Today in 1910, pilot Eugene Ely flew his plane from the bow of the cruiser USS Birmingham (CL 2). This was the first time a plane had ever taken off from the deck of a ship. His achievement paved the way for modern aircraft carrier operations!
Aviation pioneer Eugene Ely learned to fly in Portland, Oregon aboard a Curtiss biplane in early 1910. He started flying because he believed that it would be as easy to learn as driving a car.
Just a few months later, the Navy asked him to investigate the possibility of shipboard landings. On November 14, 1910, he took off from USS Birmingham near Norfolk, Virginia. The airplane plunged downward as soon as it cleared the ship, and the aircraft wheels dipped into the water before rising. Ely landed safely on a nearby beach. The flight had proven the feasibility of the aircraft carrier concept.
The following January, Ely set another naval aviation first by landing his plane aboard USS Pennsylvania (ACR 4) in San Francisco Bay. This was the first time an aircraft had landed aboard a ship.
In this photo from the Naval History & Heritage Command, Eugene Ely is seated in his Curtiss biplane, just before takeoff.
(From Puget Sound Navy Museum via US Naval History Buffs FB Group)
