Fire Nation airship



The Fire Nation airship is a massive, aerial warship designed and manufactured by the Fire Nation.

History
Until the summer of 100 ASC, the Fire Nation did not have an air force, but it had blackmailed the mechanist, an Earth Kingdom inventor, to manufacture weapons for its military. Among these weapons was a hot air balloon, which the Fire Nation acquired when Avatar Aang and friends lost their balloon in the process of defending the Northern Air Temple. Unfortunately, War Minister Qin, the overseer of the Fire Nation's weapons development, recovered the remains of the balloon and proclaimed that the defeat was "the gateway to many victories". His scientists reverse engineered the technology to produce both more war balloons and seventeen modified versions, called airships.

On the Day of Black Sun, after the Invasion of the Fire Nation failed, the Fire Nation released five of these zeppelin-like aircrafts, alongside several war balloons, to bomb the invaders. Fortunately, the entire force survived thanks to a quick defensive wall the earthbenders conjured up. Much to their horror, the airships didn't turn around to bomb the invaders again, but kept going for the beach where they bombed the submarines the ragtag army had used to infiltrate the Fire Nation Capital, thus trapping the invaders on the Fire Nation mainland. Aang and the other youngsters of the group managed to flee on Appa, but were forced to leave the adults behind as prisoners of war. The small group escaped just as Princess Azula's airship tailed them. She chose not to follow them since the bison was too fast, but she was certain that they would be back.

Upon learning of Zuko's imprisonment in the Boiling Rock, Azula, Ty Lee, and Mai went to the prison in one of these airships. After Sokka and Zuko managed to escape with Suki, Hakoda, and Chit Sang, they took control over Azula's airship and used it to return to the Western Air Temple.

These airships appeared again when Azula led a fleet of them to attack the Western Air Temple. The airships now featured a cannon able to shoot bombs, and a command tower. Despite the ferocious attack, the Avatar's entire group managed to escape on Appa while their allies fled on the airship they stole at the Boiling Rock.



It was revealed prior to the Battle at Wulong Forest that Fire Lord Ozai, determined to snuff out all surviving rebel forces across the continent, commissioned in a war meeting prior to the Day of Black Sun that his entire armada would burn the Earth Kingdom to the ground when Sozin's Comet arrived. Using over a dozen warships and the enhanced powers granted to the firebenders by the comet, these airships commenced to burn down the Earth Kingdom. These plans were thwarted, however, when Toph, Sokka, and Suki, in a genius attack, hijacked one of these airships, and rammed it into the rest of the fleet. Meanwhile, Aang used his enhanced powers to destroy Phoenix King Ozai's personal airship, which was three times the size of a conventional airship and adorned in a more ceremonious manner. While Aang took care of Ozai, Sokka, Suki, and Toph continued their progress by forcing the remaining airships to crash into each other, effectively saving the Earth Kingdom.

Only one airship survived the battle in working condition, namely the one that Suki hijacked to save Sokka and Toph.

Design


In contrast to the small, two-man crew war balloons, the Fire Nation airships are enormous vessels, comparable to Fire Nation cruisers in size, composition, and crew complement. The structure is made entirely of metal and can carry at least fifty crew members. These hulking war machines are air-powered and employ multiple propeller sets on the sides of their hulls for propulsion. They are extremely long and have an ornamental dragon's head to instill fear into enemy forces. They can carry dozens of bombs that they drop from the hatches on their underbellies in order to destroy ground targets. The airships can also be armed with rudimentary cannons that launch these bombs. They also supported some sort of communication system, since there were crew members responsible for "communications". Catwalks hang from the ship's underside so that firebenders can fire projectiles at oncoming enemy air forces; for safety reasons, these troops are secured with harnesses.

Ozai had his own personal airship, which was noticeably larger than the others and featured a golden phoenix head on the front instead of a bronze dragon's head.

Crew
Airships are crewed by firebenders for defense, engineers for operation, and an airship captain. Normally the crew is composed of regular firebenders, but during the Battle at Wulong Forest the airships were manned by Imperial Firebenders. A standard crew also has a commanding officer.

Airships can carry at least fifty crew members. Apparently the engineers fulfill only a supporting role in the fueling of the airships and are not necessary for its running, as the one hijacked by Sokka's group was able to work long after its engineers were dumped with the rest of its crew.

Weaknesses
The airships can be crippled by breaking the rotors that propel it; as well, they are unable to keep up with other transportations, such as a sky bison.

Trivia

 * The large airships are most likely based on the zeppelins of Germany used from the late 1800s to the 1940s, such as the Graf Zeppelin and the Hindenburg.
 * Strictly speaking, the Fire Nation should not have been capable of producing airships. They only had balloon technology, which is based on heated air. Airships, on the other hand, require the use of light gases, such as helium or hydrogen, to achieve sufficient lift, as they carry much heavier gondolas than balloons. The main structure of the warships are also far more ornate and, presumably, heavier than traditional airships, making it highly unlikely that these ships are flying on heated air.
 * In The Legend of Korra, metalbender cops use vehicles similar to airships as a means of transportation in Republic City.