Rigid Airships Photo Index: USS MACON (ZRS
ZRS-5 was named to honor the city of Macon, Bibb County, central Georgia. The city is named for Gen. Nathaniel Macon, U.S. Senator from North Carolina, 13 December 1815 to 14 November 1828, during the Era of Good Feeling. Macon was the biggest city in the Georgia congressional district of Representative Carl Vinson, then chairman of the House Naval Affairs Committee and supporter of rigid airship development.

A Confederate sternwheel gunboat had previously borne the name.

(Map courtesy of HamsterMap.com.)

"Photograph of the Rear Control Car of a Dirigible, ca. 1933." USS Macon (ZRS-5).

"Investigating Dirigible Disasters. The Joint Committee to Investigate Dirigible Disasters was created [by House Concurrent Resolution 15, 73rd Congress,] to investigate the cause of the USS Akron disaster and the wrecks of other Army and Navy dirigibles and to determine responsibility. [This is one of the photographs that] were submitted to the Joint Committee during its investigation."

National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), National Archives Identifier 6708577.

Note: This photo is incorrectly identified as pertaining to Akron (ZRS-4). It is Goodyear-Zeppelin Corporation archives photo 298-C, labeled as taken on 20 April 1933. Thanks to Hendrick Stoops for providing this information.

"Mrs. Moffett Keeps Up Family Flying Tradition—Mrs. William A. Moffett, widow of Admiral W. A. Moffett, shown as she recently christened the Macon, sister ship of the lost Akron."

"Widow of Rear Admiral Who Died on Akron on Air Trip to West—By Times Special—CHICAGO, April 28.—Mrs. William A. Moffett, undeterred from flying by the death of her husband, Rear Admiral Moffett, in the Akron disaster, stopped here Thursday on an air trip from Washington to Los Angeles."

"Mrs. Moffett was amazed that she could be considered daring for continuing to fly."

"'We all fly,' she declared, 'My sons, William and Lieutenant George Moffett, are naval aviators. My daughter, Mrs. Janet Moffett Moore, is a pilot, married to the executive director of the air lines between Los Angeles and Catalina Island.'"

"'My other two sons, Charles, 17, and Beverly, 14, flew from Washington to the Pacific coast Tuesday. It's a family tradition, I guess.'"

"Mrs. Moffett will be joined by her sons and daughters when she reaches Los Angeles."

The Indianapolis Times, Friday, 28 April 1933.

"1933 USS Macon Dirigible brought into berth at Lakehurst, NJ Orig Press Photo"

— "Macon Berthed at Lakehurst" —

"On the top of the immense hangar, the cameraman views the U.S.S. Macon, the latest and largest dirigible of the U.S. Navy. As she is brought into her berth at Lakehurst, N.J., June 24th, after flying from Akron, OH. The great dirigible will be kept here until September when she is taken to Sunnyvale, CA."

"Credit Line (ACME) 6/24/33"

Three U.S. Navy Curtiss F9C-2 Sparrowhawks in flight. These three aircraft formed the famous "Red, White and Blue" flight aboard the airship USS Macon (ZRS-5). The aircraft with the white band was No.9057. In this photograph which was taken on 6 July 1933, the blue-banded aircraft is in the foreground. USN Photo.

Scanned from United States Navy and Marine Corps Fighters 1918–1962, compiled by Paul R. Matt and edited by Bruce Robertson. Harleyford Publications Limited.

Admiral David F. Sellers, USN (left), Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Fleet, in the control car of USS Macon (ZRS-5) on 9 November 1933, during his visit to the airship for a flight in the vicinity of San Francisco, California. Standing with him is Macon's Commanding Officer, Commander Alger H. Dresel, USN.

Naval History & Heritage Command photo (# NH 50274).

Note: The date of this photo is sometimes given as 9 November 1934. This is incorrect, since ADM Sellers was relieved as CINCUS in June 1934, and CDR Dresel was relieved as CO of Macon in July that year.

Two of the airship's Curtiss F9C-2 Sparrowhawk fighters attached to her trapeze (left) and perch, during flight operations near Naval Air Station Moffett Field, California, 12 October 1934. This image is a frame from a motion picture film, taken from an airplane flying alongside USS Macon (ZRS-5). The planes' pilots were Lieutenant Harold B. Miller (plane on the trapeze) and Lieutenant (Junior Grade) Frederick N. Kivette (plane on the perch). Both planes have their wheel landing gear removed, as was generally the practice when they operated from Macon after 19 July 1934.

Courtesy of Harold B. Miller, 1973.

Naval History & Heritage Command photo (# NH 77437).

This sophisticated photomontage shows the remains of USS Macon (ZRS-5) and her four fighters on the seabed.

"The wreckage of the Macon and four aircraft lie at a depth of more than 1,500 feet and were first documented in 1990 by the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI). Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary conducted a sonar survey in 2005 followed by the first archaeological expedition in 2006 that documented the Macon's remains."

"Commemorating the 75th anniversary of the loss of the U.S. Navy airship USS Macon, NOAA today [11 February 2010] announced that the wreck site on the seafloor within Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary has been added to the National Register of Historic Places."

(More information available at the NOAA [National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration] website.)

"This souvenir post card of the rigid airship Macon comes to you from the annual exhibition of the RUBBER CITY STAMP CLUB, AKRON, OHIO. Reproduced from an original photograph furnished by the Goodyear Aerospace Corp."

"USS Macon, Goodyear built rigid airship for the U.S. Navy and sister ship of the USS Akron, was launched and made its original flight in Akron, O. in April 21, 1933. Ultimately it was based at the U.S. Naval Air Station, Moffett Field, Calif. Returning from maneuvers with the U.S. Fleet, in the Pacific, on Feb. 12, 1935, Macon suffered damage, settled into the sea, off Point Sur, California and subsequently was destroyed. Of the 83 aboard, all were rescued but two. This view shows the Macon in the Goodyear Airship Hanger, Akron, Ohio, which is the largest of its type in the world."

"(This card is third in a series)"

Dated Nov. 21, 1965.

"This souvenir post card of the rigid airship Macon comes to you from the 59th Anniversary Exhibition of the Rubber City Stamp Club, Akron, Ohio. Photograph from the files of Lighter-Than-Air Society."

"The Macon was launched in Akron, Ohio 45 years ago, April 21, 1933. Built by Goodyear for the Navy, she was the sister ship of the Akron. The Macon was damaged while on maneuvers in the Pacific and went into the sea off Point Sur, California February 12, 1935 with the loss of two lives."

"The dimensions of the Macon were:

785 feet long 133 feet diameter

6,850,000 cubic feet gas capacity

8 Maybach engines, 4480 HP, 87.2 MPH."

"The Macon was the last of the U.S. built rigid air ships."

"(This card is sixteenth in a series)"