The Dixmude, a massive airship measuring 226.52 meters, was originally constructed by Germany during World War I. Built by the Zeppelin company and designated as L 72 by the Imperial German Navy, it had a volume of 68,490 cubic meters—roughly the size of 27 Olympic swimming pools. It was the last Zeppelin built during the war and was intended to carry out a bombing mission over New York. However, this mission was never carried out due to the armistice that ended the war. After the conflict, the airship was handed over to France as part of war reparations in July 1920. The French Navy renamed it The Dixmude in October 1920, in honor of French sailors who died during the Battle of Diksmuide in 1914. In September 1923, The Dixmude set a world record for continuous flight, staying aloft for 118 hours and 50 minutes and covering 7,200 kilometers. This surpassed the previous records held by British airships. The French Navy regarded The Dixmude as its flagship, and it was used for several successful flights. A seventh flight was planned to test the airship over the Sahara, with a planned return route through Tunisia and Sicily. The flight was to carry 40 crew members and 10 passengers, including two brothers, Adrien and Henri Roustan, aged 31 and 29. On December 21, 1923, The Dixmude encountered a severe storm off the coast of Sicily. The first radio message, sent at 1:21, reported the storm, and a second at 2:08 indicated that the antenna had to be retracted. No further messages were received. A witness later reported seeing a lightning strike in the clouds, a red light inside the airship, and then four burning objects falling into the sea. All 50 people on board were lost. The wreck of the main hull was never found, and the sea returned almost nothing. On December 26, fishermen recovered the body of the commander, Jean du Plessis de Grenédan. Four months later, the body of the radio petty officer Guillaume was found. Two aluminum tanks marked "75 L-72" were also recovered, revealing the airship's original German name, along with other debris. The other 48 bodies have never been found. The exact cause of the disaster remains uncertain. The most commonly considered scenario is that a lightning strike ignited the hydrogen in the ballast tanks. However, no definitive evidence has been found to confirm this, as the main wreck was never located. A monument in Pierrefeu, in the Var region, near the Cuers base from which The Dixmude took off, honors the memory of the 50 people who were lost.