FIRST LANDING OF AN AIRCRAFT ON A SHIP

First landing of an aircraft on a ship

Just eight years after the Wright brothers’ first powered flight, naval officers were already asking what airplanes might do for fleets at sea. On January 18th, 1911, civilian pilot Eugene Ely approached the armored cruiser USS Pennsylvania in San Francisco Bay, aiming at a temporary wooden deck built over the ship’s stern. Using simple arresting wires and hooks rather than the sophisticated gear of later carriers, he brought his fragile biplane down onto the moving ship and rolled to a stop in front of an excited crowd of sailors and officials. The demonstration showed that aircraft could take off and land from warships, turning ships into mobile airfields. Although years of experimentation still lay ahead, this single landing helped push the United States Navy toward the carrier age that would define naval combat in the Second World War and beyond.