The Beginning After the Wright Brothers historic first flight, many saw the aircraft as little more than a plaything and novelty. But there were some who saw the potential of aircraft and thought it could benefit the United States Navy. One of those people was Captain Washington Irving Chambers. Chambers was the former captain of the USS Louisiana and was assigned in 1911 to the Navy Department in Washington D.C. He soon became a somewhat unlikely champion of naval aviation. The official birth date of U.S. Naval Aviation is a May 8th, 1911. This date is the day that Captain Chambers submitted a requisition to Glenn Curtin to build two aircraft. Prior to May 8th 1911, events had already been set into motion that would make this birthday a …show more content…
There were some heroes who rose from the ranks of those brave and daring aviators. Lt. David Ingalls, who became the Navy's first ACE only U.S. ACE from WW1 and Ens. Charles Hamman, who was Naval Aviation’s first Medal of Honor recipient. The war ended on November 11, 1918 and Naval Aviation had grown significantly to over 2000 aircraft, 6700 officers and 30,000 enlisted men. There were now 12 U.S. Air stations, 21 in Europe, one at the Panama Canal and two in Canada.
Dawn of the Aircraft Carrier At the end of WW1, the Navy was primarily operating flying boats and seaplanes. Planes that could take off and land in the water seemed to be the only logical choice for the Navy at the time. Better seaplanes were being built, including the Navy-Curtiss NC flying boat. This new “Super Seaplane” had four engines, and could fly long distances without taking up space on a ship. CDR. Jack towers believed these planes could be the first to fly across the Atlantic. The Navy’s flight across the Atlantic was attempted on May 16, 1919. Three aircraft each with 6 men on board left from Newfoundland. Two of the aircraft had to set down at sea and were not able to continue. One aircraft commanded by Lt. Cdr. Albert C. (Putty) Read, reached the Azores and then after a layover, flew on to Lisbon Arriving May 27, 1919. The Navy became the first to fly across the Atlantic eight years prior to Charles Lindbergh’s Historic …show more content…
Even with this success there were those who believed the Navy could play an even more important role with planes operating from ships. The first aircraft carrier was the Langley; it was converted from a collier name The Jupiter. The first flight from her deck occurred on October 17, 1922 by Lt. Cdr. Virgil C. (Squash) Griffin. The first landing was made at the later date of October 26 by Lt. Cdr. Godfrey Courcelles (Chevy) Chevalier. The Langley was never meant to be operational, it was more of a testing platform for new technology geared for launch and recovery of aircraft from on board ship. Two battleships were also selected to be converted and became the Lexington and the Saratoga. The Ranger which was the first carrier built from the ground up, soon joined the Navy’s growing carrier