Forgotten Airship: USS Macon
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- čas přidán 29. 06. 2024
- The age of rigid and semi-rigid airships like the famous Hindenburg was a brief but exciting time, as the impressive ships promised to be part of a technological revolution. In the late 1920s the US began testing their use as flying aircraft carriers, able to launch and recover planes from the air. This led to the construction of two airships: the USS Akron and its sister, USS Macon, among the largest airships ever built.
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My grandfather was the last surviving crewmember of the USS Macon. He was the Helmsman. William H Clarke
He was a very lucky man to have helmed such an incredible ship. Cheers.
Did he tell you stories of getting off the ship?
My uncle served on both USS Macon and USS Akron
@@bobcat3954 Grandpa was stationed in Lakehurst too.
My grandfather was a wh*re chaser and a drunk. He died on his toilet with a case of Natty Light at his feet.
The Macon was in Here Comes the Navy with Jimmy Cagney and Pat O’Brien the year before the loss of the Macon. Entertaining and you have to get to the final act to see the Macon. The USS Arizona featured prominently in the movie as well.
I agree! That movie is worth watching just for the historical footage!
Nice! Definitely gonna check that one out to add to my airship library. Thanks for the info on the movie!
Have to check that out. Thanks for the info. Love Zeppelins.
My grandfather was in the US Navy at the time that this happened. He actually was there when the Macon crashed, and managed to save a few lives by rescuing him. The Navy gave him a commendation for this afterwards. He was allowed to keep a signal light from the Macon and when he returned home on leave two days later, he was asked to pose for the local newspaper holding the signal light. Sadly, his tale has been forgotten.....
Forgotten no more, thanks to his descendant.
Glad you shared and you keep his memory alive. The Naval History and heritage command has a great collection of lighter than air info and memorabilia. I am sure they would love copies of anything you have. Fly Navy!
unlikely story
Did he do the photos for the paper? They've got to be archived somewhere.
@@kilikus822 Yea, however, he is from the city of Crowell, Texas, and the newspaper was the Foard county news.
My first duty station was VP-31 inside of Hanger 1 at Moffett Field. The hanger was massive, and I could only imagine the size of the airships it was built to hold. Being a young Sailor who "thought outside the box" I once put in a Request Chit "To paint the hanger a Light Golden Brown to disguise it as a Twinkie". The chit was summarily denied with an admonishment never to put in another.
Moffet field sounds familiar. I think I was there. What is the Navy doing at Moffet Field?? 😐😐😐
So you were an old school "chit" poster? Well done.
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! 🤣🤣🤣👍
@@John77Doe The Navy no longer owns Moffett Field. It was handed over to NASA & Google is contracted to run the airfield.
@@JollyGreenFE Ok, so I was there for some NASA project. 😐😐
Onboard the USS Akron when she crashed was Rear Admiral William Moffett, a Medal of Honor recipient and namesake for Moffett Federal Airfield. He is also known as the Architect of Naval Aviation.
An good book for further information I’d. Ships of the Sky
Sorry, Ships in the Sky, Holt Publishing, John Toland, 1957
The Point Sur Lightstation tour has a bit about the Macon. After the crash landing, the location of the wreck was though to be lost. One day a customer at a local restaurant recognized a neat bit of metal hanging on the wall behind the bar as a strut from the Macon. A bit of digging turned up that a fisherman had pulled it up years earlier and traded it to the bar for a drink. The fisherman was tracked down and he still knew the location. And that's how the NOAA/Stanford expedition was able to happen.
I grew up near, and later worked and lived near Moffett Field. From the Bayshore Freeway (US 101), you really cannot fathom the size of these hangars. The sailors who worked there would tell me that the hangars have their own climate, and even birds that have lived there for years. Later, when I lived in Mountain View, I was able to observe that up to twenty P3 Orion aircraft could be stored in a single hanger. The dirigibles were engineering icons of their time, but so were the hangars that stored them.
we "had" hangers near the El Torro Base in So Cal, so many people had No Idea what or Why they where looking at them, or how this saga affected Billy Michel and his court-martial for being correct.
I used to pass by that hangar as well, but no longer live in the Bay Area.
Does the hangar still exist and is in use? Or was it torn down and replaced with other structures?
@@mbryson2899 Thanks for the reply. Next time I go to the Bay, Santa Cruz, of Monterey, I'll add it to my sight seeing list.
