Peter Strasser
Encyclopedia
Peter Strasser was chief commander of German Imperial Navy Zeppelin
s during World War I
, the main force operating bombing campaigns from 1915 to 1917. He was killed when flying the war's last airship raid over Great Britain.
, Germany
, on 1 April 1876. At the age of 15, he joined the German Imperial Navy (Kaiserliche Marine
). After serving on board SMS Stein and SMS Moltke, he entered the Naval academy in Kiel. He quickly rose through the ranks and was promoted to Lieutenant
in 1895. He served on board SMS Mars, SMS Blücher, SMS Panther, SMS Mecklenburg and SMS Westfalen from 1897 to 1902. He was an excellent gunnery officer and was placed in the German Imperial Naval Office
(Reichsmarine-Amt) in charge of German shipboard and coastal artillery. In September 1913, he taken command of the Naval Airship Division (Marine-Luftschiff-Abteilung). Airships were as yet an unproven technology and Korvettenkapitän Strasser became the new naval airship chief after his predecessor, Korvettenkapitän Friedrich Metzing, drowned in the crash of the very first naval airship, the L 1. Also the single remaining naval airship L 2 was soon lost in another fatal accident. Strasser completed theoretical studies on airships and gained practical experience piloting the civilian airship LZ17 Sachsen. Another airship, LZ13 Hansa
was chartered to train naval crews while new ships were being built. At the start of the war Navy had only one airship operational, the LZ24 (Navy designation L3). L3, under Strasser's personal command, was the only one to participate in the Imperial Navy manoeuvres just before the war.
in August 1914, Navy airships were confined to anti-submarine, anti-mine and scouting missions. They served in the Battle of Heligoland Bight.
On January 19–20, 1915, L3 and L4 participated in the first bombing raids over England
, attacking Great Yarmouth
, Sheringham
and King's Lynn
. Over the next 3 years, bombing campaigns would be launched primarily against Britain, but also on Paris
and other cities and ports. Strasser would participate in the England raids at least once a month. He decided to test the newly developed spy basket
himself, and almost fell out when it became entangled with the Zeppelin
's aerial. Initially bombing was limited to military targets but with great lobbying support of Konteradmiral Paul Behncke
, the Kaiser approved attacks against civilian targets. Official British estimates list 498 civilians and 58 soldiers killed by air attack in Britain between 1915 and 1918. 1,913 injuries are recorded. The Imperial Navy dropped 360,000 kg of bombs, the majority on the British Isles. 307,315 kg were directed at enemy vessels, ports and towns; 58,000 kg were dropped over Italy, the Baltic and the Mediterranean. The German army carried 160,000 kg of bombs to their designated targets: 44,000 kg hit Belgium and France, 36,000 kg England, and 80,000 kg Russia and south eastern Europe. However, questions remain over whether airships (and more importantly, their irreplaceable crews) would have been better used as a purely naval weapon.
As Vizeadmiral Reinhard Scheer
became his superior in January 1916, he tried to tame Strasser's aggressive pursue for independence, but to no success. On November 28, 1916, Strasser was appointed by imperial decree as "Leader of Airships" (Führer der Luftschiffe; F.d.L.).
, Norwich
, and the Humber estuary , Strasser's L70 met a British reconnaissance D.H.4. Pilot Major Egbert Cadbury
and Gunner Major Robert Leckie
shot down the L70 just north of Wells-next-the-Sea
on the Norfolk
coast. No one of 23 men aboard survived. It proved to be the last airship raid over Great Britain.
One possible but unconfirmed name for Flugzeugträger B
, the unfinished sister ship
of the World War II German aircraft carrier Graf Zeppelin
, was Peter Strasser.
Zeppelin
A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship pioneered by the German Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin in the early 20th century. It was based on designs he had outlined in 1874 and detailed in 1893. His plans were reviewed by committee in 1894 and patented in the United States on 14 March 1899...
s during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, the main force operating bombing campaigns from 1915 to 1917. He was killed when flying the war's last airship raid over Great Britain.
Early career
Strasser was born in HanoverHanover
Hanover or Hannover, on the river Leine, is the capital of the federal state of Lower Saxony , Germany and was once by personal union the family seat of the Hanoverian Kings of Great Britain, under their title as the dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, on 1 April 1876. At the age of 15, he joined the German Imperial Navy (Kaiserliche Marine
Kaiserliche Marine
The Imperial German Navy was the German Navy created at the time of the formation of the German Empire. It existed between 1871 and 1919, growing out of the small Prussian Navy and Norddeutsche Bundesmarine, which primarily had the mission of coastal defense. Kaiser Wilhelm II greatly expanded...
