The LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin was a large dirigible, or more specifically, a rigid airship in the early 20th century. It was named after the German pioneer of airships, Ferdinand von Zeppelin, who held the rank of Graf or Count in the German nobility (in German usage the “von” in a name is omitted when a title such as “Graf” is employed).
It flew for the first time on September 18, 1928 and, with a total length of 236.6 m (776 ft) and volume of 105 000 m³ (3,708,040 ft³), was the largest airship up to that time. It was powered by five Maybach 550 hp engines that ran on Blau gas and could carry a payload of 60 metric tonnes.