Zeppelin LZ 59

Zeppelin LZ 59, tactical number L 20, was a First World War airship of the German Navy and the first Q-class Zeppelin, with a then record length of 178.5 metres, a diameter of 18.7 metres and a gas volume of 35,800 cubic metres in 18 cells. It was built by Luftschiffbau Zeppelin at Friedrichshafen and completed on 21 November 1915, with four 240 horsepower Maybach HSLu engines, a top speed of 95 kilometres an hour and room for 18 crew. It made 19 flights, including two raids on England and ten reconnaissance missions. On the raid of 2 to 3 May 1916 on the north of England it developed engine trouble and was blown by a gale across the North Sea towards Norway. It came down in a fjord near Stavanger, where most of the crew jumped into the water, and the airship rose again, lost a gondola, and finally fell into the water and broke in half; three men died.