Designed by Henri Julliot, Lebaudy's chief engineer, the Patrie was completed in November 1906 and handed over to the French army the following month.

During a storm on 30 November she was torn loose from her temporary moorings and, despite the efforts of some 200 soldiers who tried to restrain her, she was carried away by the high winds and lost from sight.

M. Julliot, the designer of the Patrie, stated that "each of the French ships can carry thirty, and on short journeys, even fifty torpedoes of 10 kilogrammes (22 lb) each.

[5] A contemporary author related that "from a height of 4,000 feet (1,200 m) the Patrie observed the smallest movements of formed bodies of troops at the Satory camp and obtained very clear telephotographs of them.

[7] The Patrie was a semi-rigid airship manufactured by the French sugar magnates Paul and Pierre Lebaudy and designed by their chief engineer, Henri Julliot.

[11][12] The gondola, constructed of nickel-steel tubing, was suspended some 3.4 meters (11 feet) below an elliptical steel frame (or keel) attached to the bottom of the gas-bag, under the centre of lift.

[5] Other equipment included "a 'siren' speaking trumpet, carrier pigeons, iron pins, ropes for anchoring the airship, a reserve supply of fuel and water, and a fire extinguisher".

The valves on the gas-bag released hydrogen automatically when the pressure exceeded two inches of water (inAq) (500 Pa, 0.723 psi); whereas the ballonet valves opened when the air pressure exceeded 0.78 inAq (195 Pa, 0.282 psi), thus ensuring that air was driven out of the ballonet before there was any loss of hydrogen from the gas-bag.

[11] Horizontal motion was controlled by the movement of a balanced rudder at the rear of an empennage on a long boom, mounted below the gas-bag and aft of the gondola (see lead image).

During trials it was decided that a greater degree of control over vertical motion was required, which would also allow the pilot to compensate for "involuntary rising or falling of the airship due to expansion or contraction of the gas, or to other causes".

For this purpose a movable horizontal plane was installed above the car and near the centre of gravity, which resulted in the loss of gas and ballast being reduced to a minimum.

Although a pipe became detached, showering the Premier with hot water, he reacted nonchalantly, saying "I cannot sufficiently express my admiration for this wonderful contrivance".

[20] The Patrie was then deflated for alterations that included the addition of a 500 cubic metre (17,660 ft³) cylindrical section to the gas-bag,[11] the change to the empennage, and provision of new propellers.

On 23 November 1907, the Patrie was flown to her operational base at Belleville-sur-Meuse near Verdun, close to the Franco-German border, a journey of 240 km (149 mi) in 6 hours 45 minutes, at an average speed of 36 km/h (22 mph) and a height of 850 metres (2,790 ft).

[3] Relieved of her ballast of 750 kilograms (1,650 lb) and without a crew, she shot up to a great height (calculated by the constructor to have been some 2,000 metres (6,600 ft)),[24] and was carried away in a north-westerly direction.

In 2007, the French newspaper Journal l'Alsace / Le Pays reprinted a news item from 5 December 1907, which spoke of the "anxiety" caused in Paris by this "disaster".

[25] It was feared that the Patrie could have risen into an eastward air current, crossed the nearby Franco-German border and fallen into "Prussian" hands,[26] so news reports of her whereabouts were eagerly awaited.

[28] On the afternoon of the same day, she made landfall at Ballysallagh, near Holywood, County Down in northern Ireland, where a propeller and bevel gear assembly were broken off (see photo).

[29] The Patrie continued to drift northwards, where the last reported sighting of the dirigible was by Captain Buchanan of the steamship Olivine at latitude 58°N near the Hebrides, after which she was never seen again.

[37] Data from The Present State of Military Aeronautics, Flight Magazine Global Archive, 27 February 1909[5]General characteristics Performance Armament