Me too, remember the drive in theater too.
Those 20 P3 Orions would have taken up about
10% of the floor space. I saw a C-5 in there,
looked tiny.
steve
Born and raised in southern New Jersey so I have passed the hangar at Lakehurst many times. I was at an airshow as a teenager back in the '90s and someone from the museum had for sale duplicate blueprint rolls for the USS Akron. They are quite large, 12 feet when unrolled. Naturally, I had to buy one and as a history teacher I make sure it is part of my classes whenever I can.
My dad’s first commanding officer at NAS Beeville, TX 1943 was also on both the Akron, and Macon. He was also at Lakehurst when the Hindenburg burned. Connie Knox.
My grandfather redesigned the track system at hangar 1 Moffett Field so it actually worked. The motors are from San Francisco street cars. A project of the Pelton Waterwheel Company. My mother said the Macon just cleared the Oak trees at the corner of Grant and Fremont when landing at NAS Moffett Field.
That's such a cool story about it barely clearing trees off Grant and Fremont. I grew up in Mountain View.
I have an original photo of the Akron.
My paternal grandfather and two other in-laws were from Lakehurst and worked on the construction of both the USS Akron and Macon. I have an original sepia photo of the Akron taken at Lakehurst, New Jersey, a gift to my father when he was given a tour of its sister ship Macon. Sadly, his tour guide, a family friend, died not long after when the Akron went down off Cape May. An earlier post mentioned their downward hanging flags, which I had never noticed until I used my iPhone magnifier and spotted it at the stern. The photo also shows just how big these ships were. What looks like a little smudge at ground level is actually most of the crew lined up.
I commend the History Guy's production standards in not repeating clips just to fill up a video, something a lot of other historically-focused CZcamsrs do. Thanks for that.
I flew in the Goodyear Blimp back in 1994 here in Las Vegas over the Sam Boyd's Silver Bowl where UNLV beat Central Michigan at the 3rd Las Vegas Bowl 🥣 🤔 Its quite nice and somber. It made me want to put on a cape!
Bet that was great fun I envy you.
I was on duty at the London 2012 Olympics and an illuminated one flew over the stadium at the Paralympics it looked brilliant.
The airships must have been incredible to see
Been to the Cardington Airship Hangars here in the UK and they are truely huge.
The modern blimps look like toys inside.
@@Lee-70ish They're fricken huge. I would love to see 👀 England sone day. How's the weather today?
@Chris Webb I have lived here most of my life and I have never been strung out..But I am still constipated. Thank you for asking
NOAA is one US Government agency that truly earns its keep. From coastal navigation, marine parks, iceberg tracking, and so many other things. Being in Florida I respect the Hurricane Hunters and the National Weather Service, National Hurricane Service also. One great bunch of people that do things that help us every day. Happy Trails
Yep I live in Tornado alley, so we really appreciate NOAA's work
your admitting being in Florida, my thoughts and prayers are with you!
@@sullivanspapa1505 Florida is a good State to live in. Love it here ❗🤠
ah, another roy Rogers fan.
My grandfather, Dr. Karl Arnstein, was the chief aeronautical engineer of the Akron and Macon for the Goodyear Company. He was hired away from Graf Zeppelin in 1923 along with a number of Graf Zeppelin designers and settled in Akron. Those ships were on the cutting edge of aircraft technology in their day. But too many tragic crashes doomed rigid airships. The Goodyear blimps you see flying over football stadiums today are the much safer offspring of the rigid airships, and were built in Akron. The US Navy continued to use blimps throughout the 1940s - 1950s for reconnaissance and spotting.
Thanks for Macon these videos!
Oooo ouch!
Dirigibles are my first historic obsession. So glad to see the Akron and Macon covered on this channel!
N2627 , the Aereon 26 deserves to be remembered. A lifting body / hybrid airship design, it could've been the Next Big Thing. Author John McPhee's "The Deltoid Pumpkin Seed" tells the tale. The tattered prototype that actually flew proving it's concept now lives in a tiny military air museum ten minutes from here. We went recently to gape in awe. It's quite a story. Had they built full-scale ones they'd have carried freight trains worth of cargo at a fraction of the cost and hovered or landed without runways to load & offload. Think about that in disaster relief and wildfire containment, aside from mere cargo transport.
