Zeppelin airships - block of stamps imperforate mint never hinged, catalog no. 582 p. 11B, Congo

The Africa airship L 59 (LZ 104) is shown on the upper edge of the block. The airship LZ 7 "Deutschland" can be seen on the lower edge of the block.

In 1917 the high command of the Navy decided to use the airship LZ 104 as part of an auxiliary expedition for the troops fighting in East Africa. The trip to East Africa had to be broken off twice due to unfortunate incidents.

On November 21, 1917, they started again and reached the coast of Africa the next morning. The Libyan desert was crossed, with the airship stomping heavily because of the heat waves. Halfway there, the LZ 104 received a radio message that ordered them to return. The airship LZ 104 took the opposite course and reached the starting base on November 25th.

The ship had set a new route record of 6,757 kilometers in 95 hours. In early 1918 LZ 104 was used in the Middle East over Italy. During an attack against Malta on April 7, 1918, the airship exploded on the street of Otranto. The German submarine "U53" witnessed the unexplained crash in which there were no survivors.

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