Zeppelin LZ 95

One successful reconnaissance mission. L 48 and its U-class sister Airships were designed to fly as high as 20,000 feet (6,100 m).[1]

L 48 joined attempted attack on London with 4 other Zeppelins, L 42, L 44, L 45 and L 47.[1] Commanded by George Eichler, on his thirteenth raid, it became lost and was intercepted and destroyed by Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.12, serial No. 6110,[2] flown by Canadian pilot Second Lieutenant Loudon Pierce Watkins.[1] He was attached to No. 37 Squadron of British Royal Flying Corps (RFC) fighters. Watkins enlisted with his three brothers. He had been based in the UK, as home defence, since 11 December 1916.[3] Watkins shot down L 48 over water near Great Yarmouth on 17 June 1917 but it crashed near Theberton, Suffolk, a village near the town of Leiston. Three survivors; crew buried at Theberton, later to be exhumed and reburied at Cannock Chase.

Of the seven Zeppelins lost over England that were shot down in 1917 during the First World War, L 48 was the only one shot down by the RFC's Home defence.[4]

Data from Zeppelin : rigid airships, 1893-1940[5]

General characteristics

• Crew: 19
• Capacity: 39,000 kg (85,980 lb) typical disposable load
• Length: 196.4 m (644 ft 4 in)
• Diameter: 23.9 m (78 ft 5 in)
  
• Fineness ratio: 8.22
• Volume: 55,795 m³ (1,970,400 cu ft)
• Empty weight: 25,750 kg (56,769 lb)
• Useful lift: 64,750 kg (142,750 lb)
• Powerplant: 5 × Maybach HS Lu 6-cylinder water-cooled in-line piston engines, 180 kW (240 hp) each
• Propellers: 2-bladed Lorenzen propellers

Performance

• Maximum speed: 107.6 km/h (66.9 mph, 58.1 kn)
• Range: 7,400 km (4,600 mi, 4,000 nmi)
• Service ceiling: 5,500 m (18,000 ft) static

Armament

• Guns: defensive machine-guns in gondolas and envelope top gun positions
• Bombs: provision for bombs

Airships made about 51 bombing raids on Britain during the war. These killed 557 and injured another 1,358 people. More than 5,000 bombs were dropped (largely on towns and cities) across Britain, causing £1.5 million (equivalent to £108,200,000 in 2021) in damage. 84 airships took part, of which 30 were shot down or lost in accidents.[6]

Zeppelins shot down over the UK

Shot down Tactical No Production No Shot down by Aircraft Squadron Serial Number Crash location Picture 1 April 1916 L 15 LZ 48 Dartford AA battery Kentish Knock, Thames estuary 3 September 1916 SL 11 Lt Leefe Robinson B.E.2c No. 39 Home Defence Squadron 2693 Cuffley, Hertfordshire 24 September 1916 L 32 LZ 74 2nd Lt Frederick Sowrey B.E.2c No. 39 Home Defence Squadron 4112 Great Burstead, Essex 24 September 1916 L 33 LZ 76 Alfred Brandon B.E.2e fighter No. 39 Home Defence Squadron 4112 Little Wigborough, Essex 2 October 1916 L 31 LZ 72 2nd Lt Wulfstan J. Tempest B.E.2c No. 39 Home Defence Squadron 4557 Potter's Bar, Hertfordshire 27 November 1916 L 34 LZ 78 2nd Lt Ian Pyot B.E.2c No. 36 Home Defence Squadron 2738 Hartlepool, County Durham 28 November 1916 L 21 LZ 61 Flt Lt Egbert 'Bertie' Cadbury B.E.2c RNAS Great Yarmouth 8265 Sea 17 June 1917 L 48 LZ 95 2nd Lt Loudon Pierce Watkins B.E.12 No. 37 Home Defence Squadron 6110 Theberton, East Suffolk

Wikimedia Commons has media related to LZ 95 / L 48.

• List of Zeppelins

Notes

References

• Boyne, Walter J. (2005). The Influence of Air Power Upon History. Casemate Publishers. ISBN 9781844151998. - Total pages: 464
• Liddell Hart, Sir Basil Henry (1934). A History of the World War 1914–1918. Faber. ISBN 978-0-304-93653-3.
• Mower, Mark (2009). Zeppelin over Suffolk: The Final Raid of L48. Pen and Sword. ISBN 9781844157372. - Total pages: 160
• Pigott, Peter (2005). On Canadian Wings: A Century of Flight. Dundurn. ISBN 9781550029963. - Total pages: 192
• Wise, Sydney F. (1980). Canadian Airmen and the First World War: The Official History of the Royal Canadian Air Force, Volume I (PDF). University of Toronto Press. ISBN 9780802023797. Retrieved 17 June 2020.

• Account with excavation report
• BBC account
• Aerial photo on New Zealand government history site