Zeppelin LZ 41
Zeppelin LZ 41, known in the Navy as L 11, was the 41st Zeppelin built by Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin and the 11th to serve in the Imperial German Navy. It was the first Zeppelin completed at the Löwental airship yard near Friedrichshafen and first flew on June 7, 1915. L 11 operated from Nordholz and Hage, performing reconnaissance over the North Sea and bombing Britain, including London on August 10, 13, and 18, 1915 (a raid on August 12–13 was stopped by a thunderstorm).
On October 13, 1915, L 11 joined L 12, L 14, L 15, and L 16 for a squadron raid on England; its last attack led by Buttlar was January 31, 1916 against Liverpool. Command changed several times: Horst Treusch von Buttlar-Brandenfels started as commander, Victor Schütze took over on February 9, 1916, and Heinrich Hollender on November 12, 1916. In total under these commanders, L 11 carried out 31 reconnaissance and 12 bombing missions, dropping 15,543 kg of bombs. Along with its sister ships L 13, L 14, and L 16, L 11 was among the Navy’s most successful airships, contributing to 162 reconnaissance and 56 bombing missions and dropping about 75 tons of bombs.
During the Battle of Jutland on June 1, 1916, L 11 provided valuable radio information about Royal Navy movements off the Dutch coast but came under heavy fire from many ships. Afterward, it served as a training airship under reserve Captain Blew. LZ 41/L 11 was decommissioned on April 25, 1917, in Hage as the design became outdated.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 08:51 (CET).