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An '''airship''' is a ligher-than-air, steerable (dirigible) vessel consisting of gas bags, which provide the lift, within an envelope; crew and passenger accommodation and engines are slung beneath (though accommodation was sometimes provided within the envelope. The first reliably successful airships were manufactured by Graf von Zeppelin at his works at Lake Konstanz, southern [[Germany]], and the name Zeppelin became attached almost as a generic term for airships. During the [[First World War]], airships took on a military role. Germany especially made use of this new technology: Zeppelins were operated by both the army and navy, carried out reconnaissance work, and were used to carry out terror bombing of civilian areas in major British cities.  

An '''airship''' is a ligher-than-air, steerable (dirigible) vessel consisting of gas bags, which provide the lift, within an envelope; crew and passenger accommodation and engines are slung beneath (though accommodation was sometimes provided within the envelope). The first reliably successful airships were manufactured by Graf von Zeppelin at his works at Lake Konstanz, southern [[Germany]], and the name Zeppelin became attached almost as a generic term for airships. During the [[First World War]], airships took on a military role. Germany especially made use of this new technology: Zeppelins were operated by both the army and navy, carried out reconnaissance work, and were used to carry out terror bombing of civilian areas in major British cities.  

Between the wars, airships were developed as a means of long-distance transport (especially on trans-Atlantic routes). Again Germany took the lead: the ''Graf Zeppelin'' passenger liner was perhaps the most successful and furthest-travelled airship ever made. Other countries were less enthusiastic: US use of large airships was ended by the disasters which struck the naval airships ''Macon'' and ''Akron'', while the [[British]] programme ended after the crash of the [[R101]] in northern France. German ambitions were dented, but not ended, by the [[Hindenburg]] disaster in [[New Jersey]] in 1937: further huge airship keels were laid down, but the outbreak of war in 1939 killed the programme.

Between the wars, airships were developed as a means of long-distance transport (especially on trans-Atlantic routes). Again Germany took the lead: the ''Graf Zeppelin'' passenger liner was perhaps the most successful and furthest-travelled airship ever made. Other countries were less enthusiastic: US use of large airships was ended by the disasters which struck the naval airships ''Macon'' and ''Akron'', while the [[British]] programme ended after the crash of the [[R101]] in northern France. German ambitions were dented, but not ended, by the [[Hindenburg]] disaster in [[New Jersey]] in 1937: further huge airship keels were laid down, but the outbreak of war in 1939 killed the programme.