Zeppelin Z.12 (LZ-26)

Type N-class Airship

Aviation / Aerospace

1 / 1

Image from the Public Domain.

LZ-26 became one of the more successful of the World War 1 German airships with some 44,000lbs of ordnance dropped.

Authored By: Staff Writer | Last Edited: 7/31/2019 | Content ©www.MilitaryFactory.com

First flown on December 14th, 1914, the military-minded Zeppelin "LZ-26" became one of the more successful of the German Empire Zeppelins of World War 1. it was used as a reconnaissance and bombing platform over the Eastern Front against the Russian Empire and against the Allies on the Western Front, particularly over Northern France. The airship served under the tactical designation of Z XII and was born from the "Type N" class. As a bombing platform, it claimed some 44,100lbs of ordnance dropped in the war across eleven total missions. Despite these successes, the age of the Zeppelin as a useful frontline bombing platform was more or less over - it was formally decommissioned on August 8th, 1917.

LZ-26 took on the established shape of Zeppelins with tapered ends - the frontal section a nose cone and the aft section finned for stability control. These ends capped a tubular body consisting of a metal skeletal structure covered over in fabric. Lifting was accomplished through use of hydrogen-filled cells with the skin of the airship - hydrogen proving useful for the role though highly flammable in turn. When the Allies began wider spread use of incendiary ammunition, this became a very real and lethal problem for German airship crews. The crews were housed in under-slung gondolas containing armament stores and defensive weaponry while engines (providing the necessary forward propulsion) were held out and away from the fuselage by way of struts. Despite their climbing ability and valuable "over-the-horizon" qualities from a tactical sense, the more advanced Allied aircraft and improved ground-based anti-aircraft fire began to severely marginalized airships as useful battlefield weapons.

The airship concept was pioneered by German Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin (hence its popular common name of "Zeppelin"). The concept first emerged in useful form as early as 1874 before being finalized in 1893 while a German patent proved forthcoming in 1895. First commercial use of Zeppelins in the airliner role began in 1910 - roughly four years before the war.

Specifications

Year:
1914

Status
Retired, Out-of-Service

Crew
18

Production
1 Units

German Empire

- Ground Attack

Multiple engines in pusher configuration.

(Showcased performance values pertain to the Zeppelin Z.12 (LZ-26) production model; Compare this aircraft entry against any other in our database)

STANDARD:
Multiple 7.92mm machine guns in trainable mountings.

OPTIONAL:
Up to 2,720lb of conventional drop bombs.

(Showcased armament details pertain to the Zeppelin Z.12 (LZ-26) production model)

Z.XII - Tactical Designation

LZ-26 - Production Number

Military lapel ribbon for Operation Allied Force

Military lapel ribbon for the Arab-Israeli War

Military lapel ribbon for the Battle of Britain

Military lapel ribbon for the Battle of Midway

Military lapel ribbon for the Berlin Airlift

Military lapel ribbon for the Cuban Missile Crisis

Military lapel ribbon for pioneering aircraft

Military lapel ribbon for the Falklands War

Military lapel ribbon for the French-Indochina War

Military lapel ribbon for the Golden Age of Flight

Military lapel ribbon for the 1991 Gulf War

Military lapel ribbon for the Indo-Pak Wars

Military lapel ribbon for the Iran-Iraq War

Military lapel ribbon for the Korean War

Military lapel ribbon for the 1982 Lebanon War

Military lapel ribbon for the Malayan Emergency

Military lapel ribbon representing modern aircraft

Military lapel ribbon for the attack on Pearl Harbor

Military lapel ribbon for the Six Day War

Military lapel ribbon for the Soviet-Afghan War

Military lapel ribbon for the Spanish Civil War

Military lapel ribbon for the Suez Crisis

Military lapel ribbon for the Vietnam War

Military lapel ribbon for Warsaw Pact of the Cold War-era

Military lapel ribbon for the WASP (WW2)

Military lapel ribbon for the World War 1

Military lapel ribbon for the World War 2

Military lapel ribbon for the Yom Kippur War

Military lapel ribbon for experimental x-plane aircraft

* Ribbons not necessarily indicative of actual historical campaign ribbons. Ribbons are clickable to their respective campaigns/operations.

Disclaimer | Privacy Policy | Cookies

2021 Military Pay Scale Army Ranks Navy Ranks Air Force Ranks Alphabet Code DoD Dictionary American War Deaths French Military Victories

The "Military Factory" name and MilitaryFactory.com logo are registered ® U.S. trademarks protected by all applicable domestic and international intellectual property laws. All written content, illustrations, and photography are unique to this website (unless where indicated) and not for reuse/reproduction in any form. Material presented throughout this website is for historical and entertainment value only and should not to be construed as usable for hardware restoration, maintenance, or general operation. We do not sell any of the items showcased on this site. Please direct all other inquiries to militaryfactory AT gmail.com.

Part of a network of sites that includes GlobalFirepower, a data-driven property used in ranking the top military powers of the world and WDMMA.org, the World Directory of Modern Military Aircraft.