Airship LZ 38 was the first of the new P class, of which a total of 21 were built for the army and navy by the end of 1915. With a length of 163.5m (536.4feet), the ships were the longest zeppelins to date. With this increase in size the diameter of the ships and their gas volume lift power also increased considerably. With this added lift the Zeppelin was then equipped with four engines.
The first P class Zeppelin constructed was LZ 38, assigned to the Army and first flown on 3 May 1915. LZ 38 was first used on the Eastern Front with the Königsberg and Schneidemühl locations and then moved to Düsseldorf and Brussels-Evere in early May 1915 for use in the West.
After a series of raids on the East coast of England it attacked London. In total it carried out five raids on England.
LZ 38 became the first airship to bomb London on 31 May 1915, dropping 3000lb of bombs on the eastern suburb of London, killing seven people. A consequence of this raid was that reporting restrictions were introduced in England. Formerly press coverage contained detailed accounts of the location of bombing raids: after this, only generalised locations were published. The first bomb, an incendiary, was dropped on 16 Alkham Road. Moving south it dropped eight more bombs. Its ninth landed on 33 Cowper Road setting the house on fire killed 3-year-old Elsie Leggatt and her 11-year-old sister, Elizabeth May. The next incendiary set fire to 187 Balls Pond Road causing the death of the married couple, Henry and Caroline Good in the resulting flames. Steering away from the Tower of London, and, over Whitechapel LZ 38 dropped another explosive on Christian Street: 8-year-old Samuel Reuben and 16-year-old Leah Lehrman were killed. The seventh and last victim was Eleanor Willis, 67, who died of shock two days later. In total Zeppelin LZ 38 dropped 91 incendiaries, 28 explosive bombs and 2 grenades.
It was destroyed when its shed at Evere was bombed on 7 June 1915.