USS Macon (ZRS-5)

USS Macon (ZRS-5)
USS Macon over New York City in 1933
Career
Manufacturer	Goodyear–Zeppelin Corporation (Springfield Township, Ohio)
Manufactured	31 October 1929 (commenced) 8 August 1931 (launched)
Serial	ZRS-5
First flight	21 April 1933
Owners and operators	United States Navy
In service	23 June 1933 (commissioned)
Last flight	12 February 1935
Fate	Crashed off the coast of California, 12 February 1935
General characteristics (as built)
Class and type	Akron-class airship
Displacement	6,500,000 cu ft (184,059.5 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
Propulsion	8 × Maybach VL II 12-cyl water-cooled fuel-injected 33.251 L (2,029.1 in3) 60° V-12 engines producing 560 hp at 1,600 rpm, each. Three-bladed variable-pitch, rotable metal propellers
Speed	Cruising: 55 knots (102 km/h; 63 mph) Max: 75 knots (139 km/h; 86 mph)
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,[1] Fleet N2Y-1 Waco XJW-1
Aviation facilities	1 aircraft launch trapeze

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. In service for less than two years, the Macon was damaged in a storm and lost off California's Big Sur coast in February 1935, 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 the Hindenburg, both Macon and her sister ship Akron were among the largest flying objects in the world in terms of length and volume. Although the hydrogen-filled, Zeppelin-built Hindenburg and LZ 130 Graf Zeppelin II were both longer, the two American-built naval airships still hold the world record for largest helium-filled rigid airships.^[2]