▁combat ; ▁however , ▁the ▁four ▁ships ▁in ▁the ▁class ▁provided ▁many ▁hours ▁of ▁valuable ▁training ▁for ▁British ▁air ship ▁cre ws ▁and ▁experimental ▁data ▁for ▁design ers ▁and ▁engine ers , ▁and ▁some ▁radical ▁changes ▁and ▁ref in ements ▁were ▁consequ ently ▁incorpor ated ▁into ▁the ▁design ▁of ▁the ▁R 2 3 X ▁class . ▁Origin ally ▁four ▁R 2 3 X ▁class ▁were ▁planned , ▁R 2 7 ▁to ▁R 3 0 ▁consec ut ively , ▁but ▁the ▁programme ▁was ▁re - evalu ated ▁following ▁the ▁forced ▁landing ▁of ▁L   3 3 ▁in ▁Little ▁W ig borough , ▁Es sex , ▁on ▁ 2 4 ▁September ▁ 1 9 1 6 . ▁British ▁engine ers ▁gained ▁a ▁valuable ▁insight ▁into ▁the ▁state ▁of ▁German ▁rig id ▁air ship ▁design ▁and ▁technology ▁when ▁they ▁exam ined ▁the ▁virt ually ▁int act ▁Ze ppel in , ▁and ▁it ▁was ▁subsequently ▁decided ▁to ▁cancel ▁R 2 8 ▁and ▁R 3 0 ▁in ▁order ▁to ▁concent rate ▁resources ▁on ▁an ▁improved ▁design , ▁the ▁new ▁R 3 3 ▁class . ▁ ▁H ull ▁Red es igned ▁bow ▁and ▁stern ▁sections ▁increased ▁the ▁gas ▁capacity ▁slightly ▁for ▁a ▁corresponding ▁increase ▁in ▁lift , ▁but ▁a ▁more ▁radical ▁measure ▁was ▁the ▁removal ▁of ▁the ▁external ▁ke el ▁cor rid or ▁from ▁the ▁R 2 3 X ▁design . ▁Not ▁contrib uting ▁significantly ▁to ▁the ▁strength ▁of ▁the ▁h ull , ▁the ▁ke el ' s ▁main ▁function ▁was ▁to ▁dist ribute ▁the ▁weight ▁of ▁the ▁fuel