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For other ships of the same name, see USS Macon. Two ships of the United States Navy have borne the name USS Macon, named in honor of the city of Macon Georgia.
USS Macon over Moffett Field
CareerUnited States Navy ensign
Launched:April 21, 1933
Commissioned:23 June 1933
Lost:12 February 1935
Fate:Crashed following structural failure
Struck:26 February, 1935
General characteristics
Dead weight:108 t
Useful load:72 t
Length:239 m (785 ft)
Diameter:40. Moffett Federal Airfield, also known as Moffett Field, is a joint civil-military Airport located 3 miles (5 km north of Mountain View, in Santa Events 753 BC - Romulus and Remus found Rome ( traditional date) Year 1933 ( MCMXXXIII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 1180 - First Battle of Uji, starting the Genpei War in Japan 1305 - The Flemish Year 1933 ( MCMXXXIII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 1429 - English Forces under Sir John Fastolf defend a supply convoy carrying rations to the army besieging Orleans from attack by the Year 1935 ( MCMXXXV) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 747 BC - Epoch (origin of Ptolemy 's Nabonassar Era 364 - Valentinian I is proclaimed 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. The internal combustion engine is an engine in which the Combustion of Fuel and an Oxidizer (typically air occurs in a confined space called a The watt (symbol W) is the SI derived unit of power, equal to one Joule of energy per Second. (For the South African airport with IATA code "KMH" see Johan Pienaar Airport. 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. Terminology In some countries airships are also known as dirigibles from the French (fr ''diriger'' to direct plus -ible) meaning "directable" In service for less than two years, in 1935 Macon was damaged in a storm and lost off the coast of California. At less than 20ft (ca. 7m) shorter than the Hindenburg, she and her twin sister, USS Akron (ZRS-4), were among the biggest flying objects in the world. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout Construction and commissioning Construction of the ZRS-4 commenced on 31 October 1929 at Springfield Township Ohio, by the Goodyear-Zeppelin Corporation, and on Although the Hindenburg was bigger, the two airships still hold the world record for biggest helium filled airships. Helium ( He) is a colorless odorless tasteless non-toxic Inert Monatomic Chemical

She was built in Springfield Township, 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). Springfield Township Ohio may refer to Springfield Township Clark County Ohio Springfield Township Gallia County Ohio The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company was founded in 1898 by Frank Seiberling. Events 1425 BC - Thutmose III, Pharaoh of Egypt, dies (according to the Low Chronology of the 18th Dynasty Year 1933 ( MCMXXXIII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. William Adger Moffett ( 31 October 1869 &ndash 4 April 1933) was an American Admiral notable as the architect of Naval Construction and commissioning Construction of the ZRS-4 commenced on 31 October 1929 at Springfield Township Ohio, by the Goodyear-Zeppelin Corporation, and on Macon was commissioned on June 23, 1933 with Commander Alger H. Events 1180 - First Battle of Uji, starting the Genpei War in Japan 1305 - The Flemish Year 1933 ( MCMXXXIII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Commander is a Military rank which is also sometimes used as a military title depending on the individual customs of a given military service Dresel in command.

The Macon had 12 helium-filled gas cells made from gelatine-latex fabric. Helium ( He) is a colorless odorless tasteless non-toxic Inert Monatomic Chemical 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. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout A biplane is a Fixed-wing aircraft with two main Wings The first powered heavier-than-air Aircraft, the Wright brothers' Wright Flyer Events 1044 - The Battle of Ménfő takes place 1189 - Richard the Lionheart is crowned King of England Year 1933 ( MCMXXXIII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Lakehurst is a Borough in Ocean County, New Jersey, United States. The planes were stored in bays inside the hull and were launched and retrieved using a trapeze. A trapeze is a short horizontal bar hung by two cords from a support to form a Trapezoid. Departing the East Coast October 12, 1933, Macon's homefield became NAS Sunnyvale (now Moffett Federal Airfield). Events 539 BC - The army of Cyrus the Great of Persia takes Babylon. Year 1933 ( MCMXXXIII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Moffett Federal Airfield, also known as Moffett Field, is a joint civil-military Airport located 3 miles (5 km north of Mountain View, in Santa The Macon had a far more productive career than its sister ship the Akron. The Macon's commanders developed the doctrine and techniques of using its airplanes to do the scouting while the airship remained out of sight of the opposing forces in exercises. The Macon participated in several fleet exercises, though the men who framed and conducted the exercises lacked an understanding of the ZRS's capabilities and weaknesses. It became standard practice to remove the F9C-2 fighter's landing gear aboard the airship and replace it with a fuel tank, giving the aircraft 30% more range. Lt. Commander Herbert Wiley surprised the President, and the US Navy, when the Macon searched for and located the USS Houston which was carrying the President back from a trip to Hawaii. Newspapers were dropped to the President and the following communications were sent: from the Houston "1519 The President compliments you and your planes on your fine performance and excellent navigation 1210 and 1519 Well Done and thank you for the papers the President 1245" The commander of the Fleet, Admiral Joseph M. Reeves, was most upset, Commander of the Bureau of Aviation, Admiral King, was not. Joseph Mason "Bull" Reeves ( November 20, 1872 - March 25, 1948) was an Admiral in the United States Navy, who was Wiley was soon promoted to Commander.

