World War One Total WarModern Warfare Myth Reality Technological Advances from World War I The industrialization of society from the Industrial Revolution would generate many military applications of new technology ID: 440703
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Slide1
Weapons & Trench Warfare
World War One
Total War/Modern WarfareSlide2
MythSlide3
RealitySlide4
Technological Advances from World War I
The industrialization of society from the Industrial Revolution would generate many military applications of new technology
In 1915 British Admiral Jacky Fisher wrote, “
The war is going to be won by inventions.”
Machine gun
Rapid fire artillery
Airplanes
Internal combustion engine
Tanks
Zeppelins
Gas
FlamethrowersSlide5
New Technology & WWI
New technology had not broken the “stalemate” of WWI – in fact they helped create it – the only real impact of technology was the dramatic increase in war death/injury & the impact of war on civilian populations – death tolls increased & civilian centers now became legitimate targets
Technological advancements surpassed military field strategy of “frontal assault charges” which had existed for millennia – this only increased battlefield casualties
Some significant technological developments:
Tanks – originally designed to break the stalemate of the trenches – became the future of ground warfare
Planes – war was taken to the skies
Submarines – in existence since the American Revolution – was now “perfected” Chemical Warfare – mustard gas & choking poisons were used by all sides Land Mines – used to destroy tanks Telephone & Radio – communication & coordination devices All-Steel Ships – increased size & gun capability Long-Range Artillery – used to “soften up” enemy positions Machine Guns – ended the military tactic of the “frontal assault” (not until some 11 million were dead first)Slide6
The changes of war
New weapons crippled the “frozen front”
Poison gas (mustard gas)
Hand grenades
Flame throwers
Tanks
Airplanes
Tanks
SubsSlide7
New weapons
Poison gas, other new weapons response to massive deadlock
Two systems of trenches stretched hundreds of miles, western Europe
Millions of Allied and Central Powers soldiers in trenches of Western Front
Life in trenches
Rainstorms produced deep puddles, mud
Lice, rats, bad sanitation constant problems
Removing dead bodies often impossible
Trench warfare
Trench warfare
not new ideaSoldiers had long hidden behind mounds of earthScale of 1914 Europe trench warfare never before experiencedThe World War I BattlefieldSlide8
Over the top
Soldiers ordered out of trenches to attack enemy
Sprinting across area known as “no-man’s-land” a deadly game
Thousands on both sides died, cut down by enemy guns
More effective
Other new weapons more effective than poison gas
Rapid-fire machine guns in wide use
Artillery and high-explosive shells, enormous destructive power
New weapons
Neither side able to make significant advances on enemy’s trenches
Each side turned to new weapons like poison gasValue limited, both sides developed gas masksThe World War I BattlefieldSlide9
U-BoatsSlide10
Submarines or U-BoatsSlide11
German Submarine Warfare
U-Boats
Germany suffered because of the British blockade, so it developed small submarines called U-boats to strike back at the British.
U-boats are named after the German for “undersea boat.”
In February 1915 the German government declared the waters around Great Britain a war zone, threatening to destroy all enemy ships.
Germany warned the U.S. that neutral ships might be attacked.
The German plan for unrestricted submarine warfare angered Americans, and Wilson believed it violated the laws of neutrality.
Wilson held Germany accountable for American losses.
America’s Involvement
In 1915, Germany sank a luxury passenger ship to Great Britain called the
Lusitania, killing many, including 128 AmericansAmericans were outraged, and Wilson demanded an end to unrestricted submarine warfare.The Germans agreed to attack only supply ships but later sank the French passenger ship Sussex, killing 80 people.Wilson threatened Germany again, and Germany issued the Sussex pledge, promising not to sink merchant vessels “without warning and without saving human lives.”Slide12
Submarines
On Feb 1, 1917, the Germans pursued unrestricted submarine warfare with the order “To all U-boats, sink on sight.”
In 11 months, the Germans sank 2,966 Allied or neutral ships carrying food, munitions, or men
1 in 4 British ships were sunk
This led to the USA joining the war against the Germans
British started to sail in convoys escorted by warships and sea mines to break the German submarine control of the seasSlide13
SubmarinesSlide14
This photo shows some of the early experimental submarines that were developed during World War I. The submarine was part of the modern style of warfare that was introduced in World War I.
