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Zeppelin LZ107 L62
Memorial stone at Friedhof Ritzebüttel . Cuxhaven, (location 53°51’20”N 8°42’09”E ). On the stone it is indicated that L62 crashed due to a thunderstorm
Class : V
First flight : 19 January 1918
Commander :
Homebase : Nordholz
General information :
Two reconnaissance missions; two attacks on England dropping 5,923 kg (13,058 lb) of bombs; on the raid on 12/13 April 1918 her gunners managed to damage and drive away an attacking airplane, the only known instance of this happening.
Felixtowe F.2A s/n N4291 “Old Blackeye” Flown by Capt. Thomas Cooper Pattinson , DFC and Capt. Albert Henry Munday and sgt. Henry Robert Stubbington , DFM, they managed to shot down Zeppelin LZ107 L 62 on 10 May 1918. The Zeppelin crashed north of Helgoland , near Borkum Deep
Describing the attack Munday subsequently wrote, "We were now at a height of 11,000 ft and the Zeppelin's height was approx 12,500 ft. I opened fire again and fired another 130 rounds of explosive and tracer bullets. I noticed the propeller of the Zeppelin's port engine almost stop and the craft suddenly steered hard to port. I concluded that the port engine had been hit by our gunfire as well as other parts of the craft, as the envelope and gondolas seemed a background for all the flashes of the explosive and tracer bullets.
There was much more outpouring of ballast and articles and considerable smoke. I concluded that we had finished the Zeppelin and informed Capt Pattison that we had bagged it. But the craft again headed for Holstein in a crabwise fashion emitting much smoke."
The F2A itself had been damaged and was forced to ditch in the sea. Several German destroyers attempted to attack the seaplane, but it's crew managed to fix the damage and get airborne again just in time to escape their pursuers. L-62 was later confirmed to have gone down in flames with the loss of all its 20 crew.
Other sources indicate that the Zeppelin disappeared in a cumulus cloud and an electrical charge in the thundercloud had caused the explosion that brought down L62.
Literature :
Accident Zeppelin LZ.107 L.62, 10 May 1918 (aviation-safety.net)