The pilot you show flying F9C BuNo 9058, LT Harold B. "Min" Miller, was a friend of mine. He came up with the idea of removing the landing gear of the MACON'S F9Cs and replacing it with a fuel tank. Of course, this made it dangerous to either ditch at sea, or land at a land base should either of those things be necessary! During the War in the Pacific, now CAPT Miller was ADM Nimitz's public affairs officer, and when Miller retired after the War, he was promoted to Rear Admiral. I first met him in the Fall of 1970 when I was a freshman at Hofstra University, and RADM Miller was the Vice President for University Relations. I was told by another staff member at Hofstra (an LTA "lighter than air" pilot who flew with the first squadron of anti-U boat blimps to cross the Atlantic in 1944) that the Admiral was a former naval aviator, so I introduced myself. We met often to talk about his experiences in the Navy, much to the chagrin of the Admiral's secretary, because when I would ask her if the Admiral was available, he would hear my voice and invite me into his office right away!!! The Admiral retired in 1973 and I believe passed away in 1988. As usual, a great video!
I was a cub scout in Palo Alto (this was a while ago). Every year the scouts held a 'Scouting Exposition' at Moffett Field. For a 8 year old, it was the coolest building, ever.
Merry 🎄 Christmas History Guy!!!
These machines were the ultimate expression of the poetry of mechanical artistry, complexity and monstrosity
I currently work with airships. Been to Moffett many times - Google is building their very large Airship there in those old Navy hangars.
Good stuff, HG!
Did you say Google? 🤔 Is this some sort of new venture? What is Google's interest in lighter than air?
@@WALTERBROADDUS curious too...
@@WALTERBROADDUS It's not actually Google but instead its founder Sergey Brin (who is no longer with Google) who has now founded 'LTA Research' and is developing new 'Lighter Than Air' aircraft. Brin is apparently an airship fan.
@@amstrad00 Are these to be rigid airships?🤔
@@WALTERBROADDUS Yup, rigid airships. They've already built at least one.
They had the right idea with airships but their size was the biggest weakness. Subsequent smaller airships or "blimps" were very successful in a number of roles including anti submarine patrolling in WW2. The ability to remain aloft for long periods could be very useful today
Years ago, Popular Mechanics had an article about extremely high altitude blimps for recon use.
Think 80,000 ft and painted blue. They could loiter for days on end over a battlefield.
@@shawnr771
Yeah and they'd make a great target for any of today's missile that could easily reach them. Now stop playing with your mommy's computer and go play in traffic with your little zombie friends 🤣
@ tango6f
Seriously? Like there isn't a missile that could reach them? And the satellites that are capable of reading license plates aren't better? Stop playing with your mommy's computer and go play in traffic with your little zombie friends like the ones Ive already tossed out 👍
@@geoben1810 hoes mad
No allied convoy was ever lost to German U-boats when it was escorted by US Navy blimps.
Airships have a special spot in my heart. I clicked on this video in 0.2 seconds.
I used to be mildly obsessed about US Naval lighter than air aviation. The Macon and the Shenandoah were favorite studies.
My father very nearly lost flight status for flying a Sabre through the dirigible hanger.
I have a tiny tool my grandpa used when he worked as a toolmaker on this project. He was born in 1897 and moved from his position began at Camp Meade and it changed to Fort Meade WWI.
How about doing an episode about building the airship hangers at Moffett field. Such large buildings must have been a technological marvel, for it's time. Thanks, yet again, for your dedication to teaching us! 👏 and 👍
And the one at Lakehurst, NJ too, which was where the Shenandoah was built, and where the Hindenburg was headed when she wrecked. That one is 100 years old now.
How about Hangar B at the Tillamook Air Museum. It's the largest clear span wooden structure in the world.
Or the Akron air dock where the Macon and Akron were built.
This is the first time I noticed that you you had historical information on Zepellins.
My Father’s Uncle was
Chief Machinist Mate George C Walsh on the USS Akron.
His counterpart on the Macon was his Best Man at his Wedding.
#Heroes
I grew up near Moffett Naval Air Station, before it became NASA's Ames Research Center and the Federal Air Field. As such, I have attended many air shows, and often been inside the huge dirigible hanger. Truly impressive and awe inspiring structures. Thank you for sharing this bit of history that deserves to be remembered! Keep up the great work.
