Bombing raids on the English Midlands

The LZ 59 conducted its first bombing raid on Britain on the night of 31 January and 1 February 1916. The ship took off together with L 19 from Tønder and joined 9 other naval airships whose objective was to destroy the docks in Liverpool, as well as other targets in the English midlands. The raid was personally led by airship fleet manager Peter Strasser who was on the L 11.

LZ 59 dropped 7 highly explosive bombs on the railway junction at the Bennerley Viaduct and steelworks near Awsworth 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) northwest of Nottingham. The viaduct, however, emerged with only superficial marks from shrapnel, which are visible to this day,^[10][11] and no fatalities were reported.^[12] The next target for LZ 59 was the Stanton steelworks, located south of Ilkeston. The ship dropped 15 bombs on its intended target, of which one bomb hit the railway bridge over Nutbrook Canal, killing 2 people. The ship then went on to drop another 4 bombs on Loughborough, which is located about 30 kilometres (19 mi) south of Nottingham. Two of the bombs fell on the Rushes stores in the center of the town and the other two near the Empress plant to the east. The attack on Loughborough led to 12 people being injured and the death of ten of the town's inhabitants, including Mary Anne Page and two of her children, whose names can be seen on a plaque in Loughborough Carillon Park.^[13]

The Bennerley Viaduct, which was spared from the LZ 59's first bombing raid

LZ 59 flew 40 kilometres (25 mi) westward and bombarded Burton-upon-Trent at 8:45 pm.^[14] One of the bombs dropped on the city landed between the Christchurch and the mission house in Uxbridge Street, where over 200 people had gathered. The following explosion injured 72 and killed 6 people, including guest missionary Mary Rose Morris from Brighton, who died while hugging her Bible. LZ 59 also dropped 12 firebombs on the city, which damaged some houses and 2 breweries. The bombardment of Burton-upon-Trent ended up killing a total of 15 people.^[15]

As the night passed, all of the airships were ordered to return to their bases. In the end, none of the nine airships reached Liverpool, however a great deal of damage was done to the English midlands and many British citizens died in the attacks. The German army ended up losing one airship, the L 19, which was forced to crash land in the North Sea leading to the death of everyone on board. An English ship had rushed to the surviving crew's aid, but ended up abandoning them.

After the air raid LZ 59 was given the nickname Raider of Loughborough due to the city's damage and the high death toll.

May 1916 bombing raid and crash

LZ 59 started its second bombing raid on Britain during the night of 2 May and 3 May 1916. The ship left its base in Tønder and joined 6 other airships to conduct another bombing raid against a number of factories, smelters and railways in Middlesbrough, Stockton-on-Tees and Hartlepool in northeast England. Another target for the airships were some enemy warships at the mouth of the Firth of Forth near Edinburgh, Scotland.^[16]

After the air raid the airships returned safely to their bases except LZ 59, which was having problems with one of its four engines and also encountered strong winds from the southeast, which increased to a moderate gale. The wind blew the ship north past Peterhead and out to the North Sea towards neutral Norway. In the early morning of 3 May 1916, LZ 59 passed northeast of Feistein Lighthouse about 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) from the mainland. It then changed course to the southeast in order to follow the coastal landscape along Jæren, Revtangen and Obrestad Lighthouse at an altitude of 200–300 metres (656 ft 2 in – 984 ft 3 in). Commander Stabbert decided to attempt an emergency landing at Gandsfjorden near Sandnes due to the low amount of gasoline left in the airship's fuel tanks.^[17]

Wreck of the LZ 59

The airship passed west of Sandnes and Lura at a low altitude in order to go beyond Gandsfjorden and into the inner fjords south of Stavanger. Around 11:00 am, the airship touched down in a fairly calm fjord, where it dipped its nose and front gondola a few times in the water. Commander Stabbert ordered the crew to jump in the water, Lieutenant Schirlitz and six sailors followed the commander's orders and jumped overboard. Two officers swam ashore to Dale, while the sailors were rescued by a small fishing boat captained by Jeremiah Bykle. However, there were still 8 men on board the airship, which started to gain height again as it was relieved of weight. The wind took the airship northwest before its anchor caught a large rock on Heddå mountain. The shock of the sudden stop detached one of the gondolas, which fell to the ground with four men on board, of whom 3 died. The airship rose again and flew further to Hafrsfjord before it slowly fell into the water near Jåsund at 11:55 am. Shortly before it hit the water and broke in half, one man jumped out the ship and the last three crewmen were rescued by a torpedo boat.^[18]

Internment of the crew

Some of the crew were interned on the German auxiliary cruiser Berlin in Trondheimsfjord, where they remained until the end of the war. Six other crew members, including an officer, were interned in Madlalejren and were released shortly after. Commander Stabbert fled after 6 months of internment and returned to the airship base in Tønder on 20 December 1916.^[20]

The captured crew of the LZ 59