Patch

Naval Aviation History

By woodp

  • First Shipboard Landing

    First Shipboard Landing
    Civilian pilot Eugene Ely becomes the first person to ever land an aircraft on board a ship, flying a Curtiss pusher onto a makeshift wooden platform constructed on the armored cruiser Pennsylvania in San Francisco Bay.

  • First Successful Hydroaeroplane Flight

    First Successful Hydroaeroplane Flight
    With LT Theodore G. Ellyson, destined to become Naval Aviator Number 1, observing, Glenn H. Curtiss makes the first successful hydroaeroplane flight in San Diego, demonstrating the application of airplanes for naval purposes.

  • Birth of Naval Aviation

    Birth of Naval Aviation
    Capt. Washington Irving Chambers prepares contract specifications for the Navy's first aircraft. This date is later designated the birthday of U.S. Naval Aviation.

  • First U.S. Navy Flight

    First U.S. Navy Flight
    The Navy's first aircraft, the A-1 Triad, makes its maiden flight from Keuka Lake at Hammondsport, New York.

  • Birth of Marine Corps Aviation

    Birth of Marine Corps Aviation
    1LT Alfred Cunningham, USMC, reports to Greenbury Point, Maryland, for flight training, marking the birth of Marine Corps aviation.

  • First Naval Combat Flight

    First Naval Combat Flight
    An AB-3 flying boat flown by LT Patrick N.L. Bellinger completes the first combat flight by a U.S. military aircraft, flying a reconnaissance mission in support of operations at Veracruz, Mexico.

  • Flight Instruction begins

    Flight Instruction begins
    Second LT Charles Sugden and Third LT Elmer F Stone become the first two Coast Guard aviators assigned to flight instruction.

  • First Navy Ace

    First Navy Ace
    LTJG David S. Ingalls shoots down his fifth enemy aircraft over the Western Front, becoming U.S. Naval Aviation's first fighter ace.

  • First Transatlantic Crossing

    First Transatlantic Crossing
    The NC-4 flying boat lands in Lisbon Harbor, Portugal, completing the first transatlantic crossing by air.

  • Bureau of Aeronatics established

    Bureau of Aeronatics established
    The Bureau of Aeronautics (later the Bureau of Naval Weapons) is established by an Act of Congress.

  • USS Langley (CV-1) Commissioned

    USS Langley (CV-1) Commissioned
    The U.S. Navy commissions its first aircraft carrier, Langley.

  • First Landing on USS Langley

    First Landing on USS Langley
    LCDR Godfrey DeC. Chevalier records the first landing on board a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier aboard USS Langley.

  • First Navy/Marine Combined Action

    First Navy/Marine Combined Action
    In the first combined arms action in the Marine Corps, DH-4 aircraft provide close air support for leathernecks on the ground in a battle against Sandinistas in Ocotal, Nicaragua.

  • Battle of the Coral Sea

    Battle of the Coral Sea
    U.S. Navy and Imperial Japanese Navy aircraft carriers square off in the Battle of the Coral Sea, the first naval engagement in which ships of the opposing forces are not within sight of one another.

  • Battle of Midway

    Battle of Midway
    U.S. Navy carrier aircraft sink four Imperial Japanese Navy aircraft carriers and a Japanese heavy cruiser, offensive blows that lead to victory in the decisive Battle of Midway.

  • 11,000 Mile Non-Stop Flight

    11,000 Mile Non-Stop Flight
    September 29, 1946 - A P2V-1 Neptune patrol aircraft nicknamed the Truculent Turtle completes a non-stop flight of 11,235.6 miles from Perth, Australia, to Columbus, Ohio, in 55 hours and 17 minutes.

  • First American to Orbit Earth

    First American to Orbit Earth
    LTCOL John H. Glenn, Jr., USMC, becomes the first American to orbit the earth.

  • First Man on the Moon

    First Man on the Moon
    Astronaut Neil Armstrong, a former naval aviator, becomes the first human to set foot on the surface of the moon.

  • First Female Naval Aviator

    First Female Naval Aviator
    LTJG Barbara Ann Allen becomes the first woman to be designated a naval aviator.