Zeppelin LZ 24
L 3 was a Type M-class Zeppelin operated by the Imperial German Navy during World War I. It made its maiden flight on 11 May 1914 and was the 24th airship constructed by Luftschiffbau Zeppelin, as well as the third delivered to the Navy. As the first of the Type M class, it marked the beginning of a series of twelve airships produced and distributed equally between the Imperial German Army and Navy by March 1915.
Operational history
Zeppelin LZ 24 undertook its first flight on 11 May 1914, completing a continuous 35-hour journey before being commissioned by the Imperial German Navy under the designation L 3. Its predecessors, L 1 and L 2, were lost in accidents during the autumn of 1913 after brief service lives of just under eleven months and six weeks, respectively. During fleet manoeuvres, L 3 was employed in maritime reconnaissance operations.At the outbreak of the First World War in August 1914, L 3 remained the sole airship in service with the Imperial German Navy. It was stationed in a leased hangar at Hamburg-Fuhlsbüttel to support naval operations in the North and Baltic Seas. By the end of the year, the Navy's airship division—commanded by Korvettenkapitän Peter Strasser—was reinforced by the delivery of sister ships L 4 through L 8. These vessels became operational only gradually due to a shortage of trained personnel. The civilian airship LZ 11 Viktoria Luise served primarily as a training platform. In 1914, Nordholz near the mouth of the Elbe was added as a reconnaissance base for North Sea operations, followed by Hage in East Frisia, Tondern, Ahlhorn in 1916, and Wittmundhaven in 1917.
Having completed 24 reconnaissance missions over the North Sea during its operational service, Zeppelin L 3 and the newly commissioned naval Zeppelin L 4 conducted the first airship raid on England on the night of 19–20 January 1915. L 3 carried eight 50-kg high-explosive bombs and eleven 28-kg incendiary devices, intended for industrial targets along the Humber and in Kingston upon Hull. Due to increasing winds, neither airship reached the Humber; both were diverted to the North Norfolk coast. L 3 conducted a bombing raid on Great Yarmouth and surrounding areas, dropping its first bomb on farmland at Ormesby St Michael before striking targets in the town. The attack damaged property and resulted in the first civilian fatalities from an air raid on British soil, killing Samuel Alfred Smith and Martha Mary Taylor and injuring two others.