Lebaudy Frères was a French sugar producer based in Moisson

Moisson

Moisson is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France.-History:On 12 November, 1903, the Lebaudy brothers made a controlled dirigible flight of from Moisson to Paris....

, France. In addition to sugar, they also made a series of semi-rigid airship

Semi-rigid airship

Semi-rigid airships are airships with a partial framework. These often consist of a rigid, or occasionally, flexible, keel frame along the long axis under the aerodynamic hull envelope. The partial framework can also be located inside the hull...

s in the early years of the twentieth century, some of which saw service with several European armies.

Operation

Paul and Pierre Lebaudy were the owners of a sugar refinery who, with the assistance of their engineer Henri Julliot as designer, built semi-rigid airships which saw service with the French army

French Army

The French Army, officially the Armée de Terre , is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces.As of 2010, the army employs 123,100 regulars, 18,350 part-time reservists and 7,700 Legionnaires. All soldiers are professionals, following the suspension of conscription, voted in...

, the Russian army

Imperial Russian Army

The Imperial Russian Army was the land armed force of the Russian Empire, active from around 1721 to the Russian Revolution of 1917. In the early 1850s, the Russian army consisted of around 938,731 regular soldiers and 245,850 irregulars . Until the time of military reform of Dmitry Milyutin in...

 and the Austrian army.

They constructed an airship hangar

Hangar

A hangar is a closed structure to hold aircraft or spacecraft in protective storage. Most hangars are built of metal, but other materials such as wood and concrete are also sometimes used...

 at Moisson, near the River Seine downstream from Paris and were instrumental in the development of airships in the first decade of the twentieth century.

Their semi-rigid airships were considered useful for military purposes and several were ordered by the French War Ministry.

Airships designed by Henri Julliot for Lebaudy Frères

(The following table is from "D'Orcy's Airship Manual", New York, 1917)
Lebaudy Frères, Moisson près Mantes (Seine-et-Oise). Builders of pressure airships of the keel-girder type to the designs of M. Henri Juillot (sic). Keel-girder of steel-tubing, forming a rigid understructure. Trim controlled by lifting planes.

Works No.	Name (Trials)	Length (m)	Beam (m)	Volume (m³)	Power (h.p.)	Speed (km/h)	Notes
1	Lebaudy  (November, 1902)	56.5	9.8	2,284	40	35	Experimental airship. Astra hull. One Mercedes engine ; twin-screws. Ballonet : 300 m³. Was the first successful modern airship. Best endurance : 98 km. in 2.75 hrs. Refitted with a new hull, the airship made 12 ascents but was carried away by the storm on Aug. 28, 1904, and badly damaged. Was repaired and eventually rebuilt. Ballonet: 500 m³. Resumed her ascents, but was again laid up for repairs of her hull, which had been torn by the storm when landing at the Camp de Châlons. Reached on Nov. loth, 1905, twice in succession an altitude of 1,370 m. Her builders sold the airship to the French 'Army for the nominal sum of Frs. 80,000 ($16,ooo) in December, 1905.
la	Lebaudy II. (August, 1904)	56.5	9.8	2,660	40	35	-
Ib	Lebaudy III (July, 1905)	56.5	10	2,950	50	35	-
Ic	Lebaudy IV (October, 1908)	61	10.3	3,300	70	40	French Army airship, as rebuilt by the Army Airship Works. Ballonet : 650 m³. One Panhard-Levassor engine; twin-screws. Best altitude, 1,550 m. (in 1908).Was moored in the open for 17 days in the autumn of 1909. Dismantled in 1912.
2	Patrie Lebaudy Patrie The Lebaudy Patrie was a semi-rigid airship built for the French army in Moisson, France, by sugar manufacturers Lebaudy Frères. Designed by Henri Julliot, the company's chief engineer, the Patrie was completed in November 1906 and handed over to the military the following month, thus becoming the... (November, 1906)	61	10.3	3,250	60	45	French Army airship. Ballonet :650 m³. One Panhard-Levassor engine ; twin-screws. Best endurance:240 km. in 6.75 hrs., after reconstruction. Was carried away by the storm on Nov. 30th, 1907; foundered in the Atlantic.
2a	(November, 1907)	61	10.9	3,650	60	45	-
3	République Lebaudy République The Lebaudy République was a semi-rigid airship built for the French army in Moisson, France, by sugar manufacturers Lebaudy Frères. She was a sister ship of the Patrie, the main differences between the two being in the dimensions of the gasbag and the ballonet... (June. 1908)	61	10.9	3,700	70	50	French Army airship. Ballonet: 730 m³. One Panhard-Levassor engine : twin-screws. Best endurance (in closed circuit) : 210 km. in 7.25 hrs. Was destroyed in mid-air on Aug. 25th, 1909, through the breaking of one screw which burst the hull. The crew of four were killed.
4	Lebedj (ex-Russie) (May, 1909)	61.2	10.9	3,800	70	49	Russian Army airship. One Panhard-Levassor engine; twin-screws. Ballonet : 900 m³.
5	Liberté (August 1909)	65	12.5	4,200	120	45	French Army airship, as originally (August, 1909) laid down. Was modified, on account of the disaster of the République, before being commissioned.
5a	(June 1910)	84	12.8	7,000	120	53	Two Panhard-Levassor engines ; twin-screws. Designed endurance : 8 hrs. Dismantled in 1914.
6	M. II (May, 1910)	-	-	-	-	-	Austrian Army airship. Built to Messrs. Lebaudy's designs by the Motor-Luftfahrzeug Gesellschaft of Vienna.
7	Morning Post (September 1910)	103	12	9,800	270	55	British Army airship, purchased by a national subscription started by the London daily Morning Post. Ballonet : 2,500 m³. Two Panhard- Levassor engines ; twin-screws. On Oct. 26th, 1910, the airship flew from Moisson to Aldershot (370 km. in 5.5 hrs.), but was damaged on being berthed. Re-commissioned a few months afterwards, the airship was wrecked through faulty manoeuvring on May 4, 1911, by stranding in some trees.
8	Lebaudy Kretchet (1911)	70	14	5,680	200	50	Russian Army airship, built to Messrs. Lebaudy's designs by the Russian Army Airship Works. Keel-girder, pressure type . Two Panhard-Lavassor engines; twin-screws.