CHAPTER XI

THE CAPTIVE ZEPPELIN

The Zeppelin which came down in the manner described in the foregoing chapter was on view to a party of London Press Representatives on October 8, 1916. The _Times_ representative recalled the fact that the airship lost one of her starboard propellers some while before falling. Although parts of the structure of the airship were crumpled up, the main outlines could be easily recognized. The framework or skeleton was composed of a series of longitudinal lattice-work girders running from end to end and connected at intervals by circular lattice-work ties, the whole structure being bound together and stiffened by means of a system of wires provided with arrangements which enabled them to be tightened up. The material used was an alloy of aluminium.

At the largest point the framework had a diameter of 72 feet, and was of streamlike form, the bow being sensibly blunter than the stern, which, indeed, tapered off to a sharp point. The length of the vessel appeared to have been 650 feet or 680 feet, and the weight complete, with engines, fuel, guns, and ammunition, was calculated at 50 tons. The hydrogen capacity was 2,000,000 cubic feet, and there were 24 ballonets extending the whole length of the ship. Of the envelope only one or two fragments were to be seen, the rest having been burnt. The airship, which was numbered L33, was of quite recent construction, having been built last July, and its cost is estimated by the Admiralty authorities at about a quarter of a million. How long was required for building it could not be told from an inspection of the remains, but the enormous amount of detail was evident enough. To enable the crew, which consisted of twenty-two men, to move from one part of the ship to another, a cat-walk ran along the keel, enclosed in an arched passage. It consisted of a narrow footway, nine inches in width and made of wood—one of the very few examples of wood construction used—and provision for ventilation was made in the shape of shafts rising to the top of the ship.

In all there were four gondolas—one forward, two amidships, and one aft. The first of these constituted the navigating bridge. It was divided into three parts. The first was set apart for the commander, and in it were concentrated the controls of the horizontal and vertical rudders at the stern, the engine-room, telegraphs, and the switches for the electrical release of the bombs. These last, of which sixty were carried, were actually arranged amidships, and the sliding door which was opened to allow them to fall could still be seen moving freely on its bearings.

Behind the commander’s room in the forward gondola was a cabin for the wireless operator, measuring perhaps 6 feet by 4 feet, and behind that again an engine-room containing a 240 h.-p. Maybach Mércèdes engine having six vertical cylinders. Behind the engine was a clutch, a brake, and a reducing gear, through which the power was transmitted to a propeller shaft; a generator for the wireless installation was placed in front. One similar engine was carried in each of the gondolas amidships, and three in the aft gondola, all the engines having wireless generators attached. There were thus six engines, with an aggregate power of 1,440 h.-p., and six propellers. Of the latter, three were worked from the aft gondola, one being placed in the centre at a point distant from the tail about one-fifth of the length of the ship, and the other two one on each side; two were driven from the side gondolas amidships, and the sixth was in connexion with the forward gondola. To reduce air-resistance a streamline form was given to the propeller stays by the aid of a thin two or three-ply wooden casing. The amount of petrol carried was 2,000 gallons, and the speed is supposed to have been about sixty miles an hour in a still atmosphere. The armament, apart from the bombs, consisted of nine quick-firing guns. Of these, two larger than the others were mounted on the roof, two were in the forward gondola, one each in the amidships gondolas, two in the aft gondola, and one in the tail. The lightness of the construction was shown by the fact that the huge tail still containing the remains of the gun platform could easily be rolled over.

In addition to the particulars given there were other interesting features. It may be noted, for instance, that practically everything, except the engines and the guns, was made of aluminium alloy. The only woodwork was the narrow platform, known as the ‘cat-walk,’ which ran along the keel and connected the gondolas. It was closed in with fibre. There was a little wood also in the ventilators, which were found intact. The wood was covered with Manchester cotton, which looked like common sheeting, but was really of very fine texture. The pressure of a button in the captain’s cabin opened the sliding grille of framework, and an electrical device permitted each bomb to be dropped separately, either slowly or rapidly.