The German navy had approximately 100 submarines in service during WWI. Initially the Germans used submarines to threaten the Allies' economic blockade. In 1917 the German Kaiser declared unrestricted U-boat warfare against the allies, including neutral ships in British waters. In response, the Allies established armed convoys to protect merchant ships and increased production of mines and depth charges.
The sinking of neutral ships, like the Lusitania in 1915, polarized public opinion (against the Germans) about the war, and was a major factor in the decision of the United States to join the Allied caused.
Photo:
Courtesy Queen’s University Archives
Changing TechnologySlide15Slide16
Allied Ships Sunk by U-BoatsSlide17
German Miscalculation
Germany resumed unrestricted submarine warfare in early 1917
Notified US of decision Jan 31
Sunk several US ships in Feb and Mar
US declared war on April 6, 1917
At the same time Russia was withdrawing from the war (Remember from Lesson 11), the US was entering
Germany failed to end war before the US entered itSlide18
The Caption Reads: Novel Coastwise Scenery: Since it was given out that the German barbarians were refusing to fire on cathedrals, England has worked out a jolly little plan for coast defense. (From
Jugend
, Munich.) Slide19
Machine GunsSlide20
A New Kind of Warfare
Word of Germany’s invasion of Belgium quickly spread to France and other European nations.
French troops mobilized to meet approaching German divisions.
They looked much as French soldiers did over 40 years earlier, wearing bright red coats and heavy brass helmets.
The German troops dressed in gray uniforms that worked as camouflage on the battlefield.
French war strategy had not changed much since the 1800s.
French soldiers marched row by row onto the battlefield, with bayonets mounted to their field rifles, preparing for close combat with the Germans.
The Germans, however, had many machine guns, and mowed down some 15,000 French troops per day in early battle.
A well-trained German machine-gun team could set up equipment in four seconds, and each machine gun matched the firepower of 50 to 100 French rifles.
Many Europeans wrongly thought these technological advances would make the war short and that France would be defeated in two months.Slide21
Maxim Machine Gun
A gun that fires off a stream of bullets---about 10 bullets every second
One machine gun was said to be worth 80 rifles
Good for defending trenches
Weights 62kg and needs to rest on a stand
It gets hot very quickly and bullets can jam
At the start of the war, the Germans had 12,000
By the end of the war, they had 100,000Slide22
They drove men into trenches and foxholes.
War, became a battle of inches
(stalemate)
Super Killing Machines
:
Slide23
Machine Guns
Could fire over 1000 cartridges per minute
When the enemy would charge into the open, the machine guns would cut them down by the thousands
Led to the development of trenches to escape the deadly gunfireSlide24
Rapid Firing Machine GunsSlide25
Machine GunsSlide26
The Machine Gun
Germans first to mass produce it– the British thought it was not “sporting”Slide27
Industrialization & the arms race created artillery
that fired with greater power and carried much
farther than before.
ArtillerySlide28
Poisonous Gas
German military scientists experimented with gas as a weapon.
Gas in battle was risky: Soldiers didn’t know how much to use, and wind changes could backfire the gas.
Then Germans threw canisters of gas into the Allies’ trenches.
Many regretted using gas, but British and French forces began using it too, to keep things even.
Tanks
When soldiers began to carry gas masks, they still faced a stalemate.
British forces soon developed armored tanks to move into no-man’s-land.
These tanks had limited success because many got stuck in the mud.
Germans soon found ways to destroy the tanks with artillery fire.
New Weapons of War
Airplanes
Both sides used planes to map and to attack trenches from above.
Planes first dropped brinks and heavy objects on enemy troops.
Soon they mounted guns and bombs on planes.
Skilled pilots sought in air battles called dogfights.
The German Red Baron downed 80 Allied planes, until he was shot down.Slide29
CHEMICAL WARFARE
Types:
Mustard, Chlorine, & Phosgene
Drifted in the wind—often affected their own
troopsSlide30
Gruesome Gases
Lacrymators
: a type of tear gas that makes you go blind for a while. Even a tiny amount makes your eyes sting.
