LZ 13 Hansa

LZ 13 Hansa

Role	Passenger airship Type of aircraft
National origin	Germany
Manufacturer	Luftschiffbau Zeppelin
First flight	30 July 1912
Retired	1916
Status	Retired
Primary users	DELAG German military
Number built	1

The Zeppelin LZ 13 Hansa (or simply Hansa) was a German civilian rigid airship first flown in 1912. It was built for DELAG to carry passengers and post and flew the first international passenger flight, visiting Denmark and Sweden in September 1912.^[1] In 1913 it was hired to the Imperial German Navy as a training craft, and at the outbreak of World War I it was requisitioned by the German military who used it for bombing, reconnaissance, and finally as a training airship.

Design

The Hansa was the sister ship of LZ 11 Viktoria Luise, the first of the two G Class Zeppelins built. The design was an enlargement of LZ 10 Schwaben, lengthened by 7.9 m (26 ft) to accommodate an extra gasbag and fitted with slightly more powerful engines.

Civilian flights

The closed passenger cabin was attached to the hull behind the open control cabin and had room for 24 passengers. From 1912 to 1914 the Hansa was operating mostly from Hamburg and Potsdam, and based in Dresden at the outbreak of the war.^[2] Count Zeppelin commanded the Hansa on the first commercial airship flight from to Denmark and Sweden on 19 September 1912.^[1]

This was the first time a commercial Zeppelin flew outside Germany. Click on the blue globes to see the route taken:^[1]

03:55 53°33′N 9°59′E / 53.550°N 9.983°E / 53.550; 9.983 early morning launch from Hamburg, Germany
07:15 54°35′N 11°31′E / 54.583°N 11.517°E / 54.583; 11.517 over the Hyllekrog spit on Lolland island
07:20 54°34′N 11°56′E / 54.567°N 11.933°E / 54.567; 11.933 over Gedser
08:00 54°46.5′N 11°30.5′E / 54.7750°N 11.5083°E / 54.7750; 11.5083 over Maribo
08:25 55°0′30″N 11°54′37″E / 55.00833°N 11.91028°E / 55.00833; 11.91028 over Vordingborg
08:40 55°15′N 12°08′E / 55.250°N 12.133°E / 55.250; 12.133 over Faxe
09:10 55°25′N 12°09′E / 55.417°N 12.150°E / 55.417; 12.150 over Herfølge
09:30 55°27′N 12°11′E / 55.450°N 12.183°E / 55.450; 12.183 over Køge
10:00 55°39′N 12°18′E / 55.650°N 12.300°E / 55.650; 12.300 over Taastrup
10:20 55°41′N 12°34′E / 55.683°N 12.567°E / 55.683; 12.567 landed at Copenhagen, where people wrote postcards to family in Germany
11:55 55°35′N 13°2′E / 55.583°N 13.033°E / 55.583; 13.033 launched from Copenhagen and flew over Malmö
13:30 54°46′N 11°53′E / 54.767°N 11.883°E / 54.767; 11.883 over Nykøbing Falster
15:30 53°52′N 10°41′E / 53.867°N 10.683°E / 53.867; 10.683 over Lübeck
16:40 53°33′N 9°59′E / 53.550°N 9.983°E / 53.550; 9.983 landed back in Hamburg

During two years of commercial DELAG service it carried 6,217 passengers on 399 flights, covering 44,437 kilometres.

Military use

The military added a platform to the top of the hull and installed two machine guns
Attack missions on France and reconnaissance missions over the Baltic Sea (involved in the taking of Libau)
From early 1915 used as a training airship, making over 500 flights over Berlin
Dismantled in August 1916

Specifications

Data from Robinson, H. Giants in the Sky, p.330

General characteristics

Capacity: 20

Performance

Notes

^ ^a ^b ^c Post & Tele Museum "Copenhagen - Count Zeppelin oversees everything from the gondola."
^ "DELAG: The World's First Airline". airships.net. 2017. Retrieved 2017-02-14.

