Speaking of aircraft carriers...a bit of US Navy lst aircraft carrier built

[American Eagle]

History of the USS Ranger (CV-4) - Air Group 4

CLICK ON THE ABOVE SENTENCE/LINE TO SEE FULL ARTICLE WITH PHOTOS FROM US NAVAL AVIATION ARCHIVES.

My late Uncle, Rear Admiral Arthur Gavin, USN, Ret., Deceased during 1978, was the 1004th US Naval Aviator Commisioned in 1918. In this history of US carriers Internet site about the USS Ranger, the first US carrier built as a carrier from the keel up Captain Arthur Gavin, USN, is found taking command of the carrier USS RANGER in 1944...narrative is just above picture of US flag flying from the bridge at sea of the Ranger... Rear Admiral Gavin retired from the US Navy in 1952, having served in WW I, WW II, with a bunch of crated up P-38s on the decks and below decks headed to Casablanca in 1944. Uncle Art served in WW I, WW II, both in the Atlantic and Pacific Theaters, and during the Korean War.

Uncle Art (this is of course a family brag point) was awarded the Navy Cross, second only to the US Congressional Medal of Honor, for safely sailing his flotilla/the Ranger to Casablanca in 1944 where the approx. 200 P-38 fighter bombers on board we disembarked, assembled, and quickly flown in the on going OPERATION TORCH, ie, the Battle of North Africa.

A partial quote from this Internet site about now deceased Rear Admiral Arthur Gavin, USN:

On January 2, 1944, the Ranger proceeded to Quonset Point Naval Air Station arriving the following day. During January, February, March, and the early part of April, she did carrier qualification work, operating from Quonset Point under Commander Fleet Air. March 30, Admiral Dayo left the ship with his flag. On 19 April, the ship proceeded to Staten Island, New York where on 22 April,1944 Captain Arthur Gavin relieved Captain Rowe as Commanding Officer.

On 24 April, the Ranger cast off from Staten Island for Casablanca with a cargo of US Army P-38 airplanes, plus a passenger group of Allied service personnel. Captain Gavin was in tactical command as Commander Task Group 27.1.

P-38s spotted on flight deck of USS Ranger. April 1944

The ship remained in Casablanca from May 4 to May 7, casting off on the later date with 19 war-torn US Army airplanes, plus a passenger group of Allied service personnel. Upon arrival at Staten Island, New York, May 16, the ship discharged her cargo and passengers, Task Group 27.1 was dissolved, and Captain Gavin reported by dispatch for duty to Commander Fleet Air Norfolk.

See the Internet site for actual photos which will not copy and paste here otherwise.

This post relates to modern day Pakistani Navy events related to aircraft carriers. Carriers are among the world's best "peace keepers" bar none, and I say this as a retired USAF officer (06). The carrier is also a good ship and base to use to provide help and relief operations to nations whose infrastructure and transit systems have been overcome by floods, earth quakes and related storm caused natural disasters.

 

[pmukherjee]

^^^ good post buddy. Thanks for sharing. Great tradition. First carrier in 1929 WOW. We are very aware of the capabilities and the potential of carriers battle groups.

 

[American Eagle]

A bit more US carrier history.

1. A cousin on my Grandmother's side was the first Navy civilian test pilot, Eugene Ely. His biplane was launched from the front deck of a US carrier. That was the very dangerous, rickety start of US Naval aviation. **My late father was named Bennett Ely Singleton, his Mother using her cousin's last name as my Dad's middle name. The Ely name got lost when Dad, the 7th of 8 children, changed his middle name to Powell (his Mother's maiden last name) ran away from home when newly age 14 and enlisted in the Alabama Army National Guard to be wounded as a Corporal/squad leader in France while still only/merely 14 years old. Dad was wounded a second time in France on his 15th birthday. My immature Dad age 14 though changing his middle name from Ely to Powell would keep him from being know as the youth he was, a silly name change attempt to disguise himself in terms of "name" identity.

Corporal Bennett Ely Singleton, USA, name changed to Corporal Bennett Powell Singleton, USA, was America's youngest combat wounded veteran of WW I. A small family brag here.

2. Here is the story of Eugene Ely's first US Navy biplane flight from a US ship. The ship, the USS BIRMINGHAM was appropriate in that both he and his cousin, my Dad, were from Alabama, Birmingham then and now being the largest city in the state of Alabama.


http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/events/ev-1910s/ev-1910/ely-birm.htm

DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY -- NAVAL HISTORICAL CENTER
805 KIDDER BREESE SE -- WASHINGTON NAVY YARD
WASHINGTON DC 20374-5060


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.

3. Further on my late Uncle, Rear Admiral Arthur Gavin, USN, Ret., Deceased. The first "US carrier" was a converted coaling ship, the USS LANGLEY, in the 1920s. My Uncle Art, as a young Navy. Lt./pilot was the Navigator for the carrier USS LANGLEY as well as being one of it's ships squadron pilots. He wore "two hats" so to speak. Just another minor piece of US Navy carrier aviation history which may be of parochial interest to Pakistani and Indian pilots of your modern day Naval aviation programs.