One successful reconnaissance mission. L 48 and its U-class sister Airships were designed to fly as high as 20000feet.
L 48 joined attempted attack on London with 4 other Zeppelins, L 42, L 44, L 45 and L 47. Commanded by George Eichler, on his thirteenth raid, it became lost and was intercepted and destroyed by Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.12, serial No. 6110, flown by Canadian pilot Second Lieutenant Loudon Pierce Watkins. He was attached to No. 37 Squadron of British Royal Flying Corps (RFC) fighters. Watkins enlisted with his three brothers. He had been based in the UK, as home defence, since 11 December 1916. Watkins shot down L 48 over water near Great Yarmouth on 17 June 1917 but it crashed near Theberton, Suffolk, a village near the town of Leiston. Three survivors; crew buried at St Peter's Church, Theberton, later to be exhumed and reburied at Cannock Chase.
Of the seven Zeppelins lost over England that were shot down in 1917 during the First World War, L 48 was the only one shot down by the RFC's Home defence.
NotesReferences
. Walter J. Boyne. The Influence of Air Power Upon History. 2005. Casemate Publishers. 9781844151998. - Total pages: 464
. Sydney F. Wise. Canadian Airmen and the First World War: The Official History of the Royal Canadian Air Force, Volume I. 1980. University of Toronto Press. 9780802023797. 17 June 2020.