{{Short description|German airship in the First World War}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox ship |section1={{Infobox ship/image |image=Schütte-Lanz 1916.svg |image_caption=Silhouette of SL 11 }}

|section2={{Infobox ship/career |hide_header= |country=German Empire |flag=60px |name=''SL 11'' |namesake= |owner= |operator=German Army |ordered= |awarded= |builder=Luftschiffbau Schütte-Lanz |original_cost= |yard_number= |way_number= |laid_down= |launched= 1 August 1916 |sponsor= |christened= |completed= |acquired= |commissioned= |recommissioned= |decommissioned= |maiden_voyage= |in_service= |out_of_service= |renamed= |reclassified= |refit= |struck= |reinstated= |homeport=Spich |identification= |motto= |nickname= |honours= |honors= |captured= |fate=Shot down, September 3, 1916 |notes= |badge= }}

|section3={{Infobox ship/characteristics |hide_header= |header_caption= |class= |type=Airship |tonnage=21 tonnes |displacement= 38 780 m³ of hydrogen |length=174 metres |beam=20.1 metres |draught= |draft= |depth= |hold_depth= |decks= |deck_clearance= |ramps= |ice_class= |power=4 Maybach 960 hp/716 kW total |propulsion= |sail_plan= |speed=91.8 km/h |range= |endurance= |test_depth= |boats= |capacity= |troops= |complement=16 |crew= |armament= |aircraft= |aircraft_facilities= |notes= }} }} The '''Schütte-Lanz ''SL 11''''' was a German military dirigible built in 1916 by Luftschiffbau Schütte-Lanz. It was the first German airship to be shot down while bombing England.

==Operational history== thumb|left|British propaganda postcard entitled "The End of the 'Baby-Killer'"

The ''SL 11'' was based at Spich and commanded by Hauptmann Wilhelm Schramm. In the early hours of 3 September 1916, after jettisoning bombs over Essendon, Hertfordshire, destroying several houses, damaging a church, and killing two sisters aged 26 and 12,<ref name="TTJ">{{cite journal |title=Obituary |journal=Telegraph and Telephone Journal |date=October 1916 |volume=3 |issue=25 |page=14 |url=http://www.samhallas.co.uk/repository/journals/Telegraph_%26_Telephone_Journal/Whole%20year%20editions/Telegraph%20and%20Telephone%20Journal%20-%20Vol%2003%20(Oct%201916%20-%20Sep1917).pdf}}</ref><ref name="HaW">{{Cite web|url=http://www.hertsatwar.co.uk/zeppelin-raids-hertfordshire|title=Zeppelin Raids|website=Herts at War|access-date=2016-09-04|archive-date=28 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170228221343/http://www.hertsatwar.co.uk/zeppelin-raids-hertfordshire|url-status=dead}}</ref> it was then shot down over nearby Cuffley by Lt. William Leefe Robinson flying a BE 2C using incendiary ammunition. It crashed at Cuffley, killing the entire crew, who were buried at Potters Bar Cemetery; they were re-interred at Cannock Chase German Military Cemetery in 1962.<ref name=Baker>{{cite book|last=Baker|first=Brian|title=The Zeppelin Graves on Cannock Chase|date=2002|edition=2nd revised & extended|publisher=The Association of Friends of Cannock Chase|location=Cannock Chase|pages=1–2}}</ref> Robinson was awarded the Victoria Cross.

==Specifications==

*First Flight: 1 August 1916 *Length: {{cvt|174|m|ft|0}} *Diameter: {{cvt|20.1|m|ft|0}} *Gas Capacity: {{cvt|38780|m3|cuft}} *Performance: {{cvt|91.8|km/h|mph kn}} *Payload: {{cvt|21|t|kg lb}} *Engines: 4x Maybach HS-Lu 6-cyl in-line engines:{{cvt|960|hp|PS kW}} total {{Clear}}

== See also == * List of Schütte-Lanz airships

== Citations == {{Reflist}}

==References==

* {{cite book |last=Liddell Hart |first=Sir Basil Henry |author-link=B. H. Liddell Hart |title=A History of the World War 1914–1918 |year=1934 |publisher=Faber |isbn=978-0-304-93653-3}}

{{LZ Navbox}} {{LZ shot down over UK}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sl 11}} Category:Airships of Germany Category:History of St Albans Category:1916 ships Category:Rigid airships Category:Aircraft first flown in 1916 Category:Four-engined pusher aircraft