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Photo # NH 77601:  Eugene Ely flies his Curtiss pusher airplane off USS Birmingham, 14 Nov. 1910

Online Library of Selected Images:
-- EVENTS -- The 1910s -- 1910

Eugene Ely's Flight from USS Birmingham, 14 November 1910

In October 1910 Captain Washington I. Chambers, who was responsible for aviation matters at the Navy Department, traveled to Belmont Park, New York, to inspect the flimsy aircraft and meet with pioneer aviators at the International Air Meet. While discussing the prospects for the taking aircraft to sea, he was impressed by the technical abilities of Eugene Ely, a demonstration pilot working with airplane builder Glenn Curtiss. Early the following month, the Captain visited another air show, near Baltimore, Maryland, and again saw Ely. Upon hearing that Chambers was interested in having a plane fly from a ship, Ely volunteered for the task.

In less than two week's time, with financial help from wealthy aviation enthusiast John Barry Ryan, official backing from Assistant Secretary of the Navy Beekman Winthrop, and Eugene Ely's drive and iniative, Chambers managed to generate a historic achievement that marked the physical beginning of U.S. Navy flying. At the Norfolk Navy Yard, Virginia, a wooden platform was quickly constructed over the foredeck of the scout cruiser Birmingham. Designed by Naval Constructor William McEntree and paid for with a few hundred dollars of Ryan's money, this structure sloped down five degrees from the cruiser's bridge to her bow to provide a gravity-assisted 57-foot takeoff run for Ely's Curtiss pusher airplane.

The plane, placed on board by the morning of 14 November 1910, had its engine installed by Ely and his mechanics as the ship prepared to leave port. Shortly before noon, Birmingham steamed down the Elizabeth River toward Hampton Roads, where the flight was to take place. However, the weather was dreadful, with squalls rolling by and threatening to thwart the affair. Birmingham anchored to await improved conditions. In mid-afternoon, with things looking somewhat clearer, she began to raise her anchor chain. Eugene Ely, warming up his plane's engine and checking its controls, waited impatiently during this lengthy process. Noticing that visibility was again deteriorating, he concluded that the attempt had to be made immediately, even though the ship was still stationary. At 3:16 PM he gunned his engine, gave the release signal, rolled down the ramp and was airborne, almost.

The Curtiss briefly touched the water, throwing up enough spray to damage its propeller, and vibrated heavily as it climbed. Ely, a non-swimmer, realized that a quick landing was essential. He touched down on nearby Willoughby Spit after some five minutes in the air. This two and a half mile flight, the first time an airplane had taken off from a warship, was something of a stunt. However, it received wide publicity. On 18 January 1911, on the opposite side of the Continent in San Francisco Bay, Eugene Ely would again operate from a ship, landing and taking off from the armored cruiser Pennsylvania. One day later, Lieutenant Theodore G. Ellyson began the flight training that would make him the U.S. Navy's first aviator.

This page features all the images we have related to the 14 November 1910 flight by aviator Eugene Ely from the deck of USS Birmingham.


If you want higher resolution reproductions than the Online Library's digital images, see: How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions.

Click on the small photograph to prompt a larger view of the same image.

Photo #: NH 77548

First airplane takeoff from a warship,
14 November 1910


A floating crane lifts Eugene B. Ely's Curtiss pusher airplane from the Norfolk Navy Yard pier, Virginia, in preparation for placing it on board USS Birmingham (Scout Cruiser # 2), shortly before the flight.
Birmingham is partially visible at left, behind the crane.

Photograph from the Eugene B. Ely scrapbooks.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 127KB; 740 x 590 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 77549

First airplane takeoff from a warship,
14 November 1910


A floating crane lifts Eugene B. Ely's Curtiss pusher airplane onto USS Birmingham (Scout Cruiser # 2), at the Norfolk Navy Yard, Virginia, shortly before the flight.

Photograph from the Eugene B. Ely scrapbooks.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 72KB; 540 x 765 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 77550

First airplane takeoff from a warship,
14 November 1910


A floating crane places Eugene B. Ely's Curtiss pusher airplane on board USS Birmingham (Scout Cruiser # 2). Photographed at the Norfolk Navy Yard, Virginia, shortly before the flight.