Sternutators:
gives you a headache and makes you sick. It arrives in a high-explosive shell before the enemy can put on the gas masks.
Suffocating
: gases that are used to kill. Breathe in these gases, and your lungs fill up with liquid. You drown in your own body fluids.
Phosgene
: smells like rotten hay but doesn’t make your nose or your eyes itch, so you don’t know you have breathed it in until you start to choke to death
Vesicant
: British called it mustard gas. It has no smell, so the enemy don’t know they have been gassed until it is too late.Slide31
Poison GasSlide32
Poison Gas
French army used tear-gas grenades, then the Germans expanded on the poison gases
Chlorine
Gas
-destroyed the respiratory organs and led to a slow death by asphyxiation
Phosgene
Gas
-caused the victim to violently cough & choke; often a delayed reaction up to 48 hours
Mustard Gas-used later in the war in 1917; almost odorless & took 12 hours to take into effect; caused serious blisters internally & externally; remained active in the soil for several weeksGermans used 68,000 tons of poison gasFrance used almost 37,000 tonsBritain used more than 25,000 tons91,198 soldiers died due to poison gas attacks1.2 million were hospitalized due to poison gas attacksSlide33Slide34
The most lethal of all the poisonous chemicals used during the war, it was almost odorless and took twelve hours to take effect.
Yperite
was so powerful that only small amounts had to be added to high explosive shells to be effective.
Once in the soil, mustard gas remained active for several weeks.
The skin of victims of mustard gas blistered, the eyes became very sore and they began to vomit.
Mustard gas caused internal and external bleeding and attacked the bronchial tubes, stripping off the mucous membrane.
This was extremely painful and most soldiers had to be strapped to their beds. It usually took a person four or five weeks to die of mustard gas poisoning
One nurse, Vera
Brittain
, wrote: "I wish those people who talk about going on with this war whatever it costs could see the soldiers suffering from mustard gas poisoning. Great mustard-coloured blisters, blind eyes, all sticky and stuck together, always fighting for breath, with voices a mere whisper, saying that their throats are closing and they know they will choke."Mustard GasSlide35
“Death is everywhere”
Mustard gas
Also known as yellow cross or Yperite
Carried by the wind
Burned out soldier’s lungs
Deadly in the trenches
where it would
sit at the bottomSlide36
Poison Gas
“It was our first experience with mustard gas. The men we took were covered in blisters. The size of your palm most of them. In any tender, warm place, under the arms, between the legs, and over the face and neck. All their eyes streaming, and hurting in a way that sin never hurts.”Slide37
Mustard Gas WoundsSlide38
Burned body & lungs
caused blindness, asphyxiation, & death
Chemical Warfare banned after World War I
Survivors of a Gas AttackSlide39
Poison GasSlide40
If you are caught in a gas attack without a gas helmet, you were told to:
Take out your handkerchief.
Urinate into the materials till it is soaked.
Tie it round your mouth and nose and breathe through it.Slide41
Poison GasSlide42Slide43
Poetry from the First World War was written by soldiers who served at the Western Front.
They saw the horrors of War
first hand
.
They wrote about what they really saw.
Their poems were published just after thewar, so they were
not censored
. They are
first hand
and often
unbiased sources. Slide44
“Bombed Last Night”-a Trench Song about Poison Gas
Bombed last night, and bombed the night before.
Going to get bombed tonight if we never get bombed anymore.
When we're bombed, we're scared as we can be.
Can't stop the bombing from old Higher Germany.
They're warning us, they're warning us.
One shell hole for just the four of us.
Thank your lucky stars there are no more of us.
So one of us can fill it all alone.Slide45
“Bombed Last Night” Cont.
Gassed last night, and gassed the night before.
Going to get gassed tonight if we never get gassed anymore.
When we're gassed, we're sick as we can be.
For phosgene and mustard gas is much too much for me.
They're killing us, they're killing us.
One respirator for the four of us.
Thank your lucky stars that we can all run fast.
So one of us can take it all alone.Slide46
Poison Gas
Slide47Slide48
WILFRED OWEN
Wilfred Owen is one of the more famous War Poets.
