Zeppelin LZ 31

LZ 31 (L 6)

LZ 31 bombing Royal Navy ships after the Cuxhaven Raid, 1914
Role	M-class reconnaissance-bomber rigid airship Type of aircraft
National origin	German Empire
Manufacturer	Luftschiffbau Zeppelin
Designer	Ludwig Dürr
First flight	3 November 1914
Retired	Caught fire and destroyed, 16 September 1916
Primary user	Imperial German Navy
Number built	1

The Imperial German Navy Zeppelin LZ 31 (L 6) was an M-class World War I Zeppelin.

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Operational history

Throughout the career of the Imperial German Navy Airship LZ 31 took part in 36 reconnaissance missions around the North Sea. This included marking minefields and one raid on the United Kingdom, dropping 700 kg (1,500 lb) of bombs.

Raid on Cuxhaven

The Raid on Cuxhaven was a British ship-based air-raid on the Imperial German Navy complex at Cuxhaven mounted on Christmas Day, 1914. After the raid Zeppelin LZ 31 set off to find the attacking naval force the aircraft came from. After retrieving the aircraft, the Navy force attempted to return to base but HMS Empress was left behind. High enough that the Royal Navy ship's guns could not harm it, LZ 31 dropped bombs on HMS Empress but none of the airship's bombs hit their mark.^[1]

Fire and destruction

On 16 September 1916 the airship was in its hangar at Fuhlsbüttel undergoing inflation when it caught fire and was destroyed with Zeppelin LZ 36. ^[2]

Specifications (LZ 31 / M2-class Zeppelin)

Data from Zeppelin : rigid airships, 1893-1940,^[3] The Zeppelin Airships - Part Two: Zeppelins of the Great War 1914–1918^[4]

General characteristics

Crew: 16
Capacity: 9,200 kg (20,283 lb) typical disposable load
Length: 158 m (518 ft 4 in)
Diameter: 14.9 m (48 ft 11 in) maximum
Fineness ratio: 10.61
Volume: 22,470 m³ (794,000 cu ft) in 18 gas cells
Empty weight: 16,900 kg (37,258 lb)
Fuel capacity: 4,000 kg (8,818 lb) maximum
Useful lift: 26,100 kg (57,500 lb)
Powerplant: 3 × Maybach C-X 6-cylinder water-cooled in-line piston engines, 130 kW (180 hp) each
Propellers: 2-bladed fixed-pitch propellers

Performance

Maximum speed: 84 km/h (52 mph, 45 kn)
Cruise speed: 80.5 km/h (50.0 mph, 43.5 kn)
Range: 2,200 km (1,400 mi, 1,200 nmi)
Service ceiling: 2,800 m (9,200 ft) static

Armament

Guns: 4x machine-guns

Notes

^ Massie 2003, p. 370.
^ Robinson 1973, p. 333.
^ Brooks, Peter W. (1992). Zeppelin : rigid airships, 1893-1940. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press. pp. 72-77. ISBN 1560982284.
^ "The Zeppelin Airships - Part Two: Zeppelins of the Great War 1914–1918". Puget sound airship society. Retrieved 28 January 2011.

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to LZ 31 / L 6.

Massie, Robert K. (2003). Castles of Steel: Britain, Germany, and the Winning of the Great War at Sea. Random House Publishing Group. ISBN 9781588363206.
Robinson, Douglas Hill (1973). Giants in the Sky: A History of the Rigid Airship. University of Washington Press. ISBN 9780295952499.

