R34 Rigid Airship

The design for the R34 Rigid Airship... which was, by far, the largest and the most remarkable airship ever created by the British... was created in an extraordinary way. During the first World War, the great German Zeppelin, L33, was attacked as it was on a bombing raid over England.

A small British bi-plane hit the huge Airship again and again with machine gun fire until the ship's airbags were tattered and torn. For fear of igniting the highly explosive hydrogen gas that was leaking from the bullet holes, the German Zeppelin could not even use its anti-aircraft guns in defense.

The great Zeppelin flew as long as possible, but eventually lost too much hydrogen and was forced to land in an English field. As the crew abandoned the large ship, they set it afire to conceal its design from the British. However, the airship only partially burned, and the British were able to copy the ship's design.

This gigantic airship measured over six-hundred feet in length, and contained 1,900,000 cubic feet of lighter than air hydrogen. Five large engines, each with over 250 horsepower... propelled the airship at speeds up to sixty-two miles per hour.