Faster Zeppelins for Scouting
These Zeppelins proved exceedingly valuable for scouting. They were flown in all kinds of wind and weather. So great was their capacity for fuel that there was no task too great for them to undertake. But then, airplanes were constantly being improved, and they could rise quickly to high altitudes. The planes carried machine guns firing phosphorous incendiary bullets fatal to the hydrogen filled hull of the Zeppelins if overtaken. Airplanes, naturally, could out-distance airships, and there was no escaping them. The Zeppelins were compelled to fly still higher than the L-30 type. There shortly appeared other Zeppelins carrying loads of more than 39 tons or 60% of the total lift of the ship; and they could fly at an altitude of 19,684 feet (6,000 meters) with 13,228 or 15,432 pounds (6,000 or 7,000 kilograms), without depending on the thrust from the motors.
In the fall of 1917 “altitude” motors were developed, larger and having supercompression. They did not develop full power at sea level but instead functioned normally at 10,000 feet altitude above sea level. They, moreover, gave ample power higher than that. They speeded up the Zeppelins to 70.5 miles per hour (31.5 meters per second).
The Zeppelin company built thirty-six ships of this type ([Plate 10]-L43), from 1916 to 1918; and they were used by the army and navy. The British R-34, which crossed the Atlantic in 1919, was an exact duplicate of the Zeppelin L-30 type.