Drenched Dirigible

The last place you might think to look for a dirigible is underwater, but On September 17, 2006, researchers from the NOAA National Marine Sanctuary Program and Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute will embark on a five-day expedition off the Big Sur 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 785-foot USS Macon, a U.S. Navy "dirigible," and its four Curtiss F9C-2 Sparrowhawk aircraft were lost on February 12, 1935, during severe weather offshore of Point Sur, Calif., on a routine flight from the Channel Islands to its home base at Moffett Field.

The wreckage of the USS Macon provides an opportunity to study the relatively undisturbed archaeological remnants of a unique period of U.S. aviation history. A second objective of the mission is to identify and record specific features in more detail, including newly discovered artifacts, and assess their condition.

--LiveScience Staff

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Credit: NOAA/U.S. Naval Historical Center