airship to the French government as a gift. After further trials it was not accepted by the French military, because their view was that smaller non-rigid types would be more effective. The Spiess airship seems to have been broken-up in 1914. First World War During the First World War, the Zeppelin company constructed a total of 95 military airships. These were operated by both the German Navy and the Army. German military airship stations had been established before the conflict and on September 2–3, 1914, the Zeppelin LZ 17 dropped three 200 lb bombs on Antwerp in Belgium. In 1915, a bombing campaign against England using airships was initiated, the first raid taking place on 19 January 1915 when two airships dropped bombs on Norfolk. On 31 May 1915 the first bombs fell on London. Raids continued throughout 1915 and continued into 1916. On the night of September 2–3, 1916 the first German airship was shot down over English soil by Lt. Leefe Robinson flying a BE 2c. This and subsequent successes by Britain’s defences led to the development of new Zeppelin designs capable of operating at greater altitudes, but even when these came into service the Germans only carried out a small number of airship raids on Britain during the rest of the war, carrying on the campaign using aeroplanes and reserving their airships for their primary duty of naval patrols over the North Sea and the Baltic. The last casualties occurred on 12 April 1918. The first British airship to be completed during the war was No. 9r, which was first flown at the end of 1916 and was used for experimental and training purposes. By then, the war against U-boats was at its height and 9r was quickly followed by four airships of the 23 Class, two R23X Class and two R31 Class, the last being based on the Schütte-Lanz principle of wooden construction, and remain the largest mobile wooden structures ever built. The only significant combat success of these airships, aside from their deterrent effect, was assistance in the destruction of SM UB-115 by R29 in September 1918. 1919–1939 By the end of the conflict, two British airships of the R33 Class were nearing completion. R33 became a civilian airship, finishing her career doing experimental work. The R34 became the first aircraft to complete a return Atlantic crossing in July 1919 but was severely damaged in