The first
three are of 197,800 cubic feet. All, however, were privately
owned.
On the other hand, Germany had no fewer than ten huge vessels,
ranging from 353,000 to 776,900 cubic feet capacity, three of
which, the Victoria Luise, Suchard, and Hansa, though owned
privately, were immediately available for war. Of these the
largest was the Zeppelin naval vessel "L-1" 525 feet in length,
by 50 feet diameter, of 776,900 cubic feet capacity, equipped
with engines developing 510 horse-power, and with a speed of 51.8
miles per hour.
At the end of 1913 the effective aerial fleet of Germany
comprised twenty large craft, so far in advance of the French
aerial cruisers as to be worthy of the name bestowed upon them--
"Aerial Dreadnoughts." This merely represented the fleet
available for immediate use and did not include the four gigantic
Suchard-Schutte craft, each of 847,500 cubic feet, which were
under construction, and which were being hurried forward to come
into commission early in 1914.
But the most interesting factor, apart from the possession of
such a huge fleet of dirigible air-craft, was their distribution
at strategical points throughout the Empire as if in readiness
for the coming combat.
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