He was born March 18
th
, 1893.
He joined the Army in 1915 as an Officer in the “Artists Rifles”.
Wilfred Owen served in some of the worst conditions during the following months.Slide49
DULCE ET DECORUM EST
By Wilfred OwenSlide50
Bent double like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs
And towards our distant rest began to trudge.Slide51
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Of gas shells dropping softly behind.Slide52
Gas! GAS!
Quick, Boys!Slide53
…An ecstasy of fumbling,
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time;
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling,
And flound’ring like a man in fire or lime…
Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light,
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.Slide54
In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.Slide55
If in some smothering dreams you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face like a devil’s sick of sin;
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile incurable sores on innocent tongues, Slide56
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie:
Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori
. (It is good and sweet to die for your country.)Slide57
November 4
th
, 1918:
Owen and his men went ‘over the top’. He was shot and killed by German machine guns on the banks of the Sambre-Ouse Canal.
The War ended just a week later on November 11
th
.
Wilfred Owen was 25 years old.
Slide58
Gas Shell LaunchersSlide59
Loading Gas Shell LaunchersSlide60
Gas Shells ExplodingSlide61
Poison Gas Deaths: 1914-1918
Country
Non-Fatal
Deaths
Total
British Empire
180,597
8,109
188,706
France
182,000
8,000
190,000
United States
71,345
1,462
72,807
Italy
55,373
4,627
60,000
Russia
419,340
56,000
475,340
Germany
191,000
9,000
200,000
Austria-Hungary
97,000
3,000
100,000
Others
9,000
1,000
10.000
Total
1,205,655
91,198
1,296,853Slide62
Chemical Warfare
The horror and disgust at the wartime use of poison gases was so great that its use was outlawed in 1925 - a ban that, at least in theory, is still in force today.
Photos:
Courtesy Unites States Air Force Air War College
Table Source:
First
World War.comSlide63
Gas Masks
*Slide64
Poison Gas
Machine GunSlide65
Attempts to Break the Stalemate: Gas
Various efforts were made to break the stalemate
The Germans first used gas against the Russians on Jan 13, 1915 with little effect
They were more successful at Ypres on Aug 15
Even German dogs were outfitted with gas masksSlide66
Soldiers would protect themselves using Gas MasksSlide67
Fighting in Trenches
William Pressey was gassed on 7th June 1917. He survived the attack and later wrote about the experience of being gassed.
I was awakened by a terrific crash. The roof came down on my chest and legs and I couldn't move anything but my head. I found I could hardly breathe. Then I heard voices. Other fellows with gas helmets on, looking very frightened in the half-light, were lifting timber off me and one was forcing a gas helmet on me. Even when you were all right, to wear a gas helmet was uncomfortable, your nose pinched, sucking air through a canister of chemicals.
I was put into an ambulance and taken to the base, where we were placed on the stretchers side by side on the floor of a marquee. I suppose I resembled a kind of fish with my mouth open gasping for air. It seemed as if my lugs were gradually shutting up and my heart pounded away in my ears like the beat of a drum. On looking at the chap next to me I felt sick, for
green stuff
was
oozing
from the side of his mouth.
To get air in my lungs was real agony. I dozed off for short periods but seemed to wake in a sort of panic. To ease the pain in my chest I may subconsciously have stopped breathing, until the pounding of my heart woke me up. I was always surprised when I found myself awake, for I felt sure that I would die in my sleep.Slide68Slide69Slide70Slide71
Surviving a gas attack
Your gas mask irritates the skin on your face and itches or it makes you feel claustrophobic. What can you do without exposing yourself to the poisonous gas?
The soldier next to you dies. What do you do with the body?
Another soldier goes berserk and throws his gas mask out of the trench. What do you do?Slide72
'Gassed'. Painting by John Singer Sargent, 1918/1919.Slide73
On your Left Side:
After World War One, the world’s nations outlawed the use of chemical weapons due to the horrors of poison gas.
However, developments in biological and chemical weapons have continued to this day.