References

Robinson, Douglas (1973). Giants in the Sky. London: Foulis. ISBN 0-85429-145-8.
"Luftskibet Kommer!".^{[permanent dead link]}

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to LZ 13 Hansa.

silhoeuttes of important Zeppelins from 1900 to 1919, Lueger 1904-1920, shows LZ: 1,3,5,6,8,10,13,14,18,21,23,25,26,36,40,59,62,91,94,95,100,104,113,120
photograph of Hansa landed at Copenhagen^{[permanent dead link]} 1912-09-19
photograph of Count Zeppelin talking from Hansa's gondola at Copenhagen^{[permanent dead link]} 1912-09-19
photograph of Count Zeppelin shaking hands from Hansa at Copenhagen^{[permanent dead link]} 1912-09-19
photograph of Hansa leaving Copenhagen^{[permanent dead link]} 1912-09-19

Zeppelin aircraft

Lighter-than-air
(airships)

Manufacturer
hull
numbers

A Class	LZ 1
B Class	LZ 2 LZ 3
C Class	LZ 4 LZ 5
D Class	LZ 6
E Class	LZ 7 LZ 8
F Class	LZ 9 LZ 10 LZ 12
G Class	LZ 11 LZ 13
H Class	LZ 14 LZ 15 LZ 16 LZ 17 LZ 19 LZ 20
I Class	LZ 18
J Class	skipped
K Class	LZ 21
L Class	LZ 22 LZ 23
M Class	LZ 24 LZ 25 LZ 27 LZ 28 LZ 29 LZ 30 LZ 31 LZ 32 LZ 33 LZ 34 LZ 35 LZ 37
N Class	LZ 26
O Class	LZ 36 LZ 39
P Class	LZ 38 LZ 40 LZ 41 LZ 42 LZ 43 LZ 44 LZ 45 LZ 46 LZ 47 LZ 48 LZ 49 LZ 50 LZ 51 LZ 52 LZ 53 LZ 54 LZ 55 LZ 56 LZ 57 LZ 58 LZ 60 LZ 63
Q Class	LZ 59 LZ 61 LZ 64 LZ 65 LZ 66 LZ 67 LZ 68 LZ 69 LZ 71 LZ 73 LZ 77 LZ 81
R Class	LZ 62 LZ 72 LZ 74 LZ 75 LZ 76 LZ 78 LZ 79 LZ 80 LZ 82 LZ 83 LZ 84 LZ 85 LZ 86 LZ 87 LZ 88 LZ 89 LZ 90
S Class	LZ 91 LZ 92
T Class	LZ 93 LZ 94
U Class	LZ 95 LZ 96 LZ 97 LZ 98 LZ 99
V Class	LZ 100 LZ 101 LZ 103 LZ 105 LZ 106 LZ 107 LZ 108 LZ 109 LZ 110 LZ 111
W Class	LZ 102 LZ 104
X Class	LZ 112 LZ 113 LZ 114
Post-war	LZ 120 LZ 121 LZ 126 LZ 127 LZ 129 LZ 130
Unbuilt	LZ 70 LZ 115–LZ 119 LZ 122–LZ 125 LZ 128 LZ 131–LZ 132

Operator's
identification

Names	Bodensee Deutschland Deutschland II Dixmude Esperia Graf Zeppelin Graf Zeppelin II Hindenburg Hansa USS Los Angeles Méditerranée Nordstern Sachsen Schwaben Viktoria Luise
Army Z designations¹	Z I Ersatz Z I Ersatz Z I (2) Z II Ersatz Z II Z III Z IV Z V Z VI Z VII Z VIII Z IX Z X Z XI Z XII
Army LZ designations²	LZ 34 LZ 35 LZ 37 LZ 38 LZ 39 LZ 72 LZ 74 LZ 77 LZ 79 LZ 81 LZ 85 LZ 86 LZ 87 LZ 88 LZ 90 LZ 93 LZ 95 LZ 97 LZ 98 LZ 101 LZ 103 LZ 107 LZ 111 LZ 113 LZ 120
Navy L designations	L 1 L 2 L 3 L 4 L 5 L 6 L 7 L 8 L 9 L 10 L 11 L 12 L 13 L 14 L 15 L 16 L 17 L 18 L 19 L 20 L 21 L 22 L 23 L 24 L 30 L 31 L 32 L 33 L 34 L 35 L 36 L 37 L 38 L 39 L 40 L 41 L 42 L 43 L 44 L 45 L 46 L 47 L 48 L 49 L 50 L 51 L 52 L 53 L 54 L 55 L 56 L 57 L 58 L 59 L 60 L 61 L 62 L 63 L 64 L 65 L 70 L 71 L 72

Heavier-than-air
(aeroplanes)

Zeppelin-Staaken	L 8301 VGO.I VGO.II VGO.III R.IV R.V R.VI R.VII R.XIV R.XV R.XVI E.4/20
Zeppelin-Lindau	CL.I CL.II CS.I D.I Rs.I Rs.II Rs.III Rs.IV V1
Zeppelin Flugzeugebau	C.I C.II C.IV
Other	L 1 Rammer Fliegende Panzerfaust ZMe 323 ZMe 423 ZSO 523