The work carried out by our airships during the war falls under
three main headings:
1. Operations with the fleet or with various units.
2. Anti-submarine patrol and searching for mines.
3. Escort of shipping and examination duties.
With regard to the first heading it is only permissible at
present to say very little; certain manoeuvres were carried out
in connection with the fleet, but the slow development of our
rigid airships prohibited anything on a large scale being
attempted. The Germans, on the other hand, made the fullest use
of their Zeppelins for scouting purposes with the high seas
fleet. Responsible people were guilty of a grave mistake when
speaking in public in denouncing the Zeppelin as a useless
monster every time one was destroyed in a raid on this country.
The main function of the Zeppelin airship was to act as an aerial
scout, and it carried out these duties with the utmost efficiency
during the war. It is acknowledged that the German fleet owed
its escape after the Battle of Jutland to the information
received from their airships, while again the Zeppelin was
instrumental in effecting the escape of the flotilla which
bombarded Scarborough in 1916.
Very probably, also, the large airship was responsible for the
success which attended the U boats during their attack on the
cruisers Nottingham and Falmouth, and also at the Hogue disaster.
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