Vehicle    From 1900 

Zeppelin airships

Categories: Armed Forces, Aviation

Invented by Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin in 1900. London was first targeted with airships in May 1915 and initially found defence very difficult. Searchlights and incendiary ammunition helped to defeat the Zeppelins and the last raid was in August 1918. Londonist has a great post about the Zeppelin raids over London, with a map! And Flickering Lamps has a good post on airships over London in war and peace.

But to get a really good idea of how they were used (the bombs, the water ballast, the observer basket) you have to see the 1930 film Hell's Angels. Forget the plot and the acting, just watch the stunning aerial scenes. Howard Hughes produced it so money was no object.

2018: Londonist have a post about the first Zeppelin raid on London, 31 May 1915, with maps showing the damage sites.

This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Zeppelin airships

Commemorated ati

Camberwell WW1 victims - Chumleigh Gardens

This memorial commemorates all 22 Camberwell citizens killed in WW1. We don't...

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First Zeppelin bomb of WW1, correct - 1

First bomb of World War One, dropped on London by Zeppelin LZ 38 fell on this...

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First Zeppelin bomb of WW1, correct - 2

First bomb of World War One, to be dropped on London by Zeppelin LZ38, fell o...

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First Zeppelin bomb of WW1 - incorrect

This plaque was, according to the Council, a mistake and was removed by Hackney.

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Zeppelin

We are familiar with the "pensioner crosses road" syndrome in local newspaper...

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Other Subjects

ORP Dzik

ORP Dzik

Former Submarine in the Polish Navy. ORP stands for Okret Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej (Ship of the Polish Republic).

Vehicle, Armed Forces, Poland

1 memorial
Henry James Edmund Kippin

Henry James Edmund Kippin

Henry James Edmund Kippin was born on 15 January 1882 at Perrin's Court, Hampstead, the eldest son and the second of the ten children of Edmund Kippin (1852-1916) and Letitia Kippin née Cook (1856-...

Person, Armed Forces

War served, WW1
1 memorial
J. H. Bradley

J. H. Bradley

Sergt. Royal Fusiliers. Fought but did not die in WW1. Andrew Behan has kindly provided this research: James Henry Bradley was born on 18 March 1881 in Peckham. He was the second of the six childr...

Person, Armed Forces

War served, WW1
1 memorial
42nd Royal Highlanders

42nd Royal Highlanders

Infantry regiment of the British army. Originally a militia raised to build a network of roads, it became known as the Black Watch because of the dark green tartan with which they were issued. It w...

Group, Armed Forces, Scotland

1 memorial
Admiral of the Fleet, Sir James Alexander Gordon, GCB

Admiral of the Fleet, Sir James Alexander Gordon, GCB

Naval officer.  Born Aberdeenshire.  Governor of Greenwich Hospital, 1853 until his death.  75 years in the navy, he was possibly the model for C. S. Forester's Horatio Hornblower.  

Person, Armed Forces, Politics & Administration, Scotland

1 memorial