The following paragraphs chart the history of navalaviation from 1910 to the present.1910The first successful launch of a aircraft from a shipwas made by Eugene Ely, who flew a Curtiss biplanefrom a specially built 83-foot wooden platform on theforecastle of the cruiser Birmingham. See figure 1-1.1911On 8 May 1911, the Navy purchased its firstaircraft from Glenn Curtiss the A-1 Triad. This dateof purchase became the official birthday of navalaviation. The Wright brothers soon sold the Navyanother aircraft. Curtiss and the Wrights agreed to traina pilot and a mechanic.Eugene Ely landed on a 120-foot wooden platformbuilt on the after turret of the Pennsylvania (fig. 1-2).Then, Ely launched from the wooden platform and flewback to shore. The day of the "aircraft carrier" hadarrived. By the end of 1911, the U.S. Navy had threeaircraft, four pilots, and one naval air station located atGreenbury Point, near Annapolis, Maryland. Thestation eventually moved to North Island, California.Later, the Naval Aeronautic Station, Pensacola,Florida, was established and became the primarytraining facility for all naval aviators and enlistedaircrew personnel.1917When the U.S. declared war on Germany on 6 April1917, naval aviation had 48 officers and 239 enlistedmen. There were 54 aircraft, 1 airship, 3 balloons, and 1naval air station. By the end of WWI, naval aviation had6,716 officers, 30,693 enlisted men, 252 land air craft,and 1,865 flying boats and seaplanes. Naval aviationhad grown enormously and was well on its way.1922The converted collier ship Jupiter (AC-3) wasrenamed USS Langley and commissioned. It becamethe first official aircraft carrier (CV-1) supportingfighter and torpedo bomber squadrons. See figure 1-3.1940sFive more aircraft carriers joined the carrier taskforce before the outbreak of World War II.1941. The U.S. Congress declared a state of warwith Japan. During World War II, the F-6F Hellcat,1-2ANF0101Figure 1-1.—Eugene Ely in the first takeoff from a ship, November 14, 1910.
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