USS Macon (ZRS-5)
USS Macon over New York City in 1933
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| History | |
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 United States
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| Name: | USS Macon |
| Namesake: | Macon, Georgia |
| Builder: | Goodyear-Zeppelin Company, Springfield Township, Ohio |
| Laid down: | May 1931 |
| Launched: | 11 March 1933 |
| Sponsored by: | Mrs William A. Moffett |
| Commissioned: | 23 June 1933 |
| Struck: | 26 February 1935 |
| Identification: | Hull number: ZRS-5 |
| Fate: | Crashed off the coast of California, 12 February 1935 |
| General characteristics (as built) | |
| Class and type: | Akron-class airship |
| Displacement: | 7,401,260 cu ft (209,580.3 m3) |
| Length: | 785 ft (239.3 m) |
| Beam: | 133 ft (40.5 m) (hull diameter) |
| Draft: | 146 ft 5 in (44.6 m) (height) |
| Installed power: | 560hp per engine |
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| Speed: | |
| Range: | 5,940 nmi (11,000 km; 6,840 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) |
| Complement: | 60 |
| Armament: | 8× .30-cal machine guns |
| Aircraft carried: | 5 Curtiss F9C Sparrowhawk |
| Aviation facilities: | 1 aircraft launch trapeze |
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U.S.S. Macon Airship Remains
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Sky hook visible on the remains of one of the Macon's F9C-2 biplanes (2006)
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| Location | Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, Big Sur, California |
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| Area | 5654.7 square meters |
| NRHP Reference # | 09001274 |
| Added to NRHP | 29 January 2010 |
The USS Macon (ZRS-5) was a rigid airship built and operated by the United States Navy for scouting and served as a "flying aircraft carrier", designed to carry biplane parasite aircraft, five single-seat Curtiss F9C Sparrowhawk for scouting or two-seat Fleet N2Y-1 for training. In service for less than two years, in 1935 the Macon was damaged in a storm and lost off California's Big Sur coast, though most of the crew were saved. The wreckage is listed as the USS Macon Airship Remains on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.
Less than 20 ft (6.1 m) shorter than Hindenburg, both the Macon and "sister ship" the USS Akron (ZRS-4) were among the largest flying objects in the world in terms of length and volume. Although the hydrogen-filled Hindenburg and the LZ 130 Graf Zeppelin II was longer, the two sisters still hold the world record for helium-filled airships.
The USS Macon was built at the Goodyear Airdock in Springfield Township, Ohio by the Goodyear-Zeppelin Corporation. Because this was by far the biggest airship ever to be built in America, a team of experienced German airship engineers—led by Chief Designer Karl Arnstein—instructed and supported design and construction of both the U.S. Navy airships Akron and Macon.
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