Sources on RNAS blimps

Can anyone recommend some sources on RNAS blimps, both the aircraft themselves and their operational use in ASW? In particular, I am interested in any accounts of the loss of the blimp Z51 off Ireland in 1918.

[Ira_Silverman]

David:

The best history of British airship operations during the First World War is:

Mowthorpe, Ces. BATTLEBAGS. BRITISH AIRSHIPS OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR. AN ILLUSTRATED HISTORY. Gloucestershire (UK), Alan Sutton Publishing Ltd., 1995. 194 pp., illus.

On page 95, it provides the following information on SSZ.51, and I quote:

“Built at Kingsnorth. Trials 13 March 1918. Anglesey from Kingsnorth 13 March 1918. Envelope torn by propeller, ripped 2 April 1918. Force landed Iselo and ripped 5 April 1918. Crew saved by USS DOWNS when lost at sea 15 September 1918. Hours flown: 655 hours. Deleted Anglesey 15 September 1918, lost at sea.”

HTH.

VBR,

Ira