Oh almighty algorithm, for which with you, bless this guy of history, educated as he be, with views, comments, and shares. For his is the channel of that which should be remembered.
I live along Interstate 77 outside of Newcomerstown OH. The crash site of the Shenandoah is south of me and the hangar for the Goodyear blimp is north of me. The Goodyear blimp used to fly over my house almost every year. Such great memories.
BTW, The dark stripes down the sides are exhaust water reclaimers so the ships do not become lighter as they burn fuel. This way they do not need to vent helium (an expensive and limited resource) as they operate.
2:51 [30 inch machine guns], actually .30 caliber machine guns or .30 inch........just a minor glitch.....I hope I heard it correct......cheers....Paul
I noticed that as well, I imagine a sparrowhawk with a 30 incher would drop like a Led Zeppelin!
Minor indeed. Schwerer Gustav had a 31.5 inch gun.
@@onbedoeldekut1515 true......do you know why Led Zeppelin is not spelled 'Lead Zeppelin '.because they thought the fans would think it was the Leading Zeppelin ......or one in front......cheers, Paul
Sorry to be "that guy" but I wanted to correct a couple of things. The machine guns aboard the parasite fighter were not "30 inch" in size. You can either say .30 caliber or .30 inch. Also the two seat trainer built by WACO is pronounced WAH-coe, not WHACK-o. It's an acronym for Weaver Aircraft Co. Thanks for a great video!
As WA Co. is an abbreviation, it's never had a correct pronunciation. Yes it's normally not said like the Texas town, that doesn't make it a word. They should just call it a Weaver.
I still remember a very young child walking in to the Macon's hangar at Moffett Field during an air show. It is by far the largest room I have ever been in. I was maybe 5 so it made an impression on me because I still remember that. Years later I enjoyed watching the Navy P-3s based there coming and going. I love Moffett Field. There's a lot of history there.
In the 70s there was a McDonalds near the Goodyear Air Hanger that used to have a detailed drawing of the USS Akron. I lived within walking distance of the Aron air port seeing the hanger in the move brought back memories. Thanks
Steam punk! There is just something COOL about these massive airships.
I took a road trip up the Oregon coast. When I got to Tillamook I saw the airship hanger at the airport with the words Air Museum painted on it. I had no idea it was there and hadn't planned to stop, but I made a b-line to the museum. I love airships and that hanger was amazing! The museum was fun, but only about 1/4 full. The hanger is so large compared to the collection of aircraft. It would be cool to see a video about the Tillamook Naval Air Station. I'd love to see that museum grow! It was the highlight of the road trip!
Rudyard Kipling, not an author one usually associates with science fiction and futurism, wrote an intriguing short story; "with the night mail", the tale of an airship crossing the Atlantic in a storm. Some very interesting concepts about abandoned airships and the use being so common it was positively mundane, sort of like the Pan am space travel advert in 2001 a space odyssey.
The Graf Zeppelin flew over one million miles in its lifetime.
@@CurCam713 Indeed. There were several successful dirigible passenger services, but it seems like there were disastrous crashes as often as there were successes. Still, wouldn’t it be shiny to be able to fly the North America - South America route? A shame it couldn’t succeed today.
The Navy used airships in WWII. Although not rigid or the size of the Macon or Akron they used blimps for anti submarine patrol and convoy escort. They were extremely effective. The pilots wore a naval aviator insignia with just one wing.
I remember being disappointed when I was younger when, after seeing pictures of these gigantic floating things I learned that their time had passed long before I was born, and the realization I'd never look up and see one of them floating overhead. Seeing them must have been amazing for the landbound in those days.
We still have blimps! I haven't seen any for a few years now, come to think. But, more than Goodyear have them.
I grew up in Sunnyvale in the 1970s and Moffatt was still very active. If you ever get a chance you need to see the museum that's on the now decommisipn base. They have a fa beautiful model of the Macon. Its a large cut away model showing the insides with the sparrow hawks sitting in their "hanger". The base is open to everyone and you can drive up to see "Hanger 1" where these ships were housed. Sadly the took all the skin off the Hanger and its all the structures and girders left. I drive and think the "grand old lady" now sits naked and forlorn. So much history there.
