The Macon carried small Sparrowhawk biplanes that flew off and hooked back on to a trapeze under its hull, which made it a “flying aircraft carrier.” It was christened in March 1933 by the wife of Admiral Moffett.
Returning to Sunnyvale from fleet exercises on February 12, 1935, it lost its upper fin in a storm and went down in the Pacific; two of its crew died.