t
one was the navy ship L-72 which was completed as the armistice was
signed. It was not inflated for delivery; and, therefore, remained the
property of the Zeppelin Company.

In the spring of 1919 the L-72 was outfitted for a demonstration flight
from Berlin to the United States and return; but it was prevented by the
Allied Commissions which ordered it to be kept in the shed until
delivered to France. All the Zeppelins assembled at Loewental were
fabricated at the main plant and taken there only for final assembling
of the parts.

The Potsdam Plant

[PLATE 32: The "DELAG" Passenger Zeppelin "Victoria Louise".

The ship's 1000th trip, totaling 40,000 miles in 1292 hours and
during which 22,039 passengers were carried without injury of
any kind.

The "DELAG" Passenger Zeppelin "Victoria Louise".

Count Zeppelin and Doctor Eckener beneath the ship.]

The Zeppelin plant at Potsdam was erected in 1912 as an airship harbor
and the following winter became one of the main construction centers
with shed, workshops, and other necessary equipment. Here the passenger
Zeppelin "=Sachsen=" was lengthened early in 1914. The last of the sixteen
ships built there was the army Zeppelin LZ-81 late in 1916, after
which, because the shed was too small for the larger ships, it was used
for building giant seaplanes. Later on it was converted into a special
repair factory of all the airship motors. The airship personnel was
transferred to the Staaken plant near Berlin.

The Colossal Staaken Plant

The Zeppelin-Staaken plant (Plate 17), located in the outskirts of
Berlin is considered the most modern airship factory in the world.

Into it were put all the knowledge and experience of ten years of
practical airship production. There were at one time two large sheds 820
feet (250 meters) long, 150.8 feet (46 meters) wide and 114.8 feet (35
meters) high, with a ring building shed between them, great workshops,
research laboratories, administration building, hydrogen plant and all
accessories.

The latest and most efficient machinery and tools then devised were
provided. A large airdrome was constructed, as it was planned to make
Staaken the post-war center of Zeppelin airship activity.

Here it was planned to locate both stationary and rotary sheds, the
latter turning like a locomotive turn-table, making it possible to point
their entrances in any direction the prevailing wind might dictate, to
insure s