I still don't understand why they don't hold air shows anymore, the last time there was an airshow there was very early 2000's and they said that over a million people attended over 1 weekend. Seems like easy money to me. Probably too many chumps in Sunnyvale and Mountain View whining about the noise.
“Gas bag” and “Sky hook” - you’re making this up!
Goodyear built 168 airships during ww2. The United States was the only power to use airships during World War II, and the airships played a small but important role. The Navy used them for minesweeping, search and rescue, photographic reconnaissance, scouting, escorting convoys, and antisubmarine patrols. Airships were based on the Atlantic and pacific coasts of the USA, the Caribbean, South America, France, and Italy. A former ww2 zeppelin hanger in tillamook, Or. currently houses an aircraft museum.
I remember reading a book about this as a kid, and I'm now 58. The best I remember, the book was names Sparrowhawk. It was about the aircraft, and the trials that the pilots went through, to get the planes and the airships to be compatible. Not very many of the aircraft were ever built. I understand that the airship that crashed in the Pacific had the remains of at least one Sparrowhawk in the wreckage. Very good book! Thank you for posting this!
Rigid airships are being revisited, and I'm glad. The dream of airships docking on top of skyscrapers. is still held by some.
I just love Air-Ships,I love to draw them❤️
Thank you so much for your knowledge sharing amongst us all!!!
Wishing you all the best....thanks for a great episode.....cheers from Central Florida....Paul
My late father was 7 years old in 1934 and told a story of the Macon flying low over his house in Shreveport, LA early one evening. Said it was enormous and made a humming sound as it passed.
My barber told the story of his aunt as a child working in the fields outside Atlanta Georgia in the 1930's when an enormous silver ship came flying overhead; blocking out the sun and terrifying the kids. They did not realize airships like that existed and thought it was Judgement Day. After the haircut, I returned with an airship book and showed him pictures of the Akron/Macon. Perhaps the Macon was flying to visit its namesake city?
This information should be more widely told, I'm into airships & I had no idea about most of this, especially about the bits about on board aircraft, the things you learn.
Thanks THG. Uplifting episode.
Oh the humanity. Of your pun…
Thank you for this great presentation on the USS Macon.
I love your videos. A rather remarkable coincidence re your video on the Macon: two after I watched it I was talking with a nephew who currently works at Moffet Field in the large hangar for a company named Lighter Than Air (LTF). Amazingly they are in the process of building an airship based largely on the Macon, due to be launched in January 2022. The purpose of the ship is for studying the atmosphere and climate and carrying out humanitarian missions in other parts of the world. Thought you might want to know. Again, thanks for your vids. They are great.
"Two thirty-inch Browning machineguns." Bringin' Battleships to a Biplane fight!
Very funny. Perhaps they were thirty inches LONG.
@@hawkinsdale Nope, try "thirty calibre."
I loved this one and was a great disply of human imagination.
This is great - when I first moved to the bay, I’d drive down the 101 and wonder, “what the hell was stored in those?!” After learning it was airships, it’s great to hear one of their stories!
Being from Macon, Ga, this one is near and dear to the heart...
had to add, and lived very close to the Shenandoah River in West Virginia...
Would love to see a return to airships
Thanks for sharing and Merry Christmas 🎅
Lighter than air airships will make a comeback. Trust me.
You are the best, thank you for your videos!!
I often ask my students trivia questions about naval history. of these questions, my favorite is this:
"In the whole history of the US Navy, only two ships perform their Colors ceremony backwards. That is, they lower the American Flag every morning at 0800, and they raise the flag every evening at sunset. What ships are these, and why?"
The answer, to you who have watched this video, is clear. The USS Akron and USS Macon, flying aircraft carriers, have their flagpoles on the bottom of the ship. To display the colors as required, they must lower the flag in the morning, and then recover the colors by raising them in the evening. They are the only two vessels in the US Navy to do so.
I also delight in asking about the only submarine in the service that had a non-whole-number for its hull number. That would be the USS Seal, SS-19_1/2, so numbered because it was built before the hull number system was implemented, and was not initially included in the system.
What about the USS Shenandoah and USS Los Angeles?
@@grizwoldphantasia5005 Honestly I'm not sure. They may not have had flagpoles, or maybe my book of naval trivia was wrong. It's always a fun process watching young sailors try to figure out the answer, though.
Now this is an interesting episode! Had no idea they were ever considered as an aircraft carrier. Interesting indeed!
