[5] Under the command of lieutenant Jean du Plessis de Grenédan it was then flown across France to the naval air base at Cuers-Pierrefeu near Toulon.

Although new gasbags could have been purchased from the Zeppelin company, the French preferred to have their own made in France, resulting in a two-year delay while the technique of using gold beater's skin was mastered.

Between 30 August and 2 September, it made a 2,800 km (1,700 mi) trip to North Africa, passing over Algiers, Tunis and Bizerte, and returning via Sardinia and Corsica.

The return flight over the Mediterranean was delayed by a storm which initially caused du Plessis to turn back to Bizerte, but after the weather cleared a successful crossing was made.

On 18 December, Dixmude left Cuers with the intention of making a return flight to In Salah, an oasis deep in the Sahara, carrying a crew of 40 and 10 passengers.

The intention had been to make a stop at the Baraki airfield near Algiers; a north-west headwind caused du Plessis to alter course to the east, and the dirigible was seen crossing Tunisia on the evening of 20 December.

Later that morning, two aluminium fuel tanks washed up, bearing the numbers "75 L-72" and "S-2-48  LZ-113" and various other debris, including charred scraps of fabric and fragments of the duralumin girders.