary bomb. This mixed bullet has become the most effective weapon against German airships. Once an airship is hit by such a bullet, it is usually not spared. People who witnessed the crash of the German airship said that the burning airship in the night sky lit up the whole sky and slowly fell to the ground, just like a torch dedicated to the gods. The scene is spectacular. Due to the helpless attack on led zeppelin, the morale of the British people was once low. Now, the RAF has found a way to get revenge.

Autumn mission

19 16 In the summer, the new L-30 airship began to join the air strike force of the German navy. Peter Strasse, the chief of the German Airship Force (Nazi Germany's second Zeppelin-class aircraft carrier was named after him), planned to concentrate all the airships at hand and launch air strikes against Britain. He firmly believed that the dense bombs dropped by German airship troops on British targets could fundamentally change the war. Led zeppelin was the darling of the German war. People idolize these huge machines. Every air raid on Britain always wins the cheers of the whole German Empire. The British hate these unreachable things, so that when a German airship crashed into the sea due to mechanical failure, a nearby British tugboat ignored the sailors' principle of "helping the victims" and watched the German crew die in the sea.

After the L-30 airship came into service, Germany launched a large-scale air raid on Britain. Before that, the airships that attacked Britain were all single-handed, bombed and ran away. The first wave of attacks on Britain occurred three times, namely on July 3 1 day, August 2 and August 8. The German airship fleet arrived over Britain at night, bombed the target, and then returned to the base in Germany the next morning. No matter from the results or the number of airships, the first three attacks were not impressive. As before, in the dark night, the crew of these airships overestimated their achievements, and even identified the waves splashed by bombs thrown into the sea as exploding houses and factories. On the other hand, they have not been strongly countered and intercepted by Britain. Also be a blessed fool!

The second wave of attacks began on August 24th. The second attack took place on September 2. These two times are much bigger than before. Air raid on September 2nd, German Navy's 12 airship, L-1,L- 13, L- 14, L- 16, L-/kloc-0. 16 airship * * carried 32 tons of bombs.

The German LZ-98 airship, under the command of Captain Ernst Lyman, entered Britain from the mouth of the Thames in Grafsund. Lyman later served as the captain of the famous LZ- 129 Hindenburg airship. After arriving at the pier in east London, he dropped the bomb and then turned around and flew to the northeast. On the way, they met the expeller driven by Captain william robinson of the Royal Air Force, but LZ-98 quickly entered the clouds.

LZ-90 airship entered Britain from Flinton and bombed Haverhill. SL- 1 1 under the command of William Shi Lamu flew over London from due north and bombed St. Alban, a suburb of London. It was captured by searchlights installed in Finsbury and Victoria Park. SL- 1 1 finally got rid of the searchlight. On his way to the north, he met Captain Robinson who had just let LZ=98 slip away from him. Robinson approached the gray airship from behind and fired two mixed bullet clips at it, but he didn't see any signs of hitting the target. Robinson turned and approached SL- 1 1 again, aimed at the side of the airship and launched the third round. This time, Robinson saw that there seemed to be a glimmer of light inside the airship, and then it turned into a rapidly spreading flame, which ignited the fabric outside the airship. Within a few seconds, the airship SL- 1 1 turned into a big and bright torch to light up the sky. The scene of it burning and slowly falling into Kauffray village not only made all Londoners feast their eyes, but also was seen by German naval airships arriving in London one after another. When SL- 1 1 crashed, the L- 16 airship under the command of captain erich Sommerfield was less than a mile away from it, and it was reflected in the night sky, like a set at night. This aroused great interest from British pilots hovering nearby. Summerfield ordered all the engines to run at full speed, dropped all the bombs in a trickle, and then ran desperately north, running out of the light before the British pilot arrived. Thirty miles away, Captain Frankenberg, the captain of L-2 1, witnessed the whole process of the destruction of SL- 1 1. He and his 30 boys all saw two airships in the south. British planes flew around one of them, followed by flames and explosions. Then a British plane (Captain Robinson) fired red and green flares. Other german airships dropped all the bombs like L- 16, and then turned around and fled east. A *** 17 ton high-quality German high-explosive bomb was thrown into the fertile and soft soil in rural England. The bombing cost Britain 2 1000 pounds, while Germany paid 16 lives and an airship worth 93,000 pounds.

Led zeppelin's air strikes during the First World War.

The third wave of attacks began on September 23rd. 12 the german navy airship took off from the base of kukes port in Germany in the late afternoon. The sailors of the navy are still immersed in the terrible memories of the shooting down of SL- 1 1 three weeks ago, and the trip to Britain is shrouded in ominous shadows. But the captains are much more confident-the ——SL airship has a wooden keel, and an excellent naval pilot can skillfully fly his real led zeppelin to avoid the British attack. The new L-30 airship in the airship fleet, led by Heinrich Marty, the captain of L-3 1, turned due south over the North Sea and headed for the British coast. Their voyage will cross the London area where air defense firepower is the most intensive. Other smaller old airships, L- 13, L- 14, L- 16, L- 17, L-2 1, L-22, L-23 fly directly to Midlands in central England. Under the command of alois Burke, the L-33 was the first to reach the British capital. Most of his bombs were dropped at the corner of the Thames and Stratford. A shell fired from the ground penetrated the hull, causing some structural damage, but did not detonate the airship. After the bombing, the L-33 emptied the ballast sandbags and water bags, quickly rose to the sky beyond the plane's reach at a speed of 800 feet per minute, released the smoke screen, and then prepared to flee back to Germany-a perfect air raid seemed to be completed. But unfortunately, it met a British fighter and got several mixed incendiary bombs. Captain Burke was frightened and ordered the airship to land immediately. They landed in the countryside of Essex. German pilots detonated the airship that landed successfully, and then surrendered to the British who arrived.

