Affectionately named "battlebags" by their crews and "pigs" by the local civilian inhabitants, Royal Navy Air Service airships were a familiar sight around Britains's shores. At least 226 airships of all types were built and operated by the Royal Navy during the war in a bid to beat the deadly German U-boat menace. This book describes the development of the airship in the years leading up to World War I and the part it was destined to play in the years that followed. The background to each class is given together with details of individual airships, including where they were built and stationed, their crews and technical information.