Final resting place of airship USS Macon added to National Register of Historic Places

Wreck of USS Macon added to historic places

SAN FRANCISCO — The final resting place of a massive blimp-like airship that went down off the California coast 75 years ago has been added to the National Register of Historic Places.

Officials with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced Thursday the placing of the wreckage of the USS Macon on the country’s official list of historic places.

The Macon, a 785-foot rigid dirigible based out of Mountain View’s Moffett Field, crashed into the ocean when its tail fin was blown off in a storm about five miles off Big Sur on Feb. 12, 1935.

All but two of its 83 crew members managed to board lifeboats and were rescued.

At the time of the crash, the airship was one of the largest aircraft ever built. It weighed about 400,000 pounds and could carry a crew of 100 and up to five small planes.

The exact wreckage site of the massive airship was unknown until fishermen discovered it in 1990. It was mapped by a sonar survey in 2005 and documented by researchers the next year.

Scientists using a remotely operated vehicle in 2006 were able to examine four relatively intact Navy biplanes the Macon was carrying.

“The USS Macon and its four associated Sparrowhawk biplanes are not only historically significant to our nation’s history, but have unique ties to our local communities, where public museums highlight the airship’s history,” said Paul Michel, Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary superintendent.

The wreckage rests at a depth of about 1,500 feet on the sea floor of the sanctuary, which is administered by NOAA.