Off the California coast lies the sunken wreckage of the U.S. Navy’s last flying aircraft carrier.
The idea that the Navy had flying aircraft carriers is probably new to a lot of people. Imagine a nearly 800-foot “blimp” where five military airplanes can land and take off in midair. Last week, a team of oceanographers got a close look at the airship USS Macon. More than 1,400 feet under the sea, robots from the exploration ship E/V Nautilus examined the Macon with cameras and other equipment.
The Macon — technically not a blimp, but a rigid airship — crashed into the water off Point Sur during a storm in 1935, killing two of its 83 crewmen. Outfitted with four deployable Sparrowhawk biplanes, it was the last of its kind in the U.S. military. The crash spelled the end of the U.S. military’s flying aircraft carrier program.
For video and the complete story by Thom Patterson of CNN, click here.
