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", carrying up to five single-seat Curtiss F9C Sparrowhawk parasite biplanes for scouting or two-seat Fleet N2Y-1s for training.

U.S.S. Macon (ZRS-5) was a virtually identical copy of her sister ship, U.S.S. Akron, with some minor modifications and improvements. The airship was christened by wife of Admiral William Moffett on March 11, 1933, and made its first flight on April 21, 1933.

Launched by the U.S. Navy in 1933, the airship USS Macon was one of the largest flying machines in history, but after just two years of service, disaster struck. The Macon would be the nation's last great airship.

The Macon could fly at a top speed of eighty miles per hour. Flying at top speed it would take over 37 hours for the Macon to cross the United States. The Macon had eight large 560-horsepower gasoline powered German built Maybach reversible

Built at Akron, Ohio, USS Macon was a rigid airship, which first flew in April 1933. Designed in 1926, along with sister ship, USS Akron (ZRS-4), to utilize Helium gas, the 6,500,000 cubic foot...

Eighty years ago, the U.S. Navy's last great airship crashed into the Pacific Ocean and disappeared. The USS Macon 's location was lost until researchers discovered its remains 1,500 feet below the surface of Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary in 1990.

Oct 11, 2023 · The USS Macon, a massive rigid airship commissioned by the US Navy, was renowned for its innovative design, allowing it to serve as a “flying aircraft carrier” by housing and deploying Curtiss F9C Sparrowhawk biplane fighters.

Aug 19, 2015 · The sinking of USS Macon (ZRS-5), a lighter-than-air rigid airship, resulted in few deaths but its loss ended the Navy’s quest to use airships as long-range scouts for the fleet.

A list of the officers, crew, and guests aboard USS Macon when the ship crashed at sea off Point Sur, south of San Francisco, on February 12, 1935. Of the 76 men aboard Macon, two died in the crash; their names appear in red .

The Underwater Discovery of the USS Macon. In June of 1990, Chris Grech from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) coordinated with the U.S. Navy’s three-man deep submergence vehicle (DSV) Sea Cliff, to locate and document the Macon’s remains.