USS Macon (ZRS-5)

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Career	Image:US Naval Jack.svg
USS Macon over Moffett Field</center>
Launched:	April 21 1933
Commissioned:	23 June 1933
Lost:	12 February, 1935
Fate:	Crashed in Severe Weather
Struck:	26 February, 1935
General characteristics
Dead weight:	108 t
Useful load:	72 t
Length:	239 m (785 ft)
Diameter:	40.5 m (132.8 ft)
Height:	44.6 m (146.2 feet)
Volume:	184,000 m³
Propulsion:	8 internal combustion engines of 420 kW each
Speed:	140 km/h (75.6 knots, 87 mph) maximum
Range:
Complement:	91
Armament:
Aircraft:	5 F9C biplanes
Motto:

USS Macon (ZRS-5) was a rigid frame airship built and operated by the United States Navy for scouting. In service for less than two years, in 1935 Macon was damaged in a storm and lost off the coast of California.

She was built in Akron, Ohio by the Goodyear-Zeppelin Corporation, christened on March 11 1933 by Jeanette Whitton Moffett (wife of Rear Admiral William A. Moffett), and first flew one month later, only a few weeks after the tragic loss of her sister ship Akron (ZRS-4). Macon was commissioned on June 23 1933 with Commander Alger H. Dresel in command.

The Macon had 12 helium-filled gas cells made from gelatine-latex fabric. Designed to carry five F9C Sparrowhawk biplanes, Macon received her first aircraft on board July 6 1933 during trial flights out of Lakehurst, New Jersey. The planes were stored in bays inside the hull and were launched and retrieved using a trapeze. Departing the East Coast October 12 1933, Macon's homefield became NAS Sunnyvale (now Moffett Federal Airfield).

During a crossing of the continent, the Macon was forced to fly up to 1800 m (6,000 ft) to clear mountains in Arizona. As the ship's pressure height was less than 900 m (3,000 ft), a large amount of helium was vented to reach this altitude without rupturing the gas cells. To compensate for the loss of lift, 4 tonnes (9,000 lb) of ballast and 3 t (7,000 lb) of fuel had to be dumped. Unable to spare any more fuel, the Macon had to complete its journey in a climbing attitude with engines at cruise speed. The nose-high attitude badly stressed the airframe, and when the Macon struck turbulence over Texas, a ring in the tail section buckled and two girders broke. The Macon completed the journey safely but the buckled ring and all four tailfins were deemed in need of strengthening.

On February 12, 1935 the repair process was still incomplete when, returning to Sunnyvale from fleet maneuvers, the Macon ran into a storm off Point Sur, California. During the storm, she was caught in a sudden updraft which caused structural failure of her unstrengthened upper tailfin. Trailing cables punctured the rear gas cells and the resulting gas leakage prompted a discharge of ballast. Control was lost and, tail heavy and with engines running, the Macon rose past the pressure height and kept going until enough helium was vented to cancel the lift. It took her 20 minutes to descend from 4,850 ft and, settling gently into the sea, Macon sank off the California coast. Only two crewmembers from her complement of 76 died, thanks to the warm conditions and the introduction of life jackets and inflatable rafts after the Akron tragedy. The two that perished did so needlessly: one jumped ship after it had lost most of its altitude but was still high above the ocean surface; the other was killed swimming back into the wreckage to try to retrieve personal belongings.

Macon, having completed 50 flights from her commissioning date, was stricken from the Navy list on February 26 1935. Subsequent airships for Navy use were of a nonrigid design to make them less vulnerable to meteorologic phenomena.

1 Wreck site exploration
- 1.1 2006 expedition
- 1.2 Protection
2 References
3 See also
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Wreck site exploration

Image:USSMaconNYC.jpgThe Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) succeeded in locating and surveying the debris field of the Macon in February 1991, and was able to recover artifacts from it.<ref>MBARI's First Decade: A Retrospective. Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (ca. 1997). Retrieved on 2006-10-04. (page 11)</ref> The exploration included sonar, video, and still camera data, as well as some artifact recovery.

In May 2005 MBARI returned to the site as part of a year-long research project to identify archeological resources in the bay. Side-scan sonar was used to survey the site.

[edit] 2006 expedition

A more complete return with including exploration with remotely operated vehicles took place in September 2006, which included researchers from MBARI and from NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.<ref>"Expedition To Probe Sunken Airship", KSBW-TV, September 13, 2006. Retrieved on 2006-10-04.</ref> Video clips of the expedition were made available to the public through the OceansLive Web Portal, a service of NOAA.

The 2006 expedition was a success, and revealed a number of new surprises and changes since the last visit, ~15 years ago. High-definition video and more than 10,000 new images were captured, which will be assembled into a photomosaic of the wreck.<ref>"USS Macon Exploration Findings Unveiled", KSBW-TV, September 27, 2006. Retrieved on 2006-10-04. (includes slideshow)</ref>

[edit] Protection

The research team also hopes to use the new data to get the wreckage of the Macon listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The wreck site remains secret, and is within a marine sanctuary and is not accessible to divers due to depth. It is also a U.S. Navy gravesite.

[edit] References

[edit] See also

List of airships of the United States Navy
F9C Sparrowhawk, Macon's intended parasitic fighter

[edit] References

Richard K. Smith, The Airships Akron & Macon (Flying Aircraft Carriers of the United States Navy), United States Naval Institute: Annapolis, Maryland, 1965