G'day,
Using Airships to carry and release Parasite Fighters was pioneered by the British, during WW-1 ; using Sopwith Camels.
AmeriKa..., came
Latte,
To the
Pate...;
As per usual (!).
Such is life,
Have a good one...
Stay safe.
;-p
Ciao !
There was a great alternate-history computer game set in 1937 which took the concept of airborne aircraft carrying zeppelins and ran with it, called Crimson Skies, which I loved growing up as a kid! It's an aerial combat game which cast the player as the leader of a band of aerial pirates, playing it as a kid I had no idea that it had been based partially on a real concept!
Never played the first one, but High Road to Revenge was one of my favorite games from my childhood. Wish they would make more games like that one. An immersive world, great gameplay, stunning visuals (for the time), and a brilliant soundtrack.
I grew up near NAS Moffett Field. The three dirigible hangars are still there. Hangar One is being rebuilt today because of money Google and Oracle pay to share the field with NASA Ames Research Center. When I was a child, Moffett was a fighter base then was home to the P-2 & P-3’s. I’ve been inside the hangars many times. They are large enough to have their own weather patterns. You feel so infinitesimally small when looking up from just inside the doors. Thanks for another great video that took me back to my childhood.
I hope Hangar One gets repaired but its been 10 years since its been stripped so not having high hopes. :(
My Great uncle, Herbert Smart, was mayor of Macon at that time.
The only airport in Macon was named after him. In 1947 a tornado severely damaged the buildings, and a bigger airport, better able to handle commercial air traffic was built, at that time the new airport was called Cochran Field. Both airports are still in operation. I was 17, in 1974, when I got my pilots license, at the “down town airport“, Smart Field.
"The U.S. would not build any more airships, however, and technologica improvements in planes would soon make them obsolete." No, you're mistaken. The U.S. would not build any more RIGID airships, but the Navy continued to build and use non-rigid airships (blimps) into the 1960s. And yes, blimps are dirigibles. The word means "controllable" or "steerable," to distinguish airships from plain balloons with very limited controllability. From 1942 to '45 blimps were built for anti-submarine warfare, anti-mine, and training by Goodyear, who also built N-class blimps for patrol and early warning radar until 1960, which continued to fly until 1962.
I still have hopes airships make a comeback for the limited roles where could compete favorably. For decades there have been articles about companies developing a modern version, planned trials, etc. And there are several companies working on new designs right now. But nobody's found a commercially practical solution yet it seems.
The Macon used Hanger 1 at Moffet Field. At an air show in 1961, one of the Blue Angels flew through the hanger. It was not planned, and very spontaneous.
Wow, a Fleet. My Dad used to fly one in the late 1950s with the local Civil Air Patrol. Somewhere I have a color photo of it in flight.
While there were few rigid airships, the US military produced and used blimps for much longer.
@@TheHistoryGuyChannel The Fleet was an old biplane.
Decent input 👍
I have a great poster of the Macon flying over San Francisco, finally got it framed now I need a place to hang it.
My late father would talk about seeing the massive airship over East Central Indiana once. At 88 he would still talk about just the massive size of it...
I fly into Moffet Field occasionally and you can still see that massive dirigible hangar there.
A bit of trivia, the Akron and Macon were the only aircraft designed and built to carry aircraft. the others were adaptions. You're welcome. 😀
There are many online photos of the luxurious Graf Zeppelin accommodations. It flew many transatlantic passenger trips from Germany to Lakehurst in the Thirties.
I was aware that the loss of the Macon killed the airship program; it's nice to get the whole story. For years that I refuse to recount, I have both lived, and worked, within a mile of Moffett Federal Airport (now under lease to Google), and worked with women whose husbands were stationed at what was then NAS Moffett Field, so I knew a bit about the Macon, but not the full story. Thanks for this.
This is where the new technology should be .they can stay up there for ever .
Excellent video! My Grandfather (Kurt Bauch, whom I was named after) came over with the other 12 engineer to design and built the “Akron & Macon” dirigibles. I still have quite a few items, pictures and books (many from when he worked for Graf Zeppelin) & at least one book by Hugo Eckener.
Well done. The age of air giants was quite something.
I’d suggest Grady@Practical Engineering channel tackle the oversized hangers these giants lived in.
