A nation possessing such a fleet of large airships as Germany does must be provided with sheds (hangars) for their reception in all parts of the country, and by the table that is appended it will be seen that in this way last year Germany was very amply provided.
I am indebted to the Aérophile for the following list of German hangars for dirigibles, with dates of construction and names of owners:—
| Place and Date of Construction. | Proprietors. | Observations. |
| Aix-la-Chapelle | — | Designed for 1914 |
| Allenstein | — | Designed for 1914 |
| Baden—Baden-Dos (1910) | — | — |
| Berlin—Biesdorf (1909) | Siemens and Schückert | — |
| Berlin—Reinickendorf | — | — |
| Berlin—Johannisthal (1910) | Aëronautical Sport Society | — |
| Berlin—Johannisthal (1911) | — | — |
| Berlin—Tegel (1905) | Prussian Army | — |
| Berlin—Tegel (1907) | Prussian Army | — |
| Berlin—Tegel (1908–10) | Prussian Army | — |
| Bitterfeld (1908) | Luffahrtzeug Society | — |
| Bitterfeld (1909) | Luffahrtzeug Society | — |
| Braunschweig | Airship Harbour Society of Brunswick | Designed for 1914 |
| Cologne | — | — |
| Cologne—Leichlingen | Rheinwerke Motorluftschiff Society | — |
| Cologne—Nippes | Clouth | — |
| Cuxhaven | German Navy | Designed for 1914 |
| Dresden | City of Dresden | Will only hold one balloon |
| Düsseldorf (1910) | City of Düsseldorf | — |
| Cologne—Bickendorf (1909) | Prussian Army | — |
| Frankfurt am Main (1911) | Delay | — |
| Friedrichshafen (1908) | Zeppelin Society | — |
| Friedrichshafen—Manzell (1900) | Workshops of the Zeppelin Society | — |
| Gotha (1910) | Town of Gotha | — |
| Graudenz | — | Designed for 1914 |
| Hannover | — | Designed for 1914 |
| Hamburg—Fuhlsbüttel (1911) | Hamburg Airship Harbour Society | — |
| Hamburg—Hansa | — | — |
| Kiel (1910) | Union for Motor-Airship Travel | — |
| Königsberg-in-Preussen (1911) | Prussian Army | — |
| Leehr | — | Designed for 1914 |
| Leipzig | Leipziger Luftschiffland Flugplatz Gesellschaft | — |
| Liegnitz (1913) | Prussian Army | In construction |
| Mannheim—Schwetzinger | — | — |
| Mannheim—Rheinau (1909) | Luftschiffbau Schütte u. Lanz | — |
| Metz (1909) | Prussian Army | — |
| Potsdam, near Berlin (1911) | Zeppelin Society — | — |
| Posen | — | Constructing |
| Schneidemühl | — | Building |
| Strasbourg | Prussian Army | — |
| Thorn (1912) | — | — |
| Trèves | — | Building |
| Waune (1912) | Rhenish-Westphalien Flying and Sports Club | — |
Such monster airships as the Zeppelin call for a large proportion of pure hydrogen. This is, indeed, manufactured on a large scale in Germany. It is produced in quantities by the electro-chemical works at Bitterfeld, Griesheim, and at Friedrichshafen, specially for the needs of the Zeppelins at the latter place. There are also works for the production of very pure hydrogen by electrolysis at Bitterfeld, Griesheim, Gersthofen, and Dresden.
In the particular way Germany means to use her lighter-than-air fleet in the present war time will show. If, however, there have not yet been attempts at any combination of action, individual Zeppelins have already played the rôle of dreadnoughts of the air. Though their powers have been no doubt exaggerated, they have been the terror of some Belgian cities.
Early in the morning of August 25th a Zeppelin airship visited Antwerp, and drifting silently with the wind steered over the temporary Royal palace. There it discharged six highly explosive bombs. Not one found its intended mark, though all fell near the palace. One appears to have been very near hitting the tower of the cathedral. Though the bombs failed to attain the object sought, no less than six or seven persons were victims to the outrage. One struck a private house, killed a woman, and injured two girls, killed two civic guards, and wounded another. One bomb fell in the courtyard of the hospital of St. Elizabeth, tore a hole in the ground, smashed the windows, and riddled the walls.
The Zeppelin repeated its visit early in the morning of September 2nd, but this time with less deadly result. The bombs only wounded the victims. The experiences of the first visit had given effective warning against a repetition of aërial invasion. The city had been darkened, and the airship was attacked from the forts and the high points of the city as soon as it made its appearance. The crew of the airship seem to have been struck with panic when it failed to find its bearings over the darkened city.
It appears they suddenly dropped all their bombs as ballast and rose quickly out of harm’s way. The bombs used on this occasion were not of the same type as those used on the previous attempt on the city. The latter were of high explosive power designed to destroy buildings. The former were covered by thin envelopes, and held together by mushroom-shaped rivets. They were filled with iron bolts and nuts, and were evidently designed for the destruction of human life. It is stated that this is a type of bomb which has never been used by artillery, being made on the same model as that used by the notorious French robber, Bonnet.
In reference to airship raids over cities, it has been suggested in America that the air in their immediate neighbourhood should be mined. This could be done by having a number of captive balloons or kites, the mines on which could be discharged electrically from the ground. For future wars there will no doubt be devised some form of travelling aërial torpedoes for destroying the intruding airships. Such torpedoes would, however, have to be capable of guidance. As has been pointed out by Mr. W. F. Reid, in 1884, at the siege of Venice, the Austrians used free balloons for the purpose of dropping bombs upon the town. The bombs were attached to the balloons in such a way that after the burning of a certain length of safety fuse, the connection was severed, and the bomb fell. The length of fuse was calculated according to the speed of the wind; but, unfortunately, when the balloons rose, they entered an upper air-current travelling in a different direction from that below, and many of the bombs burst in the Austrian lines, whence they had started. Thus it would not be expedient to let loose ordinary unmanned balloons loaded with timed explosives, even if the direction of the wind seemed favourable, for their meeting an approaching airship fleet, as an upper current might bring them back over the city, where they might do mischief.
It is, however, quite conceivable that in the future aërial torpedoes may be devised in the shape of unmanned balloons or aëroplanes controlled by wireless waves of electricity. Those who saw the striking experiment of steering a small navigable balloon in a large hall entirely by wireless electric waves must have realised the possibilities which may thus be opened out in the future.