Zeppelins: German Airships 1900–40 (New Vanguard, 101)

Osprey's New Vanguard #101, Zeppelins: German Airships 1900-1940 by Charles Stephenson, covers the development and operational role of German airships in the First World War. Although with the benefit of hindsight it seems pretty clear today that the zeppelins were a technological blind alley for the Germans, these craft still represent an interesting aspect of early aviation history. Unfortunately, readers will quickly realize that this volume fails to deliver the zeppelin story in a number of important areas, including basic data. There are a number of longer, more expensive volumes on zeppelins in the First World War and readers interested in serious study should not view this volume as a cheaper substitute. Stephenson begins with seven pages on the background to the development of airships in Germany in 1900-1914; although brief, this section is adequate. The rest of the volume focuses on airship operations in the First World War, with a brief section on German airships in the inter-war period. The author has included numerous excellent photographs from the Zeppelin Museum. The color plates include a dozen side profiles of different model zeppelins, a cross section diagram of LZ104, an airship with an observer's car, the destruction of SL 11, and the experimental launch of an Albatross fighter from LZ 80. The author also provides five pages of data on the airships and a bibliography which fails to even mention some of the excellent German websites available. The author concludes that the zeppelins were "fundamentally ill suited for war." This seems pretty obvious, given a hydrogen-filled airship that could explode from a burst of incendiary bullets, but I wish the author had actually attempted a little analysis. Indeed, the author does not even make the effort to inform the reader how many zeppelins were built during the war and how many were lost - although the reader can do it for himself. Apparently, somewhere between 80-115 zeppelins were built during 1914-1918 (I've seen many different figures), of which about 35 were lost to enemy action and 39 to accidents (I say about, since the comments in the author's table about the fate of each airship are often vague); this is a loss rate of about 70%. Curiously, the loss rate for all German standard aircraft from all causes in the war was about 57%; this means that the zeppelin losses were high, but not unusual for experimental weaponry. In fact, the data tables seem to lack a lot of basic information about the airships, such as crew size, cost, bomb load and defensive armament. The author provides "payload in tons" but this is deceptive; for example, he lists LZ 112 as having a payload of 43.5 tons, but the actual bomb load was only 4 tons - the rest was fuel and other consumables (possibly including crew weight). It would have been great if the author could at least have mentioned something about the costs of the zeppelin program, since it is obvious that Imperial Germany put large resources into this effort. The Hindenberg, built in 1935, cost about $2 million - money that might have been better spent on four-engine bombers. Other statistics and information, like the number of crewmen lost in the raids over England (he lists 528 civilians killed by zeppelins) would have put the strategic raids in better perspective. The whole issue of zeppelin construction, training and modification during the war are virtually ignored. The author's operational narrative is also a bit spotty, including missing the fact that it was a zeppelin that dropped the first 1,000-kilogram bomb over England. How were zeppelins organized ...in squadrons? Nor does the author even allude to the role of wireless radio in coordinating multi-ship raids and their use as scouts for the German High Seas Fleet in the North Sea. Amazingly, the author does not even mention what types of bombs were dropped from zeppelins - fragmentation, incendiary or high explosive? Furthermore, the inclusion of material on post-war zeppelins only served to detract from the space available to cover the core of this subject.

Good condition

A decent reference for a grand, if brief, time in aeronautical history. It basically covers the use of the great Airships from their humble beginnings to their tragic end. A perfect book for a quick read as you await your Boeing 777 at the airport…

This book is a really quick read, with a fair number of photographs and illustrations. If you are looking for a book that covers the chronology of the German Airships and important details, this book delivers.There are some broken word issues (not many). The photographs and illustrations can be enlarged. Overall a good value. I would buy it again.

I like it. Didn't had a lot of adrenalin, but it was fine.On my black and white Kindle most of the photographs were fine, but not the colored illustrations (you would have to check then online)

Delivers as promised

My dad is happy

Pretty good.

A fairly average history of the German rigid airships of the early 20th Century. As you expect from Osprey titles, there are some nice colour plates and there's also a full list of all the airships built and their fate. However, the rest of the book is pretty ordinary and lacks detail. There are quite a few books available on this topic and sadly this one falls short. Only worth buying if you can find it at a reduced price.

Worth the money for the colour plates. Some rare photographs included.The text covers most facets of Zeppelin development, concisely but rather briefly.Handy list of the LZ production, including their varied fates.

Sehr knapp beschrieben, kaum Fotos und wenig neue Informationen, schleche Bildtafeln und wenig technische Infos; ist das erste Buch der Serie was ich nicht gut finde. Am Thema zwar nicht vorbei aber wer sich Infos über die Kriegzeppeline erhofft wird enttäuscht.

positive