Editing Zeppelin (section)

{{short description|Rigid airship type}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2021}}
[[File:USS Los Angeles moored to USS Patoka, 1931.jpg|thumb|right|The [[USS Los Angeles (ZR-3)|USS ''Los Angeles'']], a [[United States Navy]] airship built in Germany by the [[Luftschiffbau Zeppelin]] (Zeppelin Airship Company) ]]

A '''Zeppelin''' is a type of [[rigid airship]] named after the German inventor [[Ferdinand von Zeppelin]] ({{IPA|de|ˈt͡sɛpəliːn|audio=De-Zeppelin.ogg}}) who pioneered rigid airship development at the beginning of the 20th century. Zeppelin's notions were first formulated in 1874<ref name="ReferenceA">Eckener 1938, pp. 155–157.</ref> and developed in detail in 1893.<ref name=Doo187>Dooley 2004, p. A.187.</ref> They were patented in [[German Empire|Germany]] in 1895 and in the [[United States]] in 1899.<ref name="Doo190"/> After the outstanding success of the Zeppelin design, the word ''zeppelin'' came to be commonly used to refer to all forms of rigid [[airship]]s. Zeppelins were first flown commercially in 1910 by [[Deutsche Luftschiffahrts-AG]] (DELAG), the world's first airline in revenue service. By mid-1914, DELAG had carried over 10,000 fare-paying passengers on over 1,500 flights. During [[World War I]], the German military made extensive use of Zeppelins [[German strategic bombing during World War I|as bombers]] and [[aerial reconnaissance in World War I|as scouts]]. Numerous bombing raids on [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|Britain]] resulted in over 500 deaths.<ref>Cole and Cheeseman 1984, p. 449.</ref>

The defeat of Germany in 1918 temporarily slowed the airship business. Although DELAG established a scheduled daily service between [[Berlin]], [[Munich]], and [[Friedrichshafen]] in 1919, the airships built for that service eventually had to be surrendered under the terms of the [[Treaty of Versailles]], which also prohibited [[Weimar Republic|Germany]] from building large airships. An exception was made to allow the construction of [[USS Los Angeles (ZR-3)|one airship]] for the [[United States Navy]], the order for which saved the company from extinction.

In 1926, the restrictions on airship construction were lifted and, with the aid of donations from the public, work began on the construction of [[LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin|LZ 127 ''Graf Zeppelin'']]. That revived the company's fortunes and, during the 1930s, the airships ''[[LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin|Graf Zeppelin]]'', and the even larger [[LZ 129 Hindenburg|LZ 129 ''Hindenburg'']] operated regular [[transatlantic flight]]s from Germany to North America and Brazil. The [[Empire State Building#Dirigible (airship) terminal|spire of the Empire State Building]] was originally designed to serve as a mooring mast for Zeppelins and other airships, although it was found that high winds made that impossible and the plan was abandoned.<ref name="WilliamsBlond2004">{{cite book |author1=China Williams |author2=Becca Blond |title=New York State |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LyNJyEcFSJwC&pg=PA86 |year=2004 |publisher=Lonely Planet|isbn=978-1-74104-125-5 |page=86}}</ref> The [[Hindenburg disaster|''Hindenburg'' disaster]] in 1937, along with [[World War II#Germany and Italy|political and economic developments in Germany in the lead-up to World War II]], hastened the demise of airships.