The ship made regular and nonstop transatlantic flights possible before airplanes had flight ranges sufficient to cross the ocean.
For DELAG's first transatlantic trip, Dr. Eckener commanded the Graf Zeppelin airship leaving Friedrichshafen, Germany, at 07:54 on October 11, 1928. The airship arrived at Lakehurst Field, New Jersey, on October 15.
In 1931, the airship Graf Zeppelin began offering regular scheduled passenger service between Germany and South America which continued until 1937. Over its career Graf Zeppelin crossed the South Atlantic 136 times.
In 1936, the airship Hindenburg entered passenger service and successfully crossed the Atlantic 36 times before crashing at Lakehurst, New Jersey on May 6, 1937.
The Graf Zeppelin was the final airship employed by DELAG. In 1935, the successor to DELAG, the state-sponsored Deutsche Zeppelin-Reederei (DZR) was founded. Its fleet included the LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin, LZ 129 Hindenburg and LZ 130 Graf Zeppelin.
Role - Passenger airship
National origin - Germany
Manufacturer - Luftschiffbau Zeppelin
Designer - Ludwig Dürr
First flight - September 18, 1928
Retired - June 18, 1937
Status - Scrapped March 1940
Number built - 1
Source: Wikipedia
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