About the same time the War Department purchased the _Gross I_, already described, and Zeppelin’s third great ship, naming it _Zeppelin I_. Germany thus began her program of developing a great aërial fleet, by acquiring three powerful and well tried ships, each capable of remaining all day in the air, and having a radius of action of several hundred miles. They were frequently called upon to make test voyages in all kinds of weather, to maneuver with the troops, to pass in review before the Emperor, at times conveying prominent officers and members of the noblest families, including Prince Henry and the Crown Prince, who manifested a fondness for navigating about their newly opened empire of the sky. But sometimes the tests were crucial. On September 11, 1908, both the _Gross_ and _Parseval_ were summoned to Potsdam by His Majesty. They set forth from their sheds, at Tegel, in face of a strong wind. After journeying some distance they each had to abandon the voyage, the _Gross_ returning home, and the _Parseval_ falling to the ground owing to an accident. The third Parseval air ship was brought forth on February 18, 1909, by the Luftfahrzeug-Gesellschaft, an aëronautical firm founded by merging the Motor-Luftschiff-Studien-Gesellschaft with the A. E. G. This vessel closely resembled her predecessor, but possessed greater size, power, and perfection of detail. Her hull at first measured 224 feet long, 47 feet in diameter, and 198,000 cubic feet in volume, but later was enlarged to 235,000 cubic feet by increasing its diameter. Her car, which could accommodate twelve passengers, was framed of steel tubing covered with canvas, and was divided into two parts, separated by the big gasoline cylinder running athwart ship, the passenger cabin being to the fore, the engine room aft. Here were stationed the two engines, of 120 horse power each, actuating reversible right and left _Parseval_ screws 13 feet in diameter, located to the rear, well aloft and outward on either side. In the forepart of the passenger cabin was space for the pilot and his navigating appliances; his chart desk, his valve controls, his statoscope, manometers, etc.