Zeppelin LZ 22

Zeppelin LZ 22, with the tactical number Z VII, was the 22nd airship built by Count Zeppelin and the tenth airship operated by the German Army. Its first flight took place on 8 January 1914. At the outbreak of the First World War it was stationed at Baden-Oos. On 21 August 1914 it was ordered to scout the French forces that had crossed into Alsace and to attack them. The mission over the wooded Vosges mountains required low flying, and with a ceiling of only 1,500 metres over terrain nearly 1,000 metres high it could not climb away from French infantry fire, which punctured the envelope in many places. After dropping its 500 kilograms of munitions it lost so much gas that it had to land near Saint-Quirin, and it was so heavily damaged that it was dismantled.