Zeppelin LZ 40

Zeppelin LZ 40, with the military designation L 10, was the 40th airship built by Count Zeppelin and the tenth Zeppelin operated by the Imperial German Navy. It was the first Zeppelin to be fitted with four engines instead of three, and the first of the Type P class, of which 21 were built; it was also the first naval airship with a lifting gas volume above 30,000 cubic metres, at 163.5 metres long and 18.7 metres in diameter. Its maiden flight took place on 13 May 1915. From Nordholz it flew reconnaissance missions over the North Sea and raids on Britain, bombing Gravesend on 4 June 1915, the Tyne on 16 June and London on 17 August. On 3 September 1915, during a thunderstorm near Cuxhaven, escaping gas ignited and the airship burned in mid-air, killing all 19 crew.