An hour later, 12 am, 15, Marty's L-3 1 was over London. Marty reported to China that he found an airship (L-33) burning on the eastern ground. Marty circled over Strahm, Brixton and Kennington, dropped most of the bombs on the roads there, and then fled London as quickly as possible. 1: 00, he found another airship on the ground in woolwich. This is Captain Werner Peterson's L-32, which is also burning violently on the ground. Marty's report on China was concise, but he couldn't stop the crew from witnessing this scene, causing psychological trauma.

L-32 stayed in the North Sea for about an hour before entering mainland England. Peterson's last message to China was confusing, but it was later analyzed that there was something wrong with the L-32 engine, and he kept circling in the air until it was repaired. The British pilot found it immediately after troubleshooting and driving out of the clouds over the Thames. Ground searchlights in East London are also focused on it, indicating the location of this big target to pilots. Peterson probably realized that he was in danger because he quickly dropped all the bombs and ballast and turned around and flew to the North Sea. Captain Frederic Soweijie flew a BE2c 4 1 12 biplane to this behemoth illuminated by searchlights. Like Captain Robinson, Sovilj flew back and forth four times and fired three magazines until he saw the flame penetrate the fabric skin of L-32. Millions of gallons of hydrogen in the L-32 ejected a fireball like a torch and slowly fell to the ground. All the people on board were killed. After the L-32 caught fire, Sovilj fired a red flare and landed on the grass of a farm. Royal Navy intelligence personnel first appeared there, regardless of the flame and high temperature of hydrogen explosion, running around in the aluminum alloy keel and debris. As a reward, they rescued a German navy password book from the flame, which was brought on board in violation of confidentiality regulations. No one knows why Peterson allowed this codebook to board the ship. This is a godsend for the Royal Navy cryptographer.

The crash of L-32 and L-33 had a great impact on the morale of German airship troops. It's one thing for an army rookie airship to be shot down, but it's much more serious for two navy veterans, crew members and two brand-new airships to be shot down on the same night. Two days later, in another air raid, Captain Gantzel, who was originally scheduled to command the L-23, was temporarily removed from his post because of his eccentric behavior. Before he set out, his courage was exhausted, so he was left on the ground and sent back to the surface warship force for service. The L-30 under the command of Horst von Butler approached the coastal city of Kramer carefully, threw all the bombs into the sea, and then turned around and returned. The only highlight of this air raid was that Marty's L-3 1 boldly bombed Portsmouth Naval Base, which Led Zeppelin had never been to before. The only fly in the ointment is that the searchlights on the ground are too fierce. Marty dropped the bomb in the port area instead of the much more important naval shipyard. The British learned from the radio signal that the famous "reckless Marty" was hovering over their heads, and could not help but be surprised that the bombing scene was not as violent as expected, so they agreed that it was just a reconnaissance flight of Marty. This is also the British affirmation of his heroism.

The last air raid of the third wave attack occurred in 1 9161010/month1. 1 1 The airship started from Germany and only two L-30s were allowed to bomb London. Once again, the L-30 reported hitting the target-as usual, it didn't even leave a crater on the land and grassland in rural England. L-3 1 Arrived over London from the northeast, turned off the engine under Marty's command, and tried to drift quietly past the searchlight operator who pricked up his ears to listen to the buzzing sound. At half past zero in the morning, Marty restarted the engine and was immediately covered by the searchlight below. Four British fighter planes flew towards him. When he opened fire on the ground, Marty dropped all the bombs and flew west. He almost escaped. At this moment, Captain Dempster of the Royal Air Force flew a plane under him. Dempster immediately turned around and hit a shuttle of mixed incendiary bombs at the keel of L-3 1. Suddenly, a red dragon came out of its nose. L-3 1 fell vertically like a lead pestle and almost took Dempster and his plane to hell. Dempster did some somersaults in his plane to escape, and the burning German airship wiped his nose and fell off. L-3 1 crashed in a bar in portes. Local farmers rushed to the scene. They found a man lying on the ground next to the burning airship, without burns. He was alive when he was found, but he died soon. His id card says: "Kaptlt. Marty. L3 1”。

After the morning of 19 16 10, 1, the airship of the German navy never visited the sky of Great Britain as before, and achieved certain results without any damage. 19 17 and 19 18, the so-called "altitude climber" new light airship is much higher than the British aircraft, but at the expense of payload and endurance, the precision of dropping bombs at high altitude is extremely low. The scene of the German airship falling like a torch in the night sky has no negative impact on the morale of the British people. The airship troops of the navy were gradually handed over to the naval fleet as reconnaissance means and weapons used by the government for propaganda. On August 5th, 2008, Peter Strasser, commander of German airship forces, personally directed led zeppelin's last air raid on London, and was hit and crashed in the air raid.

From 191565438+1October19 to19/August 5, Germany dispatched 208 airships and 435 sorties to carry out air strikes on Britain, including 52 air strikes by airplanes and airships. About 80 airships were destroyed by allied artillery and storms.