USS Macon (ZRS-5)
The ZRS- 5 USS Macon was a 239 -meter long rigid airship that served the U.S. Navy from 1933 to 1935 as a flying aircraft carrier. In the body of the rigid airship, a hangar was located, from which the aircraft could be discharged under the hull to start. For landing a fishing hook was attached to the top of the aircraft, with the pilot could hook into a harness under the fuselage. Then the plane was drawn and stored in the trunk.
The Macon, the improved sister ship of the ZRS- 4 USS Akron was designed primarily as a long-range reconnaissance over the water, but was also used on land. The aircraft served as scouts and should also provide for the protection of the airship.
History
The airship was developed by the Goodyear -Zeppelin Co., a joint venture of the German airship Zeppelin GmbH and the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company. The airship was christened on 11 March 1933 by Jeanette Whitton Moffett (wife of Rear Admiral William A. Moffett ) and launched a month later, shortly after the tragic crash of the USS Akron, on its maiden voyage. The Macon was filed on June 23, 1933 under the command of Commander Alger H. Dresel in Lakehurst, New Jersey, in service. As of October 1933, she stood in Moffett Field for training purposes in the service before it was moved to Florida in 1934 and in May 1934 observed that takes place in the Caribbean fleet exercises " Fleet Problem XV " there. In July 1934, she undertook a reconnaissance mission off Hawaii, where she watched the cruiser USS Houston on board which Franklin D. Roosevelt was, who was from Panama to Hawaii go.
Loss
The airship was on February 12, 1935 at Point Sur, at the southern California coast lost. It was observed the accident from the lighthouse keeper Thomas Henderson.
The tail was too weak constructed. In the original plan, the tail fins should be long and low, and attached to three support rings. The Navy, however, insisted to see the lower tail fin from the gondola from what Karl Arnstein planned the fins higher and shorter. They were just more attached to two rings. During previous trips, there was passed to fractures and change plans. Due to the objection of the Navy but reinforcements were installed, while otherwise familiar to the avoidance of dangerous situations such as storms only between the rides.
After a fleet exercise the airship was on his way home when it was caught in a storm. The upper tail together with rudder was not enhanced at the time of the accident and ripped off completely. Some of the rear gas cells lost carrier gas. Thus, the Macon sank at the stern and went into the climb. It was ordered to jettison ballast and empty more gas cells to trim the ship in the center. However, these measures were not successful and the ship continued to rise. Ultimately, 900 m have been exceeded, the amount by which the excess pressure is critical and the helium cells are automatically emptied via a valve.
The ship, however, remained about 15 minutes on this level, reaching about 1,700 m, before it began to sink. This time described by the crew as terrible but gave her the chance to take on life jackets and life rafts that were present due to the misfortune of the sister ship USS Akron prepare, and calling for help. 81 of the 83 crew members survived; the radio operator and a chef who could not swim died.
The crash of the Macon marked the end of American rigid airship ride. The last remaining rigid airship of the United States, ZR- 3 USS Los Angeles ( built as Zeppelin LZ 126) was decommissioned later. Only Germany informed the United Luftschiffbau still continue. However, the U.S. Navy continued to use blimps. They provided their service until the end of the U.S. Navy airship program on 31 August 1962.
Discovery of the wreck
1951 was discovered ( about 320 km south of the crash site ), an approximately three -meter portion of a propeller of Macon on a deserted beach of Santa Rosa Iceland. In June 1990, an expedition of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute ( MBARI ), headed by Chris Grech and the U.S. Navy found the Macon wreck a few miles south of Point Sur and visited it with submersible robots in depth 450 m. Meanwhile, there was not much from the collapsed skeleton visible. However Distinctive showed the remains of four Curtiss F9C Sparrow Hawks, the time of the accident were on board.
In August 2005, the crash site was investigated with a side-scan sonar. End of September 2006 took the MBARI staff, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA ) and the U.S. Navy aboard the research vessel Western Flyer another expedition in this area. This time, high-resolution photos of the wreck were taken.
2010, the crash site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Data
- Roll -out on April 21, 1933
- Length: 239 m
- Top speed 140 km / h
- Carrier gas: helium
- Volume: 195,000 m³
- Bounce height: 900 meters
- Empty weight: 111,000 kg
- Payload: 75.000 kg ( which load: 39.000 kg)
- Range: 17,000 km
- Drive: eight internal 412 kW motors ( 560 hp ), which drives the external wooden propellers. Manufacturer of the engines was Maybach.
- Propellers: The propellers were pivoted up and down to facilitate takeoff and landing process.
- Equipment: Designed specifically with fishing hooks for the " landing" on-board aircraft equipped four biplane Curtiss Sparrowhawk F9C came into the hangar on board. For this purpose, located at the airship at the bottom of an opening and a trapezoid on a Gitterarm for catching and cross lifting an aircraft.