Apart from the historical factors surrounding the last operation carried out by L53, this Zeppelin Type V airship was also of some technical prominence. This lay in the fact that her construction embodied an increased spacing of her main frames, which were now 15 in (49 ft 2.5 in) apart compared with the previous norm of 10 in (32 ft 9.7 in). Measures such as these served to lighten the L53, contributing to the fact that her useful lift was some 62.7 per cent of the total, so that on her maiden raid an altitude of 6300 in (20,670 ft) was attained.
Alternatively known by the works designation LZ100, this airship made its first flight on 18 August 1917 from Friedrichshafen where she had been built, and became the command of one of Peter Strasser’s most senior officers, Kapitanleutnant der Reserve Eduard Proelss. He first brought his new charge over the British Isles on the night of 24/25 September 1917 when raids were directed against targets in the Midlands and north east, 17 months after his first bombing sortie in L13, his previous command.
However, it would be wrong to give the impression that Zeppelins were entirely directed to bombing missions against land targets. L53 is an illustra¬tion of this fact since of the 23 operational sorties made by this vessel be¬tween her commissioning date on 21 August 1917 and her fiery end on 11 August of the following year, only four were bombing attacks. The remainder were scouting missions over the North Sea where the endurance of lighter-than-air craft made them superior to any conventional aeroplane of the day Small wonder therefore that L53 and her nine sister craft (L55/LZ101, L56/ LZ103, L58/LZ105, L60/LZ108, L61/ LZ 106, L62/LZ 107, L63/LZ 110, L64/ LZ109 and L65/LZ111) were regarded as a standard scout type. All after L56 were fitted with Maybach motors of the supercharged Mb IVa type.

On 21 June 1921, returning from another trial flight, Beadmore R36 suffered damage during landing. The release of emergency ballast caused a sharp pitching up, straining the ship against the mooring line. The nearest unoccupied sheds were at Howden in Yorkshire since the Pulham sheds were holding German Zeppelins handed over as war reparations. The wind increased and it was decided that the LZ 109 (L 64) would have to be sacrificed to save the R36. Within 4 hours L 64 had been cut into pieces and cleared to give enough room for R36. Even then she was damaged by a gust of wind during the manoeuvre into the shed.

L53 (Zeppelin LZ100)
Type: strategic bomber and patrol airship
Powerplant: five 179-kW (240-hp) Maybach HSLu six-cylinder water-cooled piston
Maximum speed 106 km/h (66 mph)
Service ceiling 6400 m (20997 ft)
Range 4680 km (2908 miles)
Empty weight 24500 kg (54013 lb)
Useful lift 40460 kg (89,199 lb)
Diameter 2390 m (78 ft 4.9 in)
Length 196.495 m (644 ft8 in)
Volume 55990 cu.m (1,977,271 cu ft)
Armament: two 7.92-mm (0.312-in) Maxim machine-guns on free mountings in single position above forward hull, plus bombs

January 1915 was the date set for the introduction of a new type of German bomber airship, the Zeppelin Typ P. In point of fact the first of the new vessels was four months late in making its appearance, the lead ship L10 (buil¬der’s designation LZ40) being deli¬vered in mid-May. Armament was two 7.92-mm (0.312-in) Maxim machine-guns on free mountings in single gun position above the forward hull.
The ship was sent on its attack against targets in England in the following month with a raid on London, it being believed at all levels and on both sides of the North Sea that the selection of individual targets was possible. In point of fact, the weather took a hand, and L10 was able to get only as far as Gravesend, where its bombs chanced to set light to a military hospital with a consequent reaction against such ‘frightfulness’.
Another attack was mounted 11 days later when Jarrow and South Shields were the targets, despite heavy fire from the defence batteries on the coast. Three other occasions found the new Zeppelin over the British Isles from a total of 28 military excursions from Nordholz. The German system of organization meant that the flights were usually carried out by the same crews, so that some became more ex¬perienced than others, but mindful of the dangers the men tended to live only for the day and to endure bomb¬ing trips under thousands of cubic metres of explosive gas and in numb¬ing cold as best they could.
Strangely, it was on what should have been an uneventful flight, a mari¬time reconnaisance on the afternoon of 3 September 1915, exactly a year be¬fore SL11 was destroyed, that the L10’s career ended. While the airship was making ready to land back at Nordholz near Cuxhaven, the order to valve off gas was given as a normal preliminary to making landfall. Unfortunately a thunderstorm happened to be raging and the naval airship was struck by lightning. There was a violent explo¬sion before the vessel plunged into the shallow waters below, where it burned for several hours. All aboard perished, Kapithnleutnant Hirsch the comman¬der and his crew of 18. Total produc¬tion of the Type P was 10 units, L10 to L19 (builder’s designations LZ40, LZ41, LZ43, LZ45, LZ46, LZ48, LZ50, LZS3, LZ52 and LZ54 respectively).

L10 (Zeppelin LZ40)
Type: strategic bomber airship
Powerplant: four 156.6-kW (210-hp) Maybach CX six-cylinder water-cooled piston
Maximum speed 95 kph (59 mph)
Service ceiling 3900 m (12,795 ft)
Range 2150 km (1,336 miles) Empty weight 21100 kg (46,518 lb)
Useful lift 26200 kg (57,760 lb)
Diameter 18.70 m (61 ft 4.2 in)
Length 163.50 m (536 ft 5 in)
Volume 31900 c.m (1,126,540 cu ft)
Armament: two 7.92-mm (0.312-in) Maxim machine-guns