8 tons
or .7 ton above the contract requirements, and with the bags 100
per cent full gave a total disposable lift of 5.1 tons.
Additional trials were then carried out, which showed that the
speed of the ship had not been impaired.
For reference purposes the performances of the ship are tabulated
below.
Speed:
Full 45 miles per hour
Normal = 2/3 38 " " "
Cruising = 1/3 32 " " "
Endurance:
Full 18 hours = 800 miles
Normal 26 " = 1,000 "
Cruising 50 " = 1,600 "
No. 9 having finished her trials was accepted by the Admiralty
in Mar. 1917, and left Barrow, where she had,been built, for a
patrol station.
In many ways she was an excellent ship, for it must be remembered
that when completed she was some years out-of-date judged by
Zeppelin standards. Apart from the patrol and convoy work which
she accomplished, she proved simply invaluable for the training
of officers and men selected to be the crews of future rigid
airships. Many of these received their initial training in her,
and there were few officers or men in the airship service who
were not filled with regret when orders were issued that she was
to be broken up. The general feeling was that she should have
been preserved as a lasting exhibition of the infancy of the
airship service, but unfortunately rigid airships occupy so much
space that there is no museum in the country which could have
accommodated her.
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