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Zeppelin LZ32 L 7
First flight : 20 November 1914
Class : M built at : Friedrichshafen
Flew 77 reconnaissance missions over the North Sea, with several unsuccessful attempts to attack English coastal towns. Brought down on 4 May 1916 by anti-aircraft fire from HMS Phaeton and HMS Galatea and wreck was destroyed by RN submarine E31
L 7 was the first Zeppelin airship in Tønder. The airship arrived on April 25, 1915 and was stationed in Tønder for 13 months.
On May 4, 1916 it was shot down over the North Sea by the Royal Navy. 11 crew members were killed and 7 ended up as prisoners of war in England.
The Zeppelin L7 was initially brought down by British cruiser fire from HMS Phaeton and HMS Galatea off Horns Riff.
The E31 delivered the final blows to the stricken Zeppelin which killed eleven of its crew.
The crew of the E31 rescued seven members of the crew and took them as prisoners on their submarine, ironically they could have saved more if a passing German cruiser hadn’t attempted to sink the submarine.
Length : 518 ft 2 in (158m) diam : 48 ft 6 in (14.9m) gasvolume : 794500 cubic ft.
(322470 m3)
max.speed : 52 mph range : 1366 miles ceiling : 6560 ft
Payload : 18500 lb empty weight : 39000 lb
Engines : 3x Maybach C-X of 210 hp each
NOTE: Although this incident was hailed as a famous British Naval victory, the exact location was mid-reported (or Anglicized) as ‘Horns Riff’. As the above contemporary newspaper report indicates, this location was off the ‘Schleswig Coast’ (‘Schleswig Coast’ = Schleswig Holstein, Germany). The incident actually took place at HORNS REV, a shallow sandy reef of glacial deposits in the eastern North Sea, about 15 km/10 miles off the westernmost point of Denmark, Blavands Huk (at approximate coordinates 55*31’47”N 7*54’22”E). An offshore “Wind Farm” (wind turbines generating electricity) now occupies the site
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