Zeppelin LZ 31

The Imperial German Navy Zeppelin LZ 31 (L 6) was an M-class World War I Zeppelin.

Operational history
Throughout the career of the Imperial German Navy Airship LZ 31 took part in 36 reconnaissance missions around the North Sea. This included marking minefields and one raid on the United Kingdom, dropping 700 kg of bombs.

Raid on Cuxhaven
The Raid on Cuxhaven was a British ship-based air-raid on the Imperial German Navy complex at Cuxhaven mounted on Christmas Day, 1914. After the raid Zeppelin LZ 31 set off to find the attacking naval force the aircraft came from. After retrieving the aircraft, the Navy force attempted to return to base but HMS Empress (1914) was left behind. High enough that the Royal Navy ship's guns could not harm it, LZ 31 dropped bombs on HMS Empress (1914) but none of the airship's bombs hit their mark.

Fire and destruction
On 16 September 1916 the airship was in its hangar at Fuhlsbüttel undergoing inflation when it caught fire and was destroyed with Zeppelin LZ 36.