Contents

Leading up to the crash

During a crossing of the continent, the Macon was forced to fly up to 1800 m (6,000 ft) to clear mountains in Arizona. The State of Arizona ( is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. 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. This article is about the tonne or metric ton For other tons see Ton. The Macon was being flown 15,000 pounds 'heavy' and was operating at full power not only in order to have sufficient dynamic lift, but to have enough control to fly in the severe turbulence through a mountain pass near Van Horn, Texas. Texas ( is a state geographically located in the South Central United States and is also known as the Lone Star State. Following a severe drop a diagonal girder in ring 17. 5, which supported the forward fin attachment points, failed. Rapid damage control by Chief Boatswain's Mate Robert Davis repaired the girders before further failures could occur. The Macon completed the journey safely but the buckled ring and all four tailfins were deemed in need of strengthening. The appropriate girders adjacent to the horizontal and lower fins were repaired, but the repair to the girders on either side of the top fin were delayed until the next scheduled overhaul when the adjacent gas cells could be deflated.

Disaster

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. Events 1429 - English Forces under Sir John Fastolf defend a supply convoy carrying rations to the army besieging Orleans from attack by the Year 1935 ( MCMXXXV) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. California ( is a US state on the West Coast of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. During the storm, she was caught in a wind shear which caused structural failure of the unstrengthened ring (17. Structural failure refers to loss of the load -carrying capacity of a component or member within a Structure or of the structure itself 5) to which the upper tailfin was attached. The fin failed to the side and carried away. Pieces of structure punctured the rear gas cells and caused gas leakage. Acting rapidly and on fragmentary information an immediate and massive discharge of ballast was ordered. Control was lost and, tail heavy and with engines running full speed ahead, 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: Radioman 1 class Ernest Edwin Dailey jumped ship after it had lost most of its altitude but was still high above the ocean surface; Mess Attendant 1 class Florentino Edquiba drowned while swimming back into the wreckage to try to retrieve personal belongings. The cause of the loss was operator error following the structural failure and loss of the fin. Had the ship not been driven over pressure height (where the cells were expanded fully and lifting gas released) the Macon could have made it back to Moffett Field.

Macon, having completed 50 flights from her commissioning date, was stricken from the Navy list on February 26, 1935. Events 747 BC - Epoch (origin of Ptolemy 's Nabonassar Era 364 - Valentinian I is proclaimed Year 1935 ( MCMXXXV) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Subsequent airships for Navy use were of a nonrigid design.

Wreck site exploration

USS Macon flies over New York City.
USS Macon flies over New York City.

The 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. The Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI is a not-for-profit Oceanographic research center in Moss Landing California affiliated with the Monterey [1] 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.

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. Remotely operated underwater vehicles (ROVs is the common accepted name for tethered underwater Robots in the offshore industry The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ( NOAA) is a scientific agency within the United States Department of Commerce focused on the conditions of the [2] 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. In the field of photographic imaging a photographic mosaic (also known under the term Photomosaic, a Portmanteau of photo and Mosaic, trademarked [3]

Protection

The Macon's biplane is preserved at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center
The Macon's biplane is preserved at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center

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 Steven F Udvar-Hazy Center is the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum (NASM's annex at Washington Dulles International Airport in The wreck site remains secret, and is within a marine sanctuary and is not accessible to divers due to depth. Marine Protected Area (MPA is often used as an umbrella term covering a wide range of marine areas with some level of restriction to protect living non-living cultural and/or historic It is also a U. S. Navy gravesite.

References

  1. ^ MBARI's First Decade: A Retrospective. Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (ca. The Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI is a not-for-profit Oceanographic research center in Moss Landing California affiliated with the Monterey 1997). Retrieved on 2006-10-04. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 610 - Heraclius arrives by ship from Africa at Constantinople, overthrows Byzantine Emperor Phocas (page 11)
  2. ^ "Expedition To Probe Sunken Airship", KSBW-TV, September 13, 2006. KSBW is a Television station in the United States and is the NBC affiliate for the Monterey - Salinas - Santa Cruz California Retrieved on 2006-10-04. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 610 - Heraclius arrives by ship from Africa at Constantinople, overthrows Byzantine Emperor Phocas  
  3. ^ "USS Macon Exploration Findings Unveiled", KSBW-TV, September 27, 2006. KSBW is a Television station in the United States and is the NBC affiliate for the Monterey - Salinas - Santa Cruz California Retrieved on 2006-10-04. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 610 - Heraclius arrives by ship from Africa at Constantinople, overthrows Byzantine Emperor Phocas   (includes slideshow)

See also

External links

This article includes text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The public domain is a range of abstract materials &ndash commonly referred to as Intellectual property &ndash which are not owned or controlled by anyone The Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships ( DANFS for short is the primary reference work for the basic facts about every Ship ever used

Coordinates: 36°17′27″N 121°59′52″W / 36.29083, -121.99778

A geographic coordinate system enables every location on the Earth to be specified in three coordinates using mainly a spherical coordinate system.
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