). After serving on board SMS Stein and SMS Moltke, he entered the Naval academy in Kiel. He quickly rose through the ranks and was promoted to Lieutenant
Lieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
in 1895. He served on board SMS Mars, SMS Blücher, SMS Panther, SMS Mecklenburg and SMS Westfalen from 1897 to 1902. He was an excellent gunnery officer and was placed in the German Imperial Naval Office
German Imperial Naval Office
The German Imperial Naval Office was a government office in the German Empire. In April, 1889 what had been the German Imperial Admiralty was abolished and its duties divided among three new entities: the Imperial Naval High Command , the Imperial Naval Office and the German Imperial Naval Cabinet...
(Reichsmarine-Amt) in charge of German shipboard and coastal artillery. In September 1913, he taken command of the Naval Airship Division (Marine-Luftschiff-Abteilung). Airships were as yet an unproven technology and Korvettenkapitän Strasser became the new naval airship chief after his predecessor, Korvettenkapitän Friedrich Metzing, drowned in the crash of the very first naval airship, the L 1. Also the single remaining naval airship L 2 was soon lost in another fatal accident. Strasser completed theoretical studies on airships and gained practical experience piloting the civilian airship LZ17 Sachsen. Another airship, LZ13 Hansa
Zeppelin LZ13
The Zeppelin LZ 13 Hansa was a German civilian rigid airship first flown in 1912 with a volume of 18,700 cubic metres. It was first operated by DELAG to carry passengers and post and flew the first scheduled international passenger flights...
was chartered to train naval crews while new ships were being built. At the start of the war Navy had only one airship operational, the LZ24 (Navy designation L3). L3, under Strasser's personal command, was the only one to participate in the Imperial Navy manoeuvres just before the war.
First World War
Following the outbreak of World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
in August 1914, Navy airships were confined to anti-submarine, anti-mine and scouting missions. They served in the Battle of Heligoland Bight.
On January 19–20, 1915, L3 and L4 participated in the first bombing raids over England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, attacking Great Yarmouth
Great Yarmouth
Great Yarmouth, often known to locals as Yarmouth, is a coastal town in Norfolk, England. It is at the mouth of the River Yare, east of Norwich.It has been a seaside resort since 1760, and is the gateway from the Norfolk Broads to the sea...
, Sheringham
Sheringham
Sheringham is a seaside town in Norfolk, England, west of Cromer.The motto of the town, granted in 1953 to the Sheringham Urban District Council, is Mare Ditat Pinusque Decorat, Latin for "The sea enriches and the pine adorns"....
and King's Lynn
King's Lynn
King's Lynn is a sea port and market town in the ceremonial county of Norfolk in the East of England. It is situated north of London and west of Norwich. The population of the town is 42,800....
. Over the next 3 years, bombing campaigns would be launched primarily against Britain, but also on Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
and other cities and ports. Strasser would participate in the England raids at least once a month. He decided to test the newly developed spy basket
Spy basket
The Spy gondola, Spy basket, Observation car or sub-cloud car was a byproduct of Peilgondel development . They were used almost entirely by the Germans in the First World War on their military airships...
himself, and almost fell out when it became entangled with the Zeppelin
Zeppelin
A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship pioneered by the German Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin in the early 20th century. It was based on designs he had outlined in 1874 and detailed in 1893. His plans were reviewed by committee in 1894 and patented in the United States on 14 March 1899...
's aerial. Initially bombing was limited to military targets but with great lobbying support of Konteradmiral Paul Behncke
Paul Behncke
Paul Behncke was a German admiral during the First World War, most notable for his command of the Third Battle Squadron of the German High Seas Fleet during the Battle of Jutland....
, the Kaiser approved attacks against civilian targets. Official British estimates list 498 civilians and 58 soldiers killed by air attack in Britain between 1915 and 1918. 1,913 injuries are recorded. The Imperial Navy dropped 360,000 kg of bombs, the majority on the British Isles. 307,315 kg were directed at enemy vessels, ports and towns; 58,000 kg were dropped over Italy, the Baltic and the Mediterranean. The German army carried 160,000 kg of bombs to their designated targets: 44,000 kg hit Belgium and France, 36,000 kg England, and 80,000 kg Russia and south eastern Europe. However, questions remain over whether airships (and more importantly, their irreplaceable crews) would have been better used as a purely naval weapon.
