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Zeppelin LZ66 L 23

Painting Adolf Bock

First flight : 08 April 1916

Class : Q

51 reconnaissance missions; 3 attacks on England dropping a total of 5,254 kg (11,583 lb) of bombs; In the night of 23/24 September 1916 it raided the UK , it saw the fall of L 32 from 150 miles ! away near Lincoln.

L23 was destroyed on 21 August 1917 by 2nd Lt Bernard A. Smart flying a Sopwith Pup launched from a platform on the cruiser HMS Yarmouth . The Zeppelin went down in flames over the North Sea, 40km West of Jutland beyond Stadil fjord . L23 had a crew of 16, Smart saw one crew member descend with a parachute.

Smart later led the Tondern raid which destroyed LZ 99 & LZ 108.

Length : 585 ft 5 in. diam : 61 ft 4 in gas volume : 1264100 cubic ft Vmax : 57.3 mph ceiling : 11500 ft payload : 40700 lb empty weight : 51000 lb

Engines : 4x Maybach HSLu of 240 hp each

Commander :

Kptlt Ludwig Bockholt 30 Jan.1917 – 14 Apr. 1917

Oblt z.s. Bernhard Dinter 14 June 1917 – 21 August 1917

L23 captures Norwegian bark “Royal” near Horns Rev , 23 April 1917.

Literature :

warplanes WOI page 65

Wikipedia

Zeppelin museum Tonder