Zeppelin: The Story of Lighter-than-air Craft

by Ernst A. Lehmann

Overview

The author of this book, Ernst A. Lehmann, was close to the Zeppelin story from its early days and had great faith in the ever increasing success of the Zeppelin on international routes. It is sadly ironic that this talented man and strong advocate of the Zeppelin should die in Hindenburg disaster shortly after he had produced the draft for this book. He died following the fire that destroyed the Hindenburg on 6 May 1937; he survived the fire itself but was badly burned and died the following day. Lehmann was a Zeppelin commander during the First World War bombing England on numerous occasions, and even met some of the supreme German commanders such as General Erich Ludendorff. He was well acquainted with Count Zeppelin and all of the designers and management of the Zeppelin Company. After the war he worked for the Zeppelin Company under Hugo Eckener, who took over the management following Count Zeppelin's death in 1917. Lehmann was closely involved in the voyages of the Graf Zeppelin, including the famous round the world voyage, and pioneered services to the Unites States and the regular service to South America. Lehmann makes his Nazi sympathies quite clear, but tactfully does not touch upon his differences with Hugo Eckener regarding the use of the airships for Nazi electioneering-for Eckener was strongly against it. Nor does he touch upon Göring's maneuvering which broke up the Zeppelin Company, thereby leaving Eckener as an outsider. He believes in the superiority of German engineering and beyond that the superiority of everything German. Lehmann served as commanding officer on more than 100 of the flights of the Graf Zeppelin between 1928 and 1936. In 1935, when Hermann Göring created the Deutsche Zeppelin Reederei to increase Nazi influence over Zeppelin operations, Captain Lehmann was named director of the new airline. In 1936, he commanded 10 round-trip flights to Lakehurst on the new Hindenburg. The text is well-written, approachable, and provides a comprehensive account of the Zeppelin story until the 1937 disaster which cost the author his life.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781781550120
Publisher:	Fonthill Media
Publication date:	09/25/2015
Pages:	352
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.30(d)

Table of Contents

Publisher's Preface to the 2015 Edition 7

New Introduction Ian Castle 13

Preface to the 1937 Edition Commander Charles E. Rosendahl 19

1 Graf Zeppelin to Brazil with Mail 23

2 Revolution in Brazil 30

3 The End of the Revolution and the Return to Friedrichshafen 36

4 The First Days of the War 42

5 The Early Military Use of Sachsen 50

6 The Invention of the Observation Car 61

7 The First Attempt at London 67

8 Transferred to the Eastern Front 73

9 ZX II on the Eastern Front 77

10 The King Stephen Incident 83

11 Commander Schütze and the L 11 96

12 LZ 90 and Attacks on London 101

13 The Battle of Jutland 107

14 The Early Days of the Zeppelin 115

15 Disappointment with LZ 1 and 2, Success with LZ 3 and 4 124

16 The Death of Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin 134

17 Zeppelins in Thunderstorms 146

18 LZ 98 Over London and the Loss of SL 11 151

19 The Loss of L 32, L 33 and L 31 156

20 October 1916 to October 1917-A Year of Heavy Losses 163

21 Zeppelins Cease Active Military Duty 173

22 Zeppelins in the Balkans 178

23 L 59 to Africa and Back Again 182

24 The Last Year of the War 189

25 Post-war Events, 1919-1921 196

26 The Trans-Atlantic Voyage of LZ 126 209

27 The Formation of the Goodyear Zeppelin Company 223

28 LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin 228

29 The Use of Fuel Gas 237

30 The First Transatlantic Flight of the Graf Zeppelin 243

31 The First Mediterranean Flight of the Graf Zeppelin 255

32 The Round the World Voyage 263

33 Graf Zeppelin Flies to South America 273

34 The Superiority of German Airships 283

35 The Luxuries on the Hindenburg 291

36 The Triumphant Election Tour of the Fatherland 297

37 Crossing the Equator and My Autobiography 305

38 The First Transatlantic Crossing of the Hindenberg 312

39 The Last Flight by Commander Charles E. Rosendahl 324

Endnotes 340