"U.S.S. Macon"

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The U.S.S. Macon (ZRS-5) was the sister ship of the U.S.S. Akron (ZRS-4), and was the second of the U.S. Navy's flying aircraft carriers. She sailed for the first time only a month after the loss of the U.S.S. Akron in April 1933.

U.S.S. Macon during a mooring procedure. The water recovery system (the vertical vents) are clearly visible

U.S.S. Macon had a far more productive career than U.S.S. Akron. The Navy was beginning to develop a rudimentary but real appreciation of strategy and tactics for its flying aircraft carrier, and there was even talk of replacing the U.S.S. Akron.

One of the Macon's launching trapezes and hangar deck

Unlike the U.S.S. Akron, the U.S.S. Macon was armed with machine guns as well as planes, and took part very successfully in a series of fleet exercises, even (on one mission) intercepting and stopping the heavy cruiser carrying President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. U.S.S. Macon delivered the day's mail and newspapers to the pleased President who issued the ship a Presidential Citation.

 

The German-built U.S.S. Los Angeles (LZ-124 / ZR-3) had been constructed as a passenger zeppelin in Germany. She had a clean operational record, but was eventually scrapped when the Navy gave up on airships. She was, however, the prototype design for the most successful airship ever built. the Graf Zeppelin