Fire Nation airship

The Fire Nation Airship is a massive aerial warship designed and manufactured by the Fire Nation. They appear in for the first time in "The Day of Black Sun, Part 2: The Eclipse".

History
During the Books One and Two, the Fire Nation did not have an air force. However, in "The Northern Air Temple", it is revealed that the Fire Nation has blackmailed the Mechanist, an Earth Kingdom inventor, to make weapons for the Fire Nation. Among these weapons was the War Balloon. When Aang and his friends discovered this, they drove off the Fire Nation after they launched a large attack on the Northern Air Temple. Unfortunately, War Minister Qin, the overseer of the Fire Nation's weapons development, captured the balloon and proclaimed, "This defeat is the gateway to many victories". Qin adapted the technology used on the balloons to produce many more of these craft, as well as seventeen massive airships.

On the Day of Black Sun, after the invasion failed, the Fire Nation released five of these massive crafts, alongside several war balloons, to bomb the invaders. Fortunately, the entire force survived thanks to the use of their native elements. Unfortunately, the entire force was trapped when the airships destroyed the Waterbending Powered Submarines the group used to get into the Fire Nation Capital. Aang and his friends fled on Appa and were forced to leave the adults behind. The small group escaped just as Azula's airship tailed them. She chose not to follow them since Appa was too fast, but she was certain that they would be back.

After learning of Zuko's imprisonment in the Boiling Rock, Azula, Ty Lee and Mai go to the prison in one of the Airships. After Sokka and Zuko manage to escape with Suki, Hakoda and Chit Sang, they take control over the Airship, and use it to return to the Western Air Temple.

These Airships appeared once again when Azula led a fleet of them to attack the Western Air Temple. The Airships now feature a cannon able to shoot bombs, and a command tower. Despite the ferocious attack, the Avatar's entire group escaped, with their allies fleeing on the Airship they stole at the Boiling Rock.



It is revealed prior to the Battle at Wulong Forest that Ozai commissioned his entire armada to burn the Earth Kingdom to the ground prior to the Day of Black Sun, determined to snuff out all surviving rebel forces across the continent. Using over a dozen warships and the enhanced powers granted to the Fire Nation by Sozin's Comet, these Airships proceeded to burn down the Earth Kingdom. However, in a genius attack led by Toph, Sokka, and Suki, one of these Airships was hijacked and they used it to ram into the rest of the fleet. Aang used his enhanced powers to destroy Phoenix King Ozai's Personal Airship, which was three times the size of a conventional Airship. The kids 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. It was likely commissioned for use by the Earth Kingdom.

With the end of the War, it is highly likely that Fire Lord Zuko has ceased further production of these Airships. It's possible that the technology was adapted for the purpose of civilian air travel. It is unlikely that the Fire Nation had any other Airships in their arsenal besides those that were assigned to attack the Earth Kingdom.

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. Airships can also be armed with rudimentary cannons that launch these bombs. Catwalks hang from the ship's underside so that Firebenders can fire projectiles at oncoming enemy air forces. 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 and engineers for operation. 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.

Weaknesses
The airships can be crippled by breaking the rotors that propel it. Azula also mentions that they are unable to keep up with Appa.

Trivia

 * The large airships are most likely based on the Zeppelins of Germany used from the late 1800's to the 1940's, 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.


 * It is unlikely for Zuko to have gained control of the airship fleet, because most or all of the airships were destroyed in the Battle at Wulong Forest, but as Fire Lord he could have commissioned more airships built for the Fire Nation Military.