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Great pic Fenix! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Birmingham_(CL-2) The cruiser USS Birmingham left the yard on 2 February 1914, and resumed operations with the Atlantic Fleet as flagship of the Torpedo Flotilla. From 22 April – 25 May, she operated with the fleet in Mexican waters. During this time, one of her two Curtiss Model Fflying boats performed the first military mission by a US heavier-than-air aircraft, while scouting for mines off Veracruz on 25 April. In 1916, she became flagship of Destroyer Force Atlantic Fleet, and Torpedo Flotilla 3. Apparently the wooden deck for the 1910 launch only covered the foredeck...a very short roll for a very brave pilot, Ely, on the cutting edge! Move over Doolittle! In October, Ely and Curtiss met Captain Washington Chambers, USN, who had been appointed by George von Lengerke Meyer, the Secretary of the Navy, to investigate military uses for aviation within the Navy. This led to two experiments. On November 14, 1910, Ely took off in a Curtiss pusher from a temporary platform erected over the bow of the light cruiserUSS Birmingham.The aeroplane plunged downward as soon as it cleared the 83-foot platform runway; and the aircraft wheels dipped into the water before rising. Ely's goggles were covered with spray, and the aviator promptly landed on a beach rather than circling the harbor and landing at the Norfolk Navy Yard as planned. John Barry Ryan offered $500 to build the platform, and a $500 prize, for a ship to shore flight.

First fixed-wing aircraft landing on a warship: Ely landing his plane on board the USS Pennsylvania in San Francisco Bay, 18 January 1911.


Two months later, on January 18, 1911, Ely landed his Curtiss pusher airplane on a platform on the armored cruiserUSS Pennsylvania anchored in San Francisco Bay. Ely flew from the Tanforan airfield in San Bruno, California and landed on the Pennsylvania, which was the first successful shipboard landing of an aircraft.This flight was also the first ever using a tailhook system, designed and built by circus performer and aviator Hugh Robinson. Ely told a reporter: "It was easy enough. I think the trick could be successfully turned nine times out of ten."
Ely communicated with the United States Navy requesting employment, but United States naval aviation was not yet organized. Ely continued flying in exhibitions while Captain Chambers promised to "keep him in mind" if Navy flying stations were created. Captain Chambers advised Ely to cut out the sensational features for his safety and the sake of aviation. When asked about retiring, The Des Moines Register quoted Ely as replying: "I guess I will be like the rest of them, keep at it until I am killed."

Curtiss-Ely Pusher replica in flight in 2011


To commemorate the 100th anniversary of the flight, Naval Commander Bob Coolbaugh flew a personally built replica of the Ely Curtiss from the runway at NAS Norfolk on November 12, 2010. The U.S. Navy plans to feature the flying demonstration at Naval anniversary events across America.<And so he was 9 months later...Oct 19 1911 at Macon Georgia. I'm amazed carrier landings and take offs aren't called 'doing an Ely'; he and USS Birmingham were # 1...