How could an Earth-like planet support all-metal airships?

When I say all-metal airships, I'm referring to something like the above from Jakub Rozalski's artwork - the design is more akin to a naval destroyer or battleship and less like a zeppelin. We've seen metal-clad airships before but they didn't seem to work out too well.

The level of technology is roughly equivalent to the early 20th century, with fantasy elements thrown in.

I'm admittedly not too knowledgeable about what would need to be changed regarding this Earth-like planet's composition, but I'd like for it to still be capable of harboring intelligent humanoid life either way. I'm assuming the gravity would need to be reduced or the atmosphere would need to be thicker with lifting gases - the pictures show engine propulsion but I thought there could be a case for a large enough amount of gas cells protected within the interior.

posted almost 5 years ago

Vigilant‭

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