L 9 (LZ 36)

L 9, factory number LZ 36, was a transitional O-class Zeppelin built by Luftschiffbau Zeppelin at Friedrichshafen for the Imperial German Navy, which made its first flight on 8 March 1915. It was stationed mostly at Hage in East Frisia, and later at the Tønder airship base. Under its first commander, Kapitänleutnant Heinrich Mathy, who later died when L 31 was shot down over Potters Bar, it flew 74 reconnaissance missions in the North Sea in addition to four bombing raids, and the source calls it one of the more successful Zeppelins. It was nearly shot down over the North Sea on 25 April 1916. On 16 September 1916 L 9 and L 6 were destroyed by a fire during hydrogen refuelling at Fuhlsbüttel; the cause was never confirmed, though commander Peter Strasser suggested static discharge from rust particles.