Expedition Explores Submerged Wreck of Historic Naval Airship

Sea Technology, Oct 2006

Last month, researchers from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) National Marine Sanctuary program and Montcrey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) embarked on an expedition off the Big Sur, California, coast to conduct an archaeological investigation at the submerged wreck site of the rigid airship USS Macon, the nation's largest and last U.S.-built rigid lighter-than-air craft.

The 7S5-foot MHL-OH and its four Curtiss F9C-2 Sparrowhawk aircraft were lost on February 12, 1935, during severe weather offshore of Point Sur, California, on a routine flight from the Channel Islands to its home base at Moffett Field, California. NOAA and MBARl hope that the wreckage of the Macon will provide an opportunity to study the relatively undisturbed archaeological remnants of a unique period of U.S. aviation history.

"A key mandate of the National Marine Sanctuary Program is to explore, charaeterize and protect submerged heritage resources and to share our discoveries with the public," said Robert Schwemmer, West Coast maritime heritage coordinator for NOAA's National Marine Sanctuary Program and co-principal investigator for the expedition.

During the five-day expedition, researchers working from MBARI's research vessel Western Flyer deployed the remotely operated vehicle Tiburon and recorded the visual wreckage of the airship and aircraft through high-definition videotape and still imagery that will later be used to create a photo-mosaic of the debris fields.

A second objective of the mission was to identify and record specific features in more detail, including newly discovered artifacts, and assess their condition. According to MBARI, the expedition will aid in the assessment of the Macon for eligibility to the National Register of Historic Places.

"The deepwater wreck site of the USS Macon is a unique time capsule of a bygone era," said Chris Grcch, MBARI deputy director for marine operations and co-principal investigator for the expedition. "Our advanced underwater technology in robotics, vessel design, cameras and computer imaging...allow us to better survey and document this nationally significant archeological site, as well as capture for historians and the public a permanent record in a high-resolution photo-mosaic."

The expedition was a collaborative investigation involving NOAA's National Marine Sanctuary Program, NOAA's Office of Exploration, MBARI, Stanford University, the University of New Hampshire, the U.S. Navy, the state of California, the Monterey Maritime and History Museum and the Moffett Field Historical Society and Museum.

The expedition was designed to build upon information gathered by the U.S. Navy and MBARI, who first recorded the aircrafts' remains during expeditions in 1990/1991. An initial survey was completed in May 2005 utilizing side scan sonar deployed from the NOAA research vessel McArthur II.