1. Construction

2. War career
     Bombing raid on Norfolk    August 1917 bombing raid on warships  

3. Silent raid of October 1917 and crash
     Bombing of Northampton    The attack on London    Forced landing in France  

4. Aftermath
     The Silent Raid Aftermath  

5. Legacy

6. References

The LZ 85 was a World War I R-Class zeppelin of the German Navy with a total length of {{convert|198|m|ftin}}, allocated the tactical numbering L 45. LZ 85 carried out a total of 27 flights including 3 raids on England and 12 reconnaissance missions.^[4]

LZ 85(LZ55) was also the numbering of the German zeppelin downed in Thessaloniki on 5th May 1916 by the British Navy HMS Agamemnon.

Construction

LZ 85 was built by Luftschiffbau Zeppelin at Staaken, Germany during the First World War to join the ranks of the German Kaiserliche Marine in the fight against the United Kingdom.^[6] The ship was completed as an R-Class zeppelin on 2 April 1917 and had a total length of {{convert|198|m|ftin}}, diameter of {{convert|23.9|m|ftin}} and {{convert|55200|m3|cuft|abbr=on}} gas volume contained in 19 gas cells. The ship could reach a top speed of {{convert|103|km/h|mph kn|abbr=on}}, powered by five (unlike the normal 6 engines on an R-Class Zeppelin) {{convert|240|hp|kW|0|abbr=on}} Maybach HS Lu engines driving five propellers, giving a range of {{convert|7,400|km|mi}} and ceiling of {{convert|4,000|m|ft}}.

In six-engined configuration the R-class zeppelins had single pusher engines in the rear of the front control gondola and two engine cars either side amidships, with a further three engines in the rear gondola. Of the rear gondola engines, one drove a pusher propeller direct at the rear of the gondola and two more in the centre of the gondola drove propellers, via gearboxes and transmission shafts, mounted on framework either side of the gondola. Five-engined R-class zeppelins omitted the rear gondola direct-drive centre engine.^[7]

The 19 crew members were housed in the control cabin, rear gondola, two engine cars and open gun positions on top of the envelope.^[8]

War career

The LZ 85 conducted its first flight on 12 April 1917 from Staaken to Ahlhorn under the command of Kapitänleutnant Waldemar Kölle and first officer Oberleutnant zur See Bernhard Dinter. Dinter would be replaced in May by Lieutenant Colonel Schiltz as Dinter himself would take the command of another zeppelin in June of that year. LZ 85 was stationed at Ahlhorn until it was moved to Tønder on 5 June 1917.^[9]

Bombing raid on Norfolk

The LZ 85 conducted its first bombing raid on Britain on the night of 23 May and 24 May 1917. The ship took off from Ahlhorn and joined 5 other naval airships whose objective was to attack London. However the weather worsened and dense clouds were beginning to cover the East of England and by the time the airships crossed over Suffolk and Norfolk, they were caught in a thunderstorm. 60 bombs were dropped over East Anglia which killed one person and L 40 was chased by a seaplane near Terschelling. The raid was deemed a failure because of the cloud cover and wind.

August 1917 bombing raid on warships

LZ 85 started its second bombing raid aigainst Britain during the night of 21 August and 22 August 1917. The ship left its base in Tønder and joined 7 other airships to conduct another bombing raid on East Yorkshire. The raid was personally led by airship fleet manager Peter Strasser who was on the L 46. LZ 85 failed to fly inland to conduct its mission and instead bombed a number of allied warships off Withernsea.

Silent raid of October 1917 and crash

The LZ 85 conducted its last bombing raid on Britain on the night of 19 October and 20 October 1917. The ship took off from Tønder and joined 10 other naval airships. The raid took place at such a great height that no British fighters could reach high enough to shoot the attacking zeppelins down, giving the airships a huge advantage. The airships reached Britain undisturbed and dropped 274 bombs from a record height of well over {{convert|5|km|mi}}.^[10]