Why has this continued? Explain your reasoning.Slide74
FlamethrowersSlide75
Flamethrowers
Fired a stream of gasoline that was ignited at the muzzle
The jet of flaming gasoline was fired onto the enemy in the trenches to kill or disable
Germans first used this as a shock weapon in 1916 to shock the Allies out of their trenchesSlide76
World War One also brought about new weapons of war as well as a new kind of warfare: Weapons such as flame throwers, poisonous gas, machine guns, tanks and air planes were employed
FLAME THROWERS
The German Army
first began experimenting with flame-throwers in 1900 and they were issued to special battalions eleven years later. The flame-thrower used pressurized air, carbon dioxide or nitrogen to force oil through a nozzle. Ignited by a small charge, the oil became a jet of flame.
Flame-throwers were first used at the Western Front in October 1914. Operated by two men, they were mainly used to clear enemy soldiers from front-line trenches. At first they had a range of 25 meters but later this was increased to 40 meters. This meant they were only effective over narrow areas of No Man's Land. Another problem was that the flame-thrower was difficult to move around and only contained enough oil to burn 40 seconds at the time. Soldiers who operated flame-throwers had a short-life span because as soon as they used them they were the target of rifle and machine-gun fire. Slide77
World War I FlamethrowerSlide78Slide79
French Flame ThrowersSlide80
Flame
Throwers
Grenade
LaunchersSlide81
The World War I Battlefield
Tanks and Aircraft
Tanks pioneered by British
Could cross rough battlefield terrain
Reliability was a problem
Aircraft most useful
At beginning of war, mostly for observation
Soon had machine guns, bombs attached
Faster airplanes useful in attacking cities, battlefieldsSlide82
Changing Technology
Tank warfare was first introduced by France and Britain in 1916. Its role in the war gradually increased as the war progressed.
Early heavy tanks proved to be ineffective and were soon replaced by lighter versions that soon revolutionized the war. By 1917 the British and French were using 1500 tanks each. Tanks became a regular feature in all offensives and were credited with Allied successes after 1916.
Photo
:Courtesy Queen’s University ArchivesSlide83
TanksSlide84
Tanks
Invented by the British in 1916 as a mobile armored platform armed with machine guns & cannons
Designed so the English could attack enemy trenches & break the trench lines with their own fire under the protection of the tank armor
First tanks were very unpleasant & unreliable; a crew of 8 was crammed in and could not sit upright; the temperature rose to over 100’F; it was so noisy that they communicated by banging on the hull with a hammer; crew would get sick from the fumes
Most of the early tanks broke down ex: at the Battle of Cambrai the English started with 476 tanks & by the end only 100 were operating
But made enough of a difference to break the German linesSlide85
Tanks
British-first tanks
Early tank-Little Willie 1915
French Tank
German Tank – lagged behind Allies in
tank developmentSlide86Slide87
Tanks
Battle of Somme, Sept 1916
36 of 60 tanks make it into battle
Scattered across 3 mile front
Weighting main effort?
Cambria, Nov 1917
Used in mass (300 tanks)
Opened 12x6 mile front
Amiens, August 1918
500 tanks, 13 infantry divisions, 2 cavalry divisions, 2000 artillery pieces, 800 aircraft
First modern “combined-arms” battle.Slide88
French TankSlide89
TanksSlide90
Attempts to Break the Stalemate: Tanks
The British began developing tanks in 1914 and used them in small numbers at the Somme on Sept 15, 1916
Achieved little in this initial employment
The Battle of Cambrai on Nov 20, 1917 marked the first large scale use of tanks with 474
British Mark I tank of the type used during the Battle of the SommeSlide91Slide92
Attempts to Break the Stalemate: Tanks
At Cambrai, the British gained initial surprise and advanced three miles by the end of the first day
Deepest penetration into German lines on the Western Front since the beginning of trench warfare
On the second day, the British continued to advance but the Germans brought up four more divisions
On the third day, the British began losing what ground they had gainedSlide93
British Tank at YpresSlide94
Tanks Versus TrenchesSlide95
World War I Airplanes
Baron Manfred von Richthofen, the Red Baron, was credited with 80 confirmed kills
148th American Aero Squadron
Petite Sythe, France. (August 6, 1918)Slide96
Aviation
Used initially for reconnaissance/spotting
Wireless communication critical development in spotting.
