Editing USS Akron (section)

===Participation in a search exercise (January 1932)===
[[File:USS Akron Chesapeake Bay February 1932.ogv|thumb|Film of ''Akron'' operating over [[Chesapeake Bay]] in early 1932, including footage of the ship mooring to the airship tender {{USS|Patoka|AO-9|6}}]]

On the morning of 9 January 1932, ''Akron'' departed from Lakehurst to work with the [[Scouting Fleet]] on a search exercise. Proceeding to the coast of [[North Carolina]], ''Akron'' headed out over the Atlantic, where she was assigned to find a group of [[destroyer]]s bound for [[Guantánamo Bay, Cuba]]. Once these were located, the airship was to shadow them and report their movements. Leaving the coast of North Carolina around 07:21 on 10 January, the airship proceeded south, but bad weather prevented sighting the destroyers (contact with them was missed at 12:40 EST, although their crews had sighted ''Akron'') and eventually shaped a course toward the [[Bahama]]s by late afternoon. Heading northwesterly into the night, ''Akron'' then changed course shortly before midnight and proceeded to the southeast. Ultimately, at 09:08 on 11 January, the airship succeeded in spotting the [[light cruiser]] {{USS|Raleigh|CL-7|6}} and 12 destroyers, positively identifying them on the eastern horizon two minutes later. Sighting a second group of destroyers shortly thereafter, ''Akron'' was released from the evaluation about 10:00, having achieved a "qualified success" in the initial test with the Scouting Fleet, but the performance could have been better with radio detection-finding equipment, and scout planes.<ref name=rs/>{{rp|49–51}}

As U.S. naval aviation historian Richard K. Smith wrote in his definitive study, ''The Airships Akron & Macon: Flying Aircraft Carriers of the United States Navy'', with "consideration given to the weather, duration of flight, a track of more than {{convert|3000|mi|abbr=on}} flown, her material deficiencies, and the rudimentary character of aerial navigation at that date, the ''Akron''{{'s}} performance was remarkable. There was not a military airplane in the world in 1932 which could have given the same performance, operating from the same base."<ref>Smith (1965). p. 51</ref>