Popular Science Monthly 



523 



Stem view of a Zeppelin 

 the horizontal rudders, and 

 to steady the Zeppelin like 



minor importance. Radius of action has 

 simply the military' advantage of rendering 

 it unnecessary to aHght at sea or in the 

 enemv's country for lack of fuel or gas. 



The frame of a Zeppelin is built like a 

 bridge. But 

 no one would 

 dare concen- 

 trate at one 

 point all the 

 load that a 

 bridge is de- 

 signed to sup- 

 port. The 

 load on a 

 bridge and 

 the load car- 

 r i e d by a 

 Zeppelin 

 must be dis- 

 t r i b u t ed . 

 Hence the 

 newZeppelins 

 have four 

 cars. The 

 two in the 

 center are 

 each sixteen 



feet long and the others, placed fore and aft, 

 are thirty^ feet long. The cars are roofed 

 over in order that a chance spark may not 

 fly up to the gas-bag, with results that may 

 be imagined. There used to be a long 

 well-equipped central cabin between cars 

 into which the crew would retire when off 

 duty. Now, the crews apparently confine 

 themselves to the cars. 



The Guns and Bombs of a Zeppelin 



The most modern super-Zeppelin carries 

 a battery of nine machine guns — six in the 

 cars and three on top of the gas envelope. 

 Two guns are sometimes mounted on the 

 envelope near the bow. This distribution 

 of armament does not seem to make the 

 best use of the possibilities of a Zeppelin as 

 a gun platform, for a Zeppelin is as steady 

 as a rock, except the stations near the 

 motors. Vibrating motors are but poor com- 

 panions for guns, and the guns on top seem 

 to lack shelter for delicate sighting instru- 

 ments. Perhaps no other arrangement is 

 possible. It must not be forgotten that for 

 all its bulk a Zeppelin has not much 

 substance. In that resp>ect it may be 

 compared with an immense cloud or with a 

 filigree structure. The vibrating motor cars 

 may be the stanchest gun platforms that 

 m be provided under the circumstances. 



showing the vertical rudders, 



the lifting surfaces which serve 



the tail feather of an arrow 



The passage-wa>- between the cars is cer- 

 tainly too narrow for guns. In view of the 

 British aeroplane victories over the Zeppe- 

 lins it may well be that Count von Zeppe- 

 lin's designers have now decided to invest 



more weight 

 in favorable 

 gun positions. 

 But it seemed 

 wiser to put 

 weight into 

 such strict 

 necessities as 

 a powerful 

 el ec t r ica 1 

 equipment 

 for a depend- 

 a b 1 e long 

 range wireless 

 equipment; 

 into dynamos 

 coupled with 

 six 240-horse- 

 power motors 

 (d\'namo s 

 used to sup- 

 ply current 

 to the search- 

 lights as well as for illuminating the cars, 

 for heating and for cooking) ; into a large 

 supply of heavy bombs and strong motors 

 for speed and lift; and above all, into much 

 fuel for remaining aloft many hours. 



The bombs are carried under the belly 

 of the vessel, like the roe of a fish. Indeed, 

 in military slang, bomb-dropping is called 

 "laying eggs." The bombs are electrically 

 released. Each of the sixty bombs is con- 

 trolled by a button. When the captain 

 pushes a button a 120-pound bomb drops. 

 Americans will naturally wonder whether 

 New York or Philadelphia may not be com- 

 pelled to put out their lights at eight 

 o'clock and conceal themselves. While a 

 Zeppelin undoubtedly could cross the ocean, 

 it could not do so with any great load of 

 bombs. Great as the radius of action of the 

 Zeppelin is, it must remain within naviga- 

 ting distance of its base. And even a Zep- 

 pelin would hardly venture upon a bomb- 

 dropping excursion which would entail a 

 voyage of eight thousand miles, at the very- 

 least, without replenishing its fuel tanks. 

 Unlike an aeroplane a Zeppelin cannot 

 alight anywhere with impunity. A Maure- 

 tania must have her wharf; Zeppelin must 

 have its shed. To be sure a Zeppelin, like 

 a Mauretania, can anchor. But she runs 

 risks in doing so. 