Arial combat originally a counter-reconnaissance function.
Troops on the ground don’t like the planes overhead….
By the end of the war, planes were being used to drop bombs on railways, intersections, factories, etc.
Next step in “Total War”.
Von Richtofen
“Red Baron”Slide97
“Jenny” JN-4Slide98
JaegerSlide99
War in the AirSlide100
The changes of war
Airplanes
Dog fights in the air
Bombing inaccurate
Romanticized the battlefields
Paris and London bombed
Pilots fired pistols and threw hand grenadesSlide101
The first picture is of a German plane that was used during World War I. The plane was part of the modern style of warfare that evolved during World War I. Initially, the airplane was used primarily for reconnaissance purposes, to spy on the enemy. The airplane did develop into an offensive weapon by the end of World War I.
The Second picture is a painting of a British airplane that is engaged in air combat. This airplane has a machine gun mounted on its top wing.
In 1914 the Allies had 220 airplanes, the Central Powers 258. The Germans also used Zeppelins and by 1918 had over 100 of these airships capable of bombing missions. The German Folker aircraft was an early example of a successful fighter plane. At first pilots used rifles and pistols in air battles, although machine guns were soon introduced.
By 1916 the Allied production of aircrafts equalled the Germans and air battles between "aces" like German Richthofen "The Red Baron" (80 victories) and Bishop the Canadian (72 victories) were becoming legendary.
Photo:
Courtesy Queen’s University Archives
Changing TechnologySlide102
War in the Air
Initially used planes for reconnaissance
Then the pilots started to try to kill each other with handguns & shotguns
Fokker developed a interrupt mechanism that allowed German pilots to fire machine guns between the blades of the propeller
Germans also developed dogfight techniques using the loopSlide103
Fokker
Airplanes
Dog FightSlide104
The Airplane
“Squadron Over the Brenta”
Max Edler von Poosch, 1917Slide105
The Flying Aces of World War I
Eddie Rickenbacher, US
Francesco
Barraco, It.
Rene Pauk
Fonck, Fr.
Manfred von
Richtoffen, Ger.
[The “
Red
Baron”]
Willy Coppens deHolthust, Belg.
Eddie “Mick”
Mannoch, Br.Slide106
Life of a Pilot
The average life of a new recruit was 17 hours
The average life of a combat pilot overall was 2 weeks
British pilots were not allowed parachutes
Constant psychological strain
Those who survived, were quite cocky and became romantic war heroes; for example the Red Baron who had a total of 80 victoriesSlide107
World War I ZeppelinSlide108
The Zeppelin, or blimp as it is also known, is an airship
it was used during the early part of the war in bombing raids by the Germans.
These airships weighed12 tonnes and contained over 400,000 cubic feet of hydrogen.
They were propelled along by 2 Daimler engines, which enabled the craft to travel at speeds of up to 136mph and heights of 4250 metres!
They usually carried machine guns and around 4,400lb of bombs!
They carried out many raids and were eventually abandoned as they were easy targets for artillery.Slide109
Zeppelins
A gas-filled balloon with a motor
Slow-moving and became easy target for an enemy fighter plane
Jan 19, 1915, the Germans make the first Zeppelin airship raids to drop bombs on Britain along the east coast.
On June 7, 1915, the first Zeppelin airship is shot down over Flanders in northern France.
On Oct 14, 1915, five Zeppelins kill 71 people in London.Slide110
The ZeppelinSlide111
First Airship Raid
The Germans used the Zeppelins to bomb Britain
Would run air-raids on heavily populated business districts to kill many & cause extensive property damage in 1915 & 1916
However, if the Zeppelins were fired upon, they would blow up due to the gas and burn fiercely.Slide112
The ZeppelinSlide113
Zeppelin Shot Down over London Report:
“The crew numbered nineteen. One body was found in the field some way from the wreckage. He must have jumped from the doomed airship from a great height. So great was the force with which he struck the ground that I saw the print of his body clearly in the grass. There was a round hole for the head, then deep marks of the body, with outstretched arms, and finally legs wide apart. Life was in him when he was picked up, but the spark soon went out. He was, in fact, the commander of the airship.”