Bombing of Northampton

The attack on London

While continuing its flight over London, LZ 85 encountered a Royal Aircraft Factory BE.2c fighter, but escaped by turning southward and climbing to an extreme height. When the airship was in safety, it dropped another bomb in Southwark, South of the River Thames, where it destroyed 3 houses in Albany Road near Burgess Park, killing 10 to 12 people and wounding many others.^[20] The airship dropped another bomb on Hither Green in the southeastern district of Lewisham and destroyed 26 small houses. In this attack, 15 people were killed including 12 children or teenagers and 8 others were wounded.^[21] Of the 12 children whom were killed, 8 were from the Kingston family and 4 from the Milgate family.^[22] Meanwhile, on the ground, British searchlight batteries tried to locate LZ 85, but in the hazy weather high above London, the airship could not be found.^[23] LZ 85 tried to descend to a lower altitude, but was pursued by a Royal Aircraft Factory BE.2c flown by Lieutenant Pritchard. On gaining altitude LZ 85 encountered strong turbulence and frost, which caused a number of mechanical problems including steering problems, an engine failure and fuel leaks. On top of that, the crew began suffering from altitude sickness.^[24]

Forced landing in France

At 10.50am, commander Kölle decided to make an emergency landing on a reclaimed island near Laragne Buech, north of Sisteron in the region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur in south-eastern France as he knew he couldn't keep his ship in the air much longer. The commander steered his ship into the dry bed of a river, but the zeppelin bounced up again, losing one of her propellers on impact. The commander ordered the crew to jump from the ship before it crashed on the hillside next to the river, but not all the crew had abandoned LZ 85 before she crashed into the hillside.^[27] The ship came to rest on the hill almost undamaged and the commander and remaining crew abandoned LZ 85 and set the ship ablaze with a signal pistol before anyone could stop him, despite the efforts of Madame Dupont, a local farmer's wife.^[28] After burning the aircraft, the crew of 17 men along with the first officer and commander Kölle were taken into custody as prisoners of war.^[29]

Aftermath

In the afternoon of 20 October 1917, 16 of the crew-members were taken to Laragne where they were interrogated by local gendarmes. Commander Waldemar Kölle was interrogated by the German department of the French intelligence service on 1 November 1917. The report of the commander's interrogation was later smuggled to Nordholz, where Peter Strasser received it on 25 April 1918. In the report it was revealed that the British Naval Intelligence Division had gotten hold of detailed and updated information on the German naval airships and all their commanders, including on Bockholt's top secret Africa mission. The discovery resulted in 3 people from Tønder and 2 from Nordholz coming under suspicion of spying and later being found guilty and executed by a firing squad. The circumstances are not clear as most archive material has been lost.^[30]

The crew of LZ 85 were held as Prisoners Of War until the end of the war, when they were all released, except Waldemar Kölle, who was accused under Versailles Treaty to have committed war crimes by killing civilians. Kölle remained jailed in Roanne until 1921.

The Silent Raid Aftermath

The raid was not viewed as a great success as the German navy lost a total of five airships:

• LZ 85 crash-landed in Laragne and her crew of 19 were captured.
• LZ 93 was shot down by anti aircraft fire from French Army artillery over Lunéville resulting in the death of everyone on board.
• LZ 96 force-landed in Bourbonne-les-Bains and was captured undamaged together with her crew.
• LZ 89 Tried to land in Dammartin but ended up tearing off the control car and sending the ship drifting over the Mediterranean where it exploded, killing the 5 remaining crewmen on board.
• LZ 101 crash-landed at the Werra river in Thuringia and was declared a total loss.^[31][32]

Legacy

References

• Ground water table
• Groundwave propagation
• Groundwood Books Ltd
• Ground Zero (1973 film)
• Ground Zero (New York City)
• Ground Zero (television show)
• Group 13 hydride
• Group 14 hydride
• Group-14 hydride
• Group 15 hydride
• Group 16 hydride
• Group 17 hydride
• Group 1890
• Group 1890 (exhibition)
• Group 1 Crew discography
• Group 1 Series Production Touring Car
• Group 1 Software
• Group 2000
• Group 2B carcinogen
• Group 2 The Trench in Potter's Field
• Group 2 Touring Car
• Group 3D Sports Sedans
• Group 3 (horse racing)
• Group 43
• Group 48