Russian airships 1914

33k drawing of "Astra XIII", Russia's newest Army airship in 1914 from "Taschenbuch der Luftflotten".

At the eve of World War I in 1914 all the major military powers had airships in their inventories and under construction and Russia was no exception. At that time there were 13 airships in service with the Russian army and four more under construction. From the 13 airships in service, one was of semi-rigid construction, the others were of blimp type. Six of these ships were of French origin, two came from Germany and the remaining five had been built in Russia. The four ships under construction were with one exception all of Russian origin, among them the first two Russian airships of rigid construction. All Russian airships of this period were intended for military purposes, there were no civil airships. In 1914 the Russian airship fleet was the fourth-largest in the world, ranking only behind Germany (23 airships), France (15) and Italy (14).

Table of Russian airships
Pictures	Info
n/a	Albatros Year of construction: 1914 (under construction) Type: Blimp Built at: Izhora Works, Kolpino near St. Petersburg, Russia Owner: Russian Army Engines: ? Volume: 8,000m³ Length: ? Max. diameter: ? Max. width: ? Height: ? Speed: ? Ceiling: ? Payload: ? Fuel provided for: ? Remarks: Rumours that it bursted once during filling in 1912. Manufacturer designation "No. 3".
n/a	Clément-Bayard Year of construction: 1914 (under construction) Type: Blimp Built at: Clément-Bayard, Levalloir-Perret, France Owner: Russian Army Engines: 2 * 180hp Clément-Bayard, 2 propellers Volume: 6,500m³ Length: 73.5m Max. diameter: 12.2m Max. width: ? Height: ? Speed: ca. 55km/h Ceiling: ? Payload: ? Fuel provided for: ? Remarks: Similar to French civil airship "Clément-Bayard VI". Manufacturer designation "Clément-Bayard VII, VIII or IX".
n/a	Kostovich (Kostevich?) Year of construction: 1913 (under construction) Type: Rigid Built at: Russian Army Administration by Eng. Kostevich Owner: Russian Army Engines: ? Volume: 7,000m³ Length: ? Max. diameter: ? Max. width: ? Height: ? Speed: ? Ceiling: ? Payload: ? Fuel provided for: ? Remarks: Framework is said to be constructed from Aborit, a specially prepared wood.
n/a	Kovanko Year of construction: 1913 (under construction) Type: Rigid Built at: Baltic Shipbuilding Co., Riga Owner: Russian Army Engines: 4 * 80hp, 4 propellers Volume: 13,000m³ Length: 80m Max. diameter: ? Max. width: ? Height: ? Speed: ? Ceiling: ? Payload: ? Fuel provided for: ? Remarks: ---
Army airship Astra XIII. Nacelle of Astra XIII, at the left part of elevator.	Astra XIII Year of construction: 1913 Type: Blimp Built at: "Astra" Société de Constructions Aéronautiques, Billancourt, France Owner: Russian Army Engines: 2 * 200hp Chenu, 2 propellers Volume: 9,800m³ Length: 77.8m Max. diameter: 14.9m Max. width: ? Height: 21.5m Speed: 63km/h Ceiling: ? Payload: 3,900kg Fuel provided for: about 20hours Remarks: First flight March 11, 1913. On March 24, 1913 5-hour acceptance flight. First flight in Russia July 22, 1913. Named "Croiseur Russe" by manufacturer.
Army airship Parseval 14 Drawing of Parseval 14	Parseval 14 Year of construction: 1913 Type: Blimp Built at: Luftfahrzeug GmbH, Berlin, Germany Owner: Russian Army Engines: 2 * 180hp Maybach, 2 propellers Volume: 9,600m³ with two 2,700m³ ballonets Length: 85m Max. diameter: 16m Max. width: 18m Height: ? Speed: 67km/h Ceiling: 2,500m Payload: 3,200kg Fuel provided for: 20hours Remarks: First flight February 27, 1913.
Army airship Clément-Bayard V. Nacelle of Clément-Bayard V with elevator and propellers.	Clément-Bayard V Year of construction: 1913 Type: Blimp Built at: Clément-Bayard, Levalloir-Perret, France Owner: Russian Army Engines: 2 * 180hp Clément-Bayard, 2 propellers Volume: 9,600m³ Length: 88m Max. diameter: ca. 16m Max. width: ? Height: ? Speed: 55km/h Ceiling: ? Payload: ? Fuel provided for: ? Remarks: First flight February 9, 1913. February 10, 1913 1-hour speed test, February 11, 1913 4-hour ceiling test to 2,000m with acceptance commission on board.
n/a	Kobchik Year of construction: 1912 Type: Blimp Built at: Duflou & Konstantinovich, Russia Owner: Russian Army Engines: 2 * 45hp, 4 propellers Volume: 2,150m³ Length: 48m Max. diameter: 9.5m Max. width: ? Height: ? Speed: 50km/h Ceiling: ? Payload: ? Fuel provided for: ? Remarks: ---
n/a	Sokol Year of construction: 1911 Type: Blimp Built at: Izhora Works, Kolpino near St. Petersburg, Russia Owner: Russian Army Engine: 1 * 100hp Dion-Bouton, 2 propellers Volume: 2,500m³ Length: 50m Max. diameter: 10m Max. width: ? Height: ? Speed: 54km/h Ceiling: ? Payload: ? Fuel provided for: ? Remarks: Manufacturer designation "No. 2".
n/a	Golub' (Pigeon) Year of construction: 1910/ 11 Type: Blimp Built at: Izhora Works, Kolpino near St. Petersburg, Russia Owner: Russian Army Engine: 1 * 75hp Körting, 2 propellers Volume: 2,270m³ Length: 46m Max. diameter: 9.5m Max. width: ? Height: ? Speed: 50km/h Ceiling: ? Payload: ? Fuel provided for: ? Remarks: Manufacturer designation "No. 1".
n/a	Yastreb Year of construction: 1910/ 11 Type: Blimp Built at: Duks (Dux), Moscow, Russia Owner: Russian Army Engine: 1 * 75hp Dansette-Gillet, 2 propellers Volume: 2,500m³ Length: 50m Max. diameter: 9m Max. width: ? Height: ? Speed: ? Ceiling: ? Payload: ? Fuel provided for: ? Remarks: Rumours that it has been destroyed in March 1913.
n/a	Kretchet Year of construction: 1910/ 11 Type: Blimp Built at: Russian Army Administration Owner: Russian Army Engines: 2 * 100hp Panhard, 2 propellers Volume: 6,900m³ Length: 70m Max. diameter: 11m Max. width: ? Height: ? Speed: ? Ceiling: ? Payload: ? Fuel provided for: ? Remarks: ---
Army airship Griff. Drawing of Griff.	Grif Year of construction: 1910 Type: Blimp Built at: Luftfahrzeug GmbH, Berlin, Germany Owner: Russian Army Engines: 2 * 110hp N.A.G., 2 propellers Volume: 7,600m³ with two 1,400m³ ballonets Length: 72m Max. diameter: 14m Max. width: 16m Height: 21m Speed: 59km/h Ceiling: 1,800m Payload: 2,200kg Fuel provided for: 20hours Remarks: First flight October 10, 1910. Built at the companies facilities at Bitterfeld. Acceptance flights took place at Zalizi near Gatchina.
Army airship Clément-Bayard I.	Clément-Bayard I Year of construction: 1910 Type: Blimp Built at: "Astra" Société de Constructions Aéronautiques, Billancourt, France Owner: Russian Army Engine: 1 * 105hp Clément-Bayard, 1 propeller Volume: 3,500m³ with one 1,100m³ ballonet Length: 56.2m Max. diameter: 10.6m Max. width: ? Height: 18m Speed: 54km/h Ceiling: ? Payload: 1,000kg Fuel provided for: ? Remarks: Order sub-contracted to "Astra" (Surcouf Works) by Clément-Bayard.
Army airship Chaika.	Chaika, Korshun Year of construction: 1910 Type: Blimp Built at: "Zodiac" Société Française de Ballons Dirigeables et d'Aviation (Anciens Établissements Aéronautiques Maurice Mallet), Puteaux, France Owner: Russian Army Engine: 1 * 60hp Labor, 1 propeller Volume: 2,140m³ Length: 48m Max. diameter: 10m Max. width: ? Height: 17m Speed: 40km/h Ceiling: ? Payload: ? Fuel provided for: ? Remarks: Manufacturer designation "Zodiac 7". Identical sistership "Zodiac 8" also to Russia as "Korshun".
n/a	Lebed' Year of construction: 1910 Type: Semi-rigid Built at: Atelier Lebaudy Frères, Moisson par La Roche-Guyon, France Owner: Russian Army Engine: 1 * 70hp Panhard-Levasseur, 2 propellers Volume: 3,700m³ Length: 61m Max. diameter: 10.8m Max. width: 11m Height: 17m Speed: 49km/h Ceiling: ? Payload: 1,250kg Fuel provided for: ? Remarks: Originally named "Rossiya". Manufacturer designation "Lebaudy 4".