Zeppelin aircraft

Lighter-than-air
(airships)

Manufacturer
hull
numbers

A Class	LZ 1
B Class	LZ 2 LZ 3
C Class	LZ 4 LZ 5
D Class	LZ 6
E Class	LZ 7 LZ 8
F Class	LZ 9 LZ 10 LZ 12
G Class	LZ 11 LZ 13
H Class	LZ 14 LZ 15 LZ 16 LZ 17 LZ 19 LZ 20
I Class	LZ 18
J Class	skipped
K Class	LZ 21
L Class	LZ 22 LZ 23
M Class	LZ 24 LZ 25 LZ 27 LZ 28 LZ 29 LZ 30 LZ 31 LZ 32 LZ 33 LZ 34 LZ 35 LZ 37
N Class	LZ 26
O Class	LZ 36 LZ 39
P Class	LZ 38 LZ 40 LZ 41 LZ 42 LZ 43 LZ 44 LZ 45 LZ 46 LZ 47 LZ 48 LZ 49 LZ 50 LZ 51 LZ 52 LZ 53 LZ 54 LZ 55 LZ 56 LZ 57 LZ 58 LZ 60 LZ 63
Q Class	LZ 59 LZ 61 LZ 64 LZ 65 LZ 66 LZ 67 LZ 68 LZ 69 LZ 71 LZ 73 LZ 77 LZ 81
R Class	LZ 62 LZ 72 LZ 74 LZ 75 LZ 76 LZ 78 LZ 79 LZ 80 LZ 82 LZ 83 LZ 84 LZ 85 LZ 86 LZ 87 LZ 88 LZ 89 LZ 90
S Class	LZ 91 LZ 92
T Class	LZ 93 LZ 94
U Class	LZ 95 LZ 96 LZ 97 LZ 98 LZ 99
V Class	LZ 100 LZ 101 LZ 103 LZ 105 LZ 106 LZ 107 LZ 108 LZ 109 LZ 110 LZ 111
W Class	LZ 102 LZ 104
X Class	LZ 112 LZ 113 LZ 114
Post-war	LZ 120 LZ 121 LZ 126 LZ 127 LZ 129 LZ 130
Unbuilt	LZ 70 LZ 115–LZ 119 LZ 122–LZ 125 LZ 128 LZ 131–LZ 132

Operator's
identification

Names	Bodensee Deutschland Deutschland II Dixmude Esperia Graf Zeppelin Graf Zeppelin II Hindenburg Hansa USS Los Angeles Méditerranée Nordstern Sachsen Schwaben Viktoria Luise
Army Z designations¹	Z I Ersatz Z I Ersatz Z I (2) Z II Ersatz Z II Z III Z IV Z V Z VI Z VII Z VIII Z IX Z X Z XI Z XII
Army LZ designations²	LZ 34 LZ 35 LZ 37 LZ 38 LZ 39 LZ 72 LZ 74 LZ 77 LZ 79 LZ 81 LZ 85 LZ 86 LZ 87 LZ 88 LZ 90 LZ 93 LZ 95 LZ 97 LZ 98 LZ 101 LZ 103 LZ 107 LZ 111 LZ 113 LZ 120
Navy L designations	L 1 L 2 L 3 L 4 L 5 L 6 L 7 L 8 L 9 L 10 L 11 L 12 L 13 L 14 L 15 L 16 L 17 L 18 L 19 L 20 L 21 L 22 L 23 L 24 L 30 L 31 L 32 L 33 L 34 L 35 L 36 L 37 L 38 L 39 L 40 L 41 L 42 L 43 L 44 L 45 L 46 L 47 L 48 L 49 L 50 L 51 L 52 L 53 L 54 L 55 L 56 L 57 L 58 L 59 L 60 L 61 L 62 L 63 L 64 L 65 L 70 L 71 L 72

Heavier-than-air
(aeroplanes)

Zeppelin-Staaken	8301 VGO.I VGO.II VGO.III R.IV R.V R.VI R.VII R.XIV R.XV R.XVI E.4/20
Zeppelin-Lindau	CL.I CL.II CS.I D.I Rs.I Rs.II Rs.III Rs.IV V1
Zeppelin Flugzeugebau	C.I C.II C.IV
Other	L 1 Rammer Fliegende Panzerfaust ZMe 323 ZMe 423 ZSO 523

¹Early Army designations, used pre-war. ²Wartime Army LZ designations were not always matched to Zeppelin's LZ hull number.

This page was last edited on 31 July 2023, at 13:22

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