Zeppelin LZ 92
The LZ 92 was a German S-class Zeppelin used by the Kaiserliche Marine in 1917 for maritime reconnaissance and limited bombing operations; she flew during the spring and early summer of 1917 and was shot down on 14 June 1917 with the loss of her 25 crewmember onboard.
Construction and characteristics
LZ 92 was built to the S-class Zeppelin design and completed in early 1917; contemporary reference works and museum descriptions record her as an S-type Zeppelin used for reconnaissance at high altitude.Contemporary accounts list LZ 92/L 43 as having the typical S-class arrangement of multiple Maybach engines, gas cells and long endurance suitable for North Sea patrols and high-altitude reconnaissance.
War career
LZ 92 entered service in March 1917 and conducted several reconnaissance sorties over the North Sea and one recorded attack on English-area targets during her short career.On 4 May 1917 LZ 92 engaged Allied ships in the North Sea and dropped a number of bombs near the British squadron that included the Australian cruiser HMAS Sydney; fragments and a contemporary report of the engagement are preserved in museum collections.
Accounts of HMS/HMAS encounters show L 43 shadowing surface forces on at least one occasion in early May 1917, firing on destroyers and attempting bombing runs from high altitude.
Destruction (14 June 1917)
On 14 June 1917 LZ 92 was intercepted by a Felixstowe H12 flying boat while on patrol; the seaplane attacked from a higher altitude and used incendiary and tracer rounds, which set the airship ablaze; L 43 broke in two and crashed into the sea near Vlieland, the Netherlands with the loss of all the 25 crew members.Photographic evidence held in museum collections shows the wreckage and contemporary photographs of L 43’s destruction and rescue / recovery operations, and the Australian War Memorial holds related photographic items documenting the action and its aftermath.
The loss of L 43 and similar incidents prompted a tactical shift in German naval airship operations away from lower-level patrols and toward higher altitude operations, as British seaplanes and flying boats developed effective attack techniques.
Aftermath and surviving relics
Fragments of bombs and other material associated with LZ 92 have been preserved in museum collections; one such item is a splinter of a bomb reportedly recovered from HMAS Sydney after the 4 May engagement, now catalogued in the Australian War Memorial collection.The destruction of L 43 is also recorded in later museum and reference summaries making L 43 one of the better-documented Zeppelin losses of 1917.