![cover image](https://wikiwandv2-19431.kxcdn.com/_next/image?url=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/48/L_30_front.jpg/640px-L_30_front.jpg&w=640&q=50)
Zeppelin L 30
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Zeppelin "L 30" (factory number "LZ 62") was the first R-class "Super Zeppelin" of the German Empire. It was the most successful airship of the First World War with 31 reconnaissance flights and 10 bombing runs carrying a total of 23,305 kg of bombs,[1] with the first ones targeting England, and the four final raids targeting Livonia and Ösel (Saaremaa). At the time of its construction, It was the world's largest Zeppelin, and with its 6 engines, "L 30" could reach speeds higher than 100 km/h, making it the fastest Zeppelin in the world as well.
![]() Zeppelin "L 30" flying | |
History | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Name | LZ 62 |
Operator | Imperial German Navy |
Builder | Luftschiffbau Zeppelin |
Decommissioned | 17 November 1917 |
Maiden voyage | 28 May 1916[1] |
Out of service | 17 November 1917 |
Identification | "L 30" |
Fate | Given to Belgium as war reparations after World War I. Broken up in 1920 after a suitable placement for it in Belgium was not found.[1] |
General characteristics | |
Type | Airship |
Displacement | 36,186 kg[1] |
Length | 198 metres (650 ft)[1] |
Beam | 23.9 metres (78 ft) in diameter[1] |
Installed power | 6 x Maybach HSLu each totaling 240 hp; combined performance: 1,440 hp.[1] |
Propulsion | 6 Lorenzen propellers[1] |
Speed | 103 km/h (28,7 m/s)[1] |
Range | 7,400 km; height: 3,900 m[1] |
Boats & landing craft carried | 4 gondolas[1] |
Capacity | 55,000 m3 gas volume[1] |
Crew | 17[1] |
![Thumb image](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/48/L_30_front.jpg/320px-L_30_front.jpg)
![Thumb image](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4f/L_30_gondol.jpg/320px-L_30_gondol.jpg)
It was constructed at Luftschiffbau Zeppelin in Friedrichshafen, the first with gondolas on the sides. It remained in the service of the Imperial German Navy from 1916 to its decommissioning in 1917. "L 30" was decommissioned in 1917, and survived World War I. It was handed over to Belgium as part of the war reparations laid on Germany. Its gondolas are on display today at the Royal Military Historical Museum in Brussels,[2][3] the only remaining gondolas of a war Zeppelin in the world.[1]
A famous photo of Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin aboard the "L 30" with Hauptmann Macher exists, allegedly taken sometime in April 1916 in Friedrichshafen, before its completion.[4][5]