WINGS OF THE FLEET

Celebrating the U.S. Navy's 250-year legacy

- BY BARRETT TILLMAN

THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS established the United States Navy on October 13, 1775, authorizing two ships modified as privateers. It was an extremely modest beginning for what became the world's dominant sea power.

Some 136 years later, in 1911 the United States Navy entered the air age, borne upon wood and fabric wings and the spiritual lift of hope and optimism. That March, Congress appropriated the grandiose amount of $25,000 (about $835,000 today) for development of naval aviation. At the time the Navy had 51,000 men with 202 ships.

Dawn of naval aviation

Curtiss pilot Eugene Ely already had proven shipboard takeoffs and landings in 1910-1911, but the first aeroplane purchased under the daring initiative set back Uncle Sam some $5,500. Thus, the Curtiss A-1 series became the first of tens of thousands of aircraft acquired by the naval services: Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard, over the next century. In the dawn of naval aviation, one name loomed large: Curtiss. So large, in fact, that it nearly dwarfed the other contestants combined, including the Wright company. Navy air’s first operation was supporting the landings at Vera Cruz, Mexico, in 1914. It was a minor event with two floatplanes operating from a tender, flown by Lieutenant Patrick Bellinger (Naval Aviator number 8) and three junior pilots, all eventually moving ashore.

The next year the Coast Guard formed an aviation branch, usually serving under the Treasury Department in peacetime. During the Prohibition era, 1920-1933, "Coasties" busily pursued liquor smugglers while aloft or afloat.

First World War