The Mystery of the Submerged Remains of the USS Macon
The exact location of the submerged remains of the USS Macon remained a mystery for nearly fifty years until a commercial fisherman snagged a piece of girder from the Macon in his net. The girder was displayed in a Moss Landing seafood restaurant on a plaque presented to the restaurant owners by the fisherman who had recovered the piece. Marie Wiley Ross noticed the girder structure. She had seen airship girders like this one as a child with her father, Lt. Comdr. Herbert V. Wiley, who commanded the Macon. Wiley, who was in command of the airship at the time of its loss, had also survived the loss of the USS Akron, the Macon’s sister-ship. Scientists were unaware of Marie’s discovery until 1989.
In 1988 the first attempt to locate the Macon using sides-can sonar proved she was not lying at her recorded sinking location. This initial effort spawned the interests of Dick Sands of the National Museum of Naval Aviation Foundation in Pensacola, Florida as well as David Packard, founder of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI). They asked Chris Grech, a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) pilot for MBARI, who participated in the search for the Macon in 1988, to head up another expedition to the site.
Control room for the ROV Tiburon, on board the Western Flyer. On the far left sit the pilot and copilot of the ROV. In the middle sits the chief scientist for the dive. On the right sits the video annotation technician. Monitors above show video from the ROV, as well as position information sonar, and vessel controls. (Photo: M. Leet/ MBARI)
During the 1989 exploration to locate the Macon led by Grech and MBARI, Gordon Wiley (Marie Wiley’s brother, also the son of Herbert V. Wiley who commanded the Macon) mentioned that girder from the Macon was mounted on a wall in a Moss Landing restaurant.
Grech and Dick Sands were able to follow up on this new lead through a month long investigation tracing the roots of origin of the Macon artifact on display at the restaurant. This sleuth work revealed the Macon’s actual location.
Uharibifu wa meli ya USS Macon ulibaki kuwa siri kwa miaka 50 hadi mvuvi mmoja alipopata kipande cha mtungi wa meli hiyo. Mti huo ulionyeshwa katika mkahawa wa samaki wa Moss Landing kwenye bamba lililowasilishwa kwa wamiliki wa mkahawa na mvuvi ambaye alikuwa amepata kipande hicho. Marie Wiley Ross aliona muundo wa mhimili. Alikuwa ameona mabamba ya ndege kama haya akiwa mtoto pamoja na baba yake, Lt. Comdr. Herbert V. Wiley, ambaye aliongoza meli ya Macon. Wiley, ambaye alikuwa amesimamia ndege hiyo wakati ilipopotea, alikuwa pia ameokoka kupotea kwa USS Akron, meli ya dada ya Macon. Wanasayansi walianza kugundua uvumbuzi huo mwaka 1989. Katika jaribio la kwanza la kugundua meli ya Macon kwa kutumia sonar ya upande-can, ilithibitika kwamba haikuwa mahali ilipoandikwa. "Kama ilivyoelezwa hapo juu, ""Mwanzoni mwa miaka ya 1960,"" Dick Sands, Mkurugenzi wa Shirika la Utafiti wa Ndege la Jeshi la Wanamaji la Marekani, na David Packard, mwanzilishi wa Taasisi ya Utafiti wa Monterey Bay Aquarium, walishiriki katika utafiti huo." Chris Grech, rubani wa ndege ya ROV ya MBRI, ambaye alishiriki katika utafutaji wa Macon mnamo 1988, aliulizwa kuongoza safari nyingine kwenye eneo hilo. Chumba cha kudhibiti kwa ajili ya ROV Tiburon, juu ya bodi ya Magharibi Flyer. Upande wa kushoto kabisa kuna rubani na rubani mwenza wa ROV. Katikati anaketi mwanasayansi mkuu wa kupiga mbizi. Upande wa kulia ameketi fundi wa maelezo ya video. Vipimaji hapo juu vinaonyesha video kutoka kwa ROV, pamoja na sonar ya habari ya nafasi, na udhibiti wa chombo. Wakati wa uchunguzi wa 1989 wa kugundua Macon ulioongozwa na Grech na M.B.R.I., Gordon Wiley (ndugu ya Marie Wiley, pia mwana wa Herbert V. Wiley ambaye aliongoza Macon) alitaja kwamba beam kutoka Macon ilikuwa imewekwa kwenye ukuta katika mgahawa wa Moss Landing. Grech na Dick Sands waliweza kufuatilia mwongozo huu mpya kupitia uchunguzi wa mwezi mmoja wa kufuatilia mizizi ya asili ya kipande cha Macon kilichoonyeshwa kwenye mkahawa. Kazi hiyo ya upelelezi ilifunua mahali halisi ambapo Macon alikuwa.