The Macon's CO, Cmdr., later Rear Admiral Herbert Wiley went on to render outstanding service to our Country as the Commander of DESRON 29 in the Asiatic Fleet at the start of US involvement in December 1941. He ended the war as Captain of the USS West Virginia, from which he fought at Surigao Straight, supported landings in the Phillipines, Iwo Jima and Okinawa.
He was awarded the Navy Cross and the Legion of Merit. He was commended by SECNAV for his handling of the Macon during the crash and was awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Medal for rescuing an officer who was drowning post crash.
Dangit, Guy!
How am I supposed to send apprentices to the suppliers to ask for tartan paint and sky hooks now?!
In the 1960's my father took me aboard a blimp housed in hanger one at Lake Hurst New Jersey ,the gondola was quite small .My father was senior master chief of maintenance .In the 80's he was asked to head up the lighter than air exhibit at the Naval air museum in Pensacola.,My father served from 1939-1969.
Thanks for this, HG. In fiction, Pynchon has a boys club of explorers going about in a blimp filled with gadgets. Against the Day by Thomas Pynchon.
That Cagney picture is a good look. Also Charlie Chan at the Olympics features an Atlantic crossing to Berlin- on the Hindenburg.
If you get a chance to visit the hangers in the San Francisco area at Moffett Field I highly recommend it. They are absolutely massive, especially the doors. There is (or was 20 years ago) a museum there so if you like history (of course you do..you're watching HG) you will enjoy the visit.
The hangar was plastered with old warning signs about lead under newer warning signs about asbestos. Eventually the outer skin of the hangar was removed entirely and it remains standing as a skeleton.
Been there, 1992 . . . Space-A, into Moffat AFB.
Isn’t this the place Mythbusters did a few myths?
Here in the East Coast, Lakehurst Naval Air station still has its giant hangers as well.
@@MrSheddy1 you're probably thinking of Alameda
I fly into Moffett field several times a year and the massive airship hangar is still grabs your attention….
Great look at an interesting page of history.
Getting into those parasite fighters must have been a harrowing experience.
As usual, very informative, and also entertaining. Thank you again THG.
HG - Another outstanding lesson in history. Keep them coming and thanks for all that you do sir.
Growing up only 3 miles from Lakehurst Naval Station it’s great to see this history of Zeppelins and US Dirigibles other than just the Hindenburg and it’s tragic history the ended in Lakehurst.
Delightful story!
Fascinating story. Always loved the way airships looked.
Another great video of past adventure. To me it showcases just how much the US military was very much preparing to fight the First World War and wasn't truly prepared for the realities needed fighting the upcoming Second World War.
The United States is not alone in that. Keep in contacts technology was moving faster than tactics. a common problem throughout history.
The History Guy: another great video, thanks for shedding light on the forgotten airship history. Happy Holidays!
Merry Christmas to you, History Guy!!!!
It's always a treat to hear about the history of something I have a personal interest in. Macon may be gone, but "NAS Sunnyvale" aka Moffett Federal Airfield is still going strong with NASA's Ames Research Center & 3 US military tenant units. AND Macon's Hanger 1 is still there, albeit only its skeleton, as a historic landmark & an icon of the area! Perhaps this can be the basis for a future episode of how Moffett Field (named after Adm William Moffett) came to be (Hint, Hint) 😉
I've been hearing rumors of a re-skinning of Hangar 1 but seems like a very unlikely scenario, unless Google funds it.
@@darklordojeda SO - they removed all the bad ol' asbestos, and left the skeleton behind w/o funding to re-skin it??? What? With all the money they have? With all the money - and early aerospace history - that Silcon Valley has???
Yes it is rather sad to think with all the $$$ here they can't re-skin it. The plan (at least over the past 5 years or so) is to eventually refurbish it, but the delay is in "How" to & what to use it for? Place less-than toxic metal siding back on or make it eco-friendly with solar paneling. And IF Google foots-the- bill, they will want to use part of the Hanger for its "corporate air force" or other uses.
@@darklordojedawell, guess what's happening
@@obsessivecorvid yeah, I’m seeing it as it happens.
Minor point, Helium isn't "rare" it's about the most abundant element in the entire universe, but it is difficult and expensive to extract. All those people that say "we're running out of Helium", what they mean is stored reserves of Helium you could do a video about US Helium reserves.
Great video as always.