[1] A famous photo of Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin aboard the "L 30" with Hauptmann Macher exists, allegedly taken sometime in April 1916 in Friedrichshafen, before its completion.

[6] Drawing on experiences from the early months of WWI and requests from the German Imperial Navy, Arnstein developed a new form of Zeppelin construction.

The R Class was also notable for being the first series with side gondolas, L 30 being the first to be constructed with them, an invention introduced by the Scütte-Lanz SL 2 airship in 1914.

[6] For armaments to defend against enemy aircraft, 10 Type 08/15 machine guns with a shortened barrel and water cooling were installed.

[1] "L 30" was stationed in Nordholz near Cuxhaven from 30 May 1916, in Ahlhorn southwest of Bremen from 21 August 1916, in Tondern from 5 April 1917, and in Seerappen near Königsberg, East Prussia from 2 May 1917.

It was taken out of service 17 November 1917 and stored in Seerappen, from where it was broken up in 1920 and parts of it (including gondolas and radio equipment) were sent to Belgium as war reparations.

Buttlar-Brandenfels experienced navigational problems however, and failed to cross the coast of England before ditching his cargo of bombs and returning to Germany.

[8] From 2 May 1917, "L 30" was stationed in Seerappen, 15 km west of Königsberg, wherefrom it took part in Operation Albion on the Baltic Front with reconnaissance flights and at least 4 bombing raids, culminating in the Battle of Moon Sound on 17 October, leading to the German conquering of the Estonian islands of Ösel, Dagö and Muhu (then part of the Russian Empire).

[11] The station towns of Valmiera (German: Wolmar) and Valga (German: Walk) in northern Latvia on the railway connection between Riga and Pskov was bombed by "L 30" on the 7 or 8 September 1917, under Karl von Bödecker from Seerappen, alongside "L 37"" under Paul Gärtner from Seddin near Stolp, and "LZ 113" and "LZ 120" from Wainoden in occupied Curonia.

[12] During the morning of 16 October 1917, L 30 initiated an attack on Pärnu (German: Pernau) on the Parnu River's mouth in the Bay of Riga.

"L 37" continued the attack later the evening, dropping 2 tons of bombs, but had to return to Seerappen with a serious fire in the bottom center motor-gondola.

Lecomte, then director of the Royal Museum of the Armed Forces and Military History in Brussels, managed to secure parts of the airship for display.