As Vizeadmiral Reinhard Scheer
Reinhard Scheer
Reinhard Scheer was an Admiral in the German Kaiserliche Marine. Scheer joined the navy in 1879 as an officer cadet; he progressed through the ranks, commanding cruisers and battleships, as well as major staff positions on land. At the outbreak of World War I, Scheer was the commander of the II...
became his superior in January 1916, he tried to tame Strasser's aggressive pursue for independence, but to no success. On November 28, 1916, Strasser was appointed by imperial decree as "Leader of Airships" (Führer der Luftschiffe; F.d.L.).
Death in the last raid over Great Britain
Strasser did not live to see the end of the war. On 5 August 1918, during a night raid against BostonBoston, Lincolnshire
Boston is a town and small port in Lincolnshire, on the east coast of England. It is the largest town of the wider Borough of Boston local government district and had a total population of 55,750 at the 2001 census...
, Norwich
Norwich
Norwich is a city in England. It is the regional administrative centre and county town of Norfolk. During the 11th century, Norwich was the largest city in England after London, and one of the most important places in the kingdom...
, and the Humber estuary , Strasser's L70 met a British reconnaissance D.H.4. Pilot Major Egbert Cadbury
Egbert Cadbury
Air Commodore Sir Egbert Cadbury DSC, DFC was a First World War pilot who shot down two Zeppelins over the North Sea: L21 on 28 November 1916, and L70 on 6 August 1918: the latter while flying a De Havilland DH.4 with Robert Leckie as Observer/Gunner.The son of George Cadbury and Dame Elizabeth...
and Gunner Major Robert Leckie
Robert Leckie (aviator)
Air Marshal Robert Leckie CB, DSO, DSC, DFC, CD was a Canadian aviation pioneer and Chief of the Air Staff of the Royal Canadian Air Force from 1944 to 1947.- First World War service :...
shot down the L70 just north of Wells-next-the-Sea
Wells-next-the-Sea
Wells-next-the-Sea, known locally simply as Wells, is a town, civil parish and seaport situated on the North Norfolk coast in England.The civil parish has an area of and in the 2001 census had a population of 2,451 in 1,205 households...
on the Norfolk
Norfolk
Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
coast. No one of 23 men aboard survived. It proved to be the last airship raid over Great Britain.
Legacy
Strasser's impact on both the war and history was important for the future air warfare. He was instrumental in the development of long range bombing and the development of the rigid airship as an efficient, high altitude, all-weather aircraft. He was a major proponent of the doctrine of bombing attacks on civilian as well as military targets to serve both as propaganda and as a means of diverting resources from the front line.One possible but unconfirmed name for Flugzeugträger B
Flugzeugträger B
The Flugzeugträger B was the sister ship of the Kriegsmarine's only launched aircraft carrier, the Graf Zeppelin....
, the unfinished sister ship
Sister ship
A sister ship is a ship of the same class as, or of virtually identical design to, another ship. Such vessels share a near-identical hull and superstructure layout, similar displacement, and roughly comparable features and equipment...
of the World War II German aircraft carrier Graf Zeppelin
German aircraft carrier Graf Zeppelin
German aircraft carrier Graf Zeppelin was the lead ship in a class of two carriers ordered by the Kriegsmarine. She was the only aircraft carrier launched by Germany during World War II and represented part of the Kriegsmarine's attempt to create a well-balanced oceangoing fleet, capable of...
, was Peter Strasser.
See also
- Kaiserliche MarineKaiserliche MarineThe Imperial German Navy was the German Navy created at the time of the formation of the German Empire. It existed between 1871 and 1919, growing out of the small Prussian Navy and Norddeutsche Bundesmarine, which primarily had the mission of coastal defense. Kaiser Wilhelm II greatly expanded...
- Schütte-LanzSchütte-LanzSchütte-Lanz is the name of a series of rigid airships designed and built by the Luftschiffbau Schütte-Lanz company from 1909 until the last LS22 was delivered in 1917. One research and four passenger airships were planned for post-war use, but were never built...
- Total warTotal warTotal war is a war in which a belligerent engages in the complete mobilization of fully available resources and population.In the mid-19th century, "total war" was identified by scholars as a separate class of warfare...
- ZeppelinZeppelinA Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship pioneered by the German Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin in the early 20th century. It was based on designs he had outlined in 1874 and detailed in 1893. His plans were reviewed by committee in 1894 and patented in the United States on 14 March 1899...
- List of Zeppelins