In the available sources are mentioned two more airships, one of semi-rigid and one of blimp type. The semi-rigid construction was named "Forssmann" after its designer, the Engineer V. Forssmann, was built in 1910 and had a volume of only 800m³, a length of 37m, a diameter of 6m and a weight of 450kg. The blimp - called "Uchebnyj" - was larger (1,500m³) and was constructed in 1908 by Captain Shabskij. Both ships belonged to the Russian Army.

The operation of airships demanded an infrastructure consisting of airship hangars. In Russia in 1914 such hangars existed or were under construction in the following places: Berdichev, Brest-Litovsk, Dünaburg, Gomel', Kiev, Kovno, Lida, Lutsk, Minsk, St. Petersburg (3 hangars), Pleskau, Reval, Zalizi-Gatchina (2 hangars), Vitebsk, Vladivostok (2 under construction, 2 planned). These hangars were part of the so-called first and second fortification lines. Their length varied from 80 to 166m, their width from 18 to 48m and their height from 23 to 30m. Most of the hangars were built of wood, but there were also a few steel constructions. The following pictures show the hangar and its construction phases at Lutsk - a steel construction erected by the German company "Ballonhallenbau Arthur Müller GmbH" at Berlin-Charlottenburg.

1st construction phase

2nd construction phase

3rd construction phase

Completed hangar