Development
The military uses of airships at the time were considered to be the dropping of bombs (from an altitude at which they were deemed to be out of range of ground-based weapons) and reconnaissance. M. Julliot, the designer of the Patrie, stated that "each of the French ships can carry thirty, and on short journeys, even fifty torpedoes of 10 kilogrammes (22 lb) each." For reconnaissance purposes the Patrie was equipped with "a mounting for a telephotographic apparatus, and for a 100-candlepower acetylene searchlight". A contemporary author related that "from a height of 4,000 feet (1,200 m) the Patrie observed the smallest movements of formed bodies of troops at the Satory camp and obtained very clear telephotographs of them."
Semi-rigid airships were considered more suitable for military use because, unlike rigid airships, they could be deflated, stored and transported by land or by sea. The Patrie was a semi-rigid airship manufactured by the French sugar magnates Paul and Pierre Lebaudy and designed by their chief engineer, Henri Julliot. She was the second Lebaudy airship, and "surpassed her predecessor in both size and method of construction". The company's first airship, simply known as the Lebaudy, and dubbed by the French public "Le Jaune" ("The Yellow (One)") because of the yellow colour of the lead chromate paint on its cloth exterior, was considered the most successful airship then in operation.
Read more about this topic: Lebaudy Patrie
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