Uncategorised This day 100 Years ago... The Zeppelin....

[Chris Boonzaier]

 

On Jan. 19, 1915, the German Admiralty received permission to carry out a bombing raid over England's eastern coast. Two L-series airships succeeded in dropping ordnance on the towns of Great Yarmouth, King's Lynn and Sheringham, killing four and wounding 16. Although casualties were scant compared to the fighting on the Continent, the validity of long-range strategic bombing had been proven, paving the way for the development of bomber aircraft that would eventually eclipse the Zeppelin dirigible on a massive scale.

The Germans used airships throughout World War I despite the high cost, significant attrition rate and comparatively low combat effectiveness. Despite being ultimately impractical as a weapon, lighter-than-air systems, commonly known as aerostats, have remained useful as a military tool in contemporary environments, particularly as a persistent surveillance platform — the purpose for which the first manned balloons were originally intended.

 

Courtesy Stratfor

[Bernhard H.Holst]

Hello Chris.

Thanks for posting this. Just a reminder for this reader how it all came about. Made me think of what a Canadian WW II bomber pilot told me and my wife some years ago: "You started it".

Bernhard H. Holst