Zeppelin LZ98 L 52
First flight : 14 July 1917
Class : U
raid with 12 zep's, target : London, LZ98 coming up from Dungeness dropped all her bombs on Gravesend in the believe she was over the London docks
L.52 was powered by 5 x Maybach HSLu engines developing 240 horsepower each. She could therefore manage a maximum speed of 106 kph and reach a service ceiling of 6,000 meters. Operational range was 12,230 kilometers. Dimensions included a length of 196.5 meters, a diameter of 24 meters and a height of 28 meters. She was crewed by 20 personnel.
L.52 served the German military as a reconnaissance and bombing Zeppelin during World War 1. The aircraft managed a total of 20 reconnaissance sorties during her short operational career that began on July 14th, 1917. She is notable for one air raid against Britain where a storm misguided her in the direction of London airspace to which her crew proceeded to drop its 4,450lb bomb load on the capital. Surviving the war, L.52 was destroyed by her own crew on June 23rd, 1919 lest she fell into enemy hands. L.52 was given the production designation of "LZ.98" and was of the U-class of Zeppelins.
Literature :
Warplanes WOI page 63