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Airship Number ZVV (LZ20)

The airships of the Zeppelin Company were cigar-shaped, with the maximum diameter being reached at one-eighth of the overall length. The diameter stays constant to about the last one-eighth of the ship’s length, where it reduces to the tail.  The ship is a “rigid airship” in that it has an aluminum, or duralumin, skeleton and a keel along the bottom, from which all of the ship’s weight was carried – crew, gondolas, ordnance, ballast, fuel, radio, etc.

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Airship NumberZVV (LZ20)
ManufacturerZeppelin Company
Military BranchArmy
Assigned Base(s)Posen, Rebstock, Berlin, Potsdam
Beginning Service DateJuly 8, 1913
Last Service DateAugust 23, 1914
Postal MarkingPM “KPMMANDO VI”
Dispatch TypeOfficial (?)
Value$$

Notes

The ship was employed on the Eastern Front.  Shot down by anti-aircraft fire, made an emergency landing, and the entire crew was taken as POW’s. This Feldpostkarte was sent only 16 days prior to the shoot-down.

The address appears to be for a military organization rather than an individual, so it is listed as official; this cover warrants further investigation. One question would be: where was Feldpost Schneevogt?

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