the hull; secondly, the gasbags were not sufficiently
gastight and, thirdly, the power of the engines were not sufficient for
such a heavy ship.

This airship was broken up in 1902.

In 1905 the second ship of the series was completed. She was of nearly
the same size as the previous ship, but the workmanship was much
superior. Increased engine-power was also supplied, as in this
instance two 85 horse-power Mercedes engines were fitted. This ship was
destroyed by a storm while landing during the next year.

The third ship, which was completed in 1906, was the first Zeppelin
airship acquired by the Government, and lasted for a considerable time,
being rebuilt twice, first in 1908 and again in 1911. She was slightly
larger than the previous two.

The building was continued, and up to the outbreak of war no fewer than
twenty-five had been completed. It is impossible, in the space at our
disposal, to trace the career of all of them. Several came to an
untimely end, but as the years went by each succeeding ship proved more
efficient, and the first ship which was delivered to the Navy performed
the notable flight of thirty-one hours.

To revert, for a moment, once more to the earlier ships--the fourth was
wrecked and burned at Echterdingen in the same year in which she was
completed. The fifth, which was the second military airship, was fitted
with two 110 horse-power engines and also came to a tragic end, being
destroyed by wind at Weilberg in 1910, and the following ship was burnt
at Baden in the same year.

The seventh ship was the first passenger airship of the series, and was
known as the Deutschland. By this time the capacity had increased to
536,000 cubic feet, and she was propelled by three 120 horse-power
engines. She also fell a victim to the wind, and was wrecked in the
Teutoberg Forest in 1910; and yet another was destroyed in the
following year at Dusseldorf.

The tenth ship to be completed was the passenger ship Schwaben; her
capacity was 636,500 cubic feet, and she had three 150 horse-power
engines. This ship carried out her first flight in June, 1911, and was
followed four months later by the Victoria Luise. The fourth passenger
airship was known as the Hansa. These three ships were all in
commission at the outbreak of war.

The first naval airship, L 1, mentioned above, was larger than any of
these. The total length was 525 feet, diameter 50 feet, and cubic
contents 776,000 cubic feet. Her