Photograph from the Eugene B. Ely scrapbooks.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 69KB; 545 x 765 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 77562

First airplane takeoff from a warship,
14 November 1910


Sailors and civilians crowd around Eugene B. Ely's Curtiss pusher airplane as a floating crane places it on board USS Birmingham (Scout Cruiser # 2). Photographed at the Norfolk Navy Yard, Virginia, shortly before the flight.

Photograph from the Eugene B. Ely scrapbooks.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 85KB; 740 x 495 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 98131

First airplane takeoff from a warship,
14 November 1910


Eugene B. Ely's Curtiss pusher airplane on the takeoff platform of USS Birmingham (Scout Cruiser # 2), just after it was hoisted aboard by a floating crane.
Photograph taken at the Norfolk Navy Yard, Virginia, shortly before the flight.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the Collections of the Naval Historical Center.

Online Image: 109KB; 740 x 550 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 77551

First airplane takeoff from a warship,
14 November 1910


Eugene B. Ely's Curtiss pusher airplane rests on the flying-off platform built over the foredeck of USS Birmingham (Scout Cruiser # 2).
Photograph taken at the Norfolk Navy Yard, Virginia, shortly before the flight. The floating crane that had lifted the airplane onto the ship is visible at the extreme left.

Photograph from the Eugene B. Ely scrapbooks.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 83KB; 740 x 565 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 77554

First airplane takeoff from a warship,
14 November 1910


USS Birmingham (Scout Cruiser # 2) steams downriver from the Norfolk Navy Yard, Virginia, with Eugene B. Ely's Curtiss pusher airplane on board, at about midday on 14 November 1910.
Ely and his plane made their historic flight later that afternoon.

Photograph from the Eugene B. Ely scrapbooks.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 72KB; 740 x 550 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 1831

First airplane takeoff from a warship,
14 November 1910


USS Birmingham (Scout Cruiser # 2) bound for Hampton Roads, after leaving the Norfolk Navy Yard, Virginia, with Eugene B. Ely's Curtiss pusher airplane on board, 14 November 1910.
Ely took his plane off from Birmingham later that afternoon.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 64KB; 740 x 600 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 77563

First airplane takeoff from a warship,
14 November 1910


Eugene B. Ely flies his Curtiss pusher airplane off the deck of USS Birmingham (Scout Cruiser # 2), in Hampton Roads, Virginia, during the afternoon of 14 November 1910.
USS Roe (Destroyer # 24) is visible beyond Birmingham's bow, acting as plane guard.
Note that Birmingham's anchor is in the process of being hoisted.

Photograph from the Eugene B. Ely scrapbooks.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 48KB; 740 x 495 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 77601

First airplane takeoff from a warship,
14 November 1910


Eugene B. Ely flies his Curtiss pusher airplane from USS Birmingham (Scout Cruiser # 2), in Hampton Roads, Virginia, during the afternoon of 14 November 1910.
USS Roe (Destroyer # 24), serving as plane guard, is visible in the background.

Photograph from the Eugene B. Ely scrapbooks.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 75KB; 740 x 595 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 76511

First airplane takeoff from a warship,
14 November 1910


Eugene B. Ely takes his Curtiss pusher airplane off from the deck of USS Birmingham (Scout Cruiser # 2), in Hampton Roads, Virginia, during the afternoon of 14 November 1910.
USS Roe (Destroyer # 24), serving as plane guard, is visible in the background.

Photograph from the Eugene B. Ely scrapbooks.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 59KB; 740 x 585 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 77555

Eugene B. Ely


On board USS Roe (Destroyer # 24) on 14 November 1910, shortly after his flight off the deck of USS Birmingham (Scout Cruiser # 2). This was the first airplane takeoff from a warship.

Photograph from the Eugene B. Ely scrapbooks.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 110KB; 535 x 765 pixels

 


If you want higher resolution reproductions than the Online Library's digital images, see: How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions.


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Page made 24 October 2002
Links added 5 January 2003