Zeppelin LZ 48

German World War I-era zeppelin

LZ 48 (L 15)

Zeppelin LZ 48 (L 15) in the water
Role	P-class reconnaissance-bomber rigid airship Type of aircraft
National origin	German Empire
Manufacturer	Luftschiffbau Zeppelin
Designer	Ludwig Dürr
First flight	9 September 1915
Status	Shot down by AA fire on 1 April 1916
Primary user	Imperial German Navy
Number built	1

The Imperial German Navy Zeppelin LZ 48 (L 15) was a P-class World War I zeppelin.

Operational history

The Airship took part in eight reconnaissance missions with three attacks on England dropping 5,780 kg (12,740 lb) of bombs.

Destruction

The Zeppelin was damaged by ground fire from Dartford AA battery^[1] during a raid on London on 1 April 1916. The airship came down at Kentish Knock Deep in the Thames estuary. One crew member was killed; the other 17 were taken prisoner of war after being picked up by ships.^[2] The gunners at Purfleet attempted to claim a prize of £500 offered by the Mayor of London for shooting down the Zeppelin, but the War Office declared them ineligible.^[3] Instead the gunners received a gold medal.

Specifications

Data from ,^[4] Giants in the Sky: A History of the Rigid Airship^[2]

General characteristics

Crew: 18-19 (Executive Officer, Commander, Navigator, Sailmaker (responsible for gasbags), Chief Engineer, 2 altitude coxswains, 2 steering coxswains, 8 engineers)
Capacity: 16,200 kg (35,715 lb) typical disposable load
Length: 163.5 m (536 ft 5 in)
Diameter: 18.7 m (61 ft 4 in) maximum
Fineness ratio: 8.68
Volume: 31,900 m³ (1,130,000 cu ft)
Empty weight: 20,800 kg (45,856 lb)
Fuel capacity: 4,800 kg (10,582 lb) maximum
Useful lift: 37,000 kg (82,000 lb)
Powerplant: 4 × Maybach C-X 6-cylinder water-cooled inline piston engine, 160 kW (210 hp) each
Propellers: 2-bladed fixed-pitch propellers

Performance

Maximum speed: 96.1 km/h (59.7 mph, 51.9 kn)
Cruise speed: 90 km/h (56 mph, 49 kn)
Range: 4,300 km (2,700 mi, 2,300 nmi)
Service ceiling: 2,800 m (9,200 ft) static

Armament

Guns: 7 or 8 machine guns: naval airships generally using the water-cooled MG 08, army ships the air-cooled Parabellum MG 14
Bombs: 2,000 kg (4,400 lb) bombs (a greater load could be carried with reduced fuel load)

Dirigibles shot down over the UK

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 £128,500,000 in 2023) in damage. 84 airships took part, of which 30 were shot down or lost in accidents.^[5]

Zeppelins shot down over the UK

Shot down	Tactical No	Production No	Shot down by	Aircraft	Squadron	Serial Number	Crash location
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

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to LZ 48 / L 15.

^ "Super Zeppelins". Flight. VIII (No.35) (401): 739–741. 31 August 1916.
^ ^a ^b Robinson, Douglas Hill (1973). Giants in the Sky: A History of the Rigid Airship. University of Washington Press. ISBN 9780295952499.
^ Panorama, the Journal of the Thurrock Local History Society, Volume 39
^ Brooks, Peter W. (1992). Zeppelin : rigid airships, 1893-1940. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press. pp. 91–95. ISBN 1560982284.
^ Liddell Hart 1934, p. 76.

Liddell Hart, Sir Basil Henry (1934). A History of the World War 1914–1918. Faber. ISBN 978-0-304-93653-3.

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	L 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