Big Navy Seaplanes Start on Transatlantic Flight -- May 8, 2019

New York World, 08-May-1919

100 years ago today, on 08-May-1919, three Navy Curtiss flying boats (NC-1, NC-3 and NC-4) set out to fly across the Atlantic Ocean.  There's a long story about NC-2.  The first leg was from Naval Air Station Rockaway, New York to Halifax, Nova Scotia. There is irony in the fact that NC-4 had engine trouble.    Commander John H Towers was one of the Navy's first pilots.  

BIG NAVY SEAPLANES START ON TRANSATLANTIC FLIGHT;

NC-4 HAS ENGINE TROUBLE

Halifax Is Goal in First Hop of NC Air Fleet Bound for Plymouth, England.

PROGRESS OF NAVAL PLANES.
Start at Rockaway 10.04 A.M.
Pass Sag Harbor, L. I.. 10.30 A. M.
Pass Fisher's Island. .11.00 A. M.
Pass Block Island 12.00 Noon
Pass Naushon Island, Vineyard Sound ....12.50 P.M.
Pass Chatham, Mass... 1.15P.M.
Pass Boston 1.31 P. M.
Off Portsmouth, N. H.... 2 P.M.

WASHINGTON, May 8. -- Commander Read of the NC 4 reported to the Navy Department by radio at 2.02 P. M., through the Chatham (Mass.) station, that his plane was experiencing engine trouble and might be forced to land. The message as transmitted to the Navy Department said:
"We are running on three motors, oil trouble on one, and may have to land. Read, NC 4."

The destroyer located about 20 miles north of Cape Cod reported that the NC-4 passed at 2.13 P. M.

Two planes passed the second station ship off the Maine coast at 3.10, having covered more than half the distance of the first leg of the flight.

BOSTON, May 8. -- The three American seaplanes bound for Halifax on the first leg of their trans-oceanic flight passed Boston at 1.31 o'clock this afternoon. A message from Secretary Daniels was relayed from the Navy Yard here to Commander Towers, as the squadron sped northward. The message said:
"Delighted to hear of your successful start. Wish you luck all the way."

Towers reported that everything was going splendidly. At 2 o'clock the squadron was approximately opposite Portsmouth, N. H., flying at a height estimated at 1,000 feet.

Shortly before 2 o'clock the great naval wireless station at Otter Cliffs, Me., reported it was in communication with the planes.

Weather conditions were reported excellent.

(Special Despatch From a Staff Correspondent.)
Three giant seaplanes of the United states Navy left Rockaway at 10.01 o'clock to-day for the 540 mile jump to Halifax on the first leg of a flight to Plymouth, England.

The ships selected by the Navy to win the honor of the first transatlantic air flight were the NC 3, NC 1 and the NC 4. They got away in tho order named.

As he stepped Into NC 2, the flagship. Commander J. H. Towers said: "We hope to reach Halifax not later than 6 o'clock."

There was only a small crowd to witness the start. A few relatives of the crews, some naval officers and a group of newspaper correspondents saw the machines take the air. There was no cheering. Two women standing close to the water's edge wept as the propellers began to whirr. They were the wives of men in one of the planes.

The machines circled about the bay to got height and prepare for squadron formation. Then, the NC 3 leading the way, piloted by Commander Towers, they headed northeast nnd were soon out of sight. A submarine churned tho water in hot pursuit with the intention of keeping them in sight as long as possible.

WEAR LEATHER CLOTHING, CARRY FOOD AND COFFEE.

The aviators wore leather clothing, the dress of naval flyers. The planes carried food and water. Every plane had on board a huge thermos bottle filled with hot coffee. They also carried pasteboard boxes of the sort the "folks" take to a picnic, containing sandwiches and a bag of cake. In a small bag slung over one shoulder, each man carried five pounds of extra clothing.

The commanders of the flying ships, when they left, did not expect to touch land again until they have crossed the ocean. At the scheduled stopping places they will be moored in harbor. Somewhere along the long line of warship ocean patrol they may have to come down, but they are capable of riding any ordinary sea while being repaired or overhauled.

The wing-spread of each ship is 126 feet. Crew and equipment are carried in the "hull," a 40-foot boat on which the plane rests on alighting in the water. Each plane is driven by four Liberty motors of 400 horsepower connected with individual propellers. With a full load the planes weigh 28,500 pounds apiece.

After rounding Rockaway Point the squadron turned east for Montauk at the easterly tip of Long Island, whence their course bent northeasterly to Chatham on the elbow of Cape Cod and continue over a long stretch of coastal waters to Halifax.

Fully a mile away the even-toned roar assured the officers who had seen the start that the huge motors were working perfectly.

Far away on the horizon, were the dirigible C4 and a scout plane flying as escorts to the NC fleet. Soon the big dirigible turned off and proceeded to New Haven and Bridgeport, which was bombarded with Liberty Loan literature from the sky. In the afternoon the C4 returned to the station.

On the plane that followed the NC ships were Ensign J. R. Biggs and Gunner C. D. Griffin. They remained out nearly two hours, and reported that the ships maintained an altitude of about 1,800 feet and were ten, fifteen and twenty miles off shore in triangular formation.

The total distance from Rockaway Beach to Plymouth Is 3,925 miles. From Trepassey, Newfoundland, the route runs 1,S50 miles to the Azores, 800 miles to Portugal, and on to Plymouth.

TWO CARRY 7 MEN, ONE 6, ON FIRST LEG OF FLIGHT.

One of the planes carried six and the others seven men each. Only five men will make the transatlantic trip on each from Trepassey.

The crews on the three seaplanes are:

N. C.-3 -- Commander J. H. Towers, commanding officer and navigator: Commander H. C. Richardson and Lieut. D. H. McCullough, pilots; Lieut. Commander R. A. Lavender, radio operator; Machinist L. R. Moore, engineer; Lieut. Brixton Rhodes, reserve pilot engineer, and Lieut. Commander R. E. Byrd. radio operator. The latter two will go only as far as Newfoundland.

N. C.-1 -- Lieut. Commander A. C. Read, commanding officer and navigator; Lieuts. E F. Stone and W. K. Hinton, pilots: Ensign R. C. Rodd, radio operator; Chief Machinist's Mate E. S. Rhodes, engineer, and Lieut. J. L. Brees, reserve pilot engineer, the latter going only as far as Newfoundland.

N. C.-1 -- Lieut. Commander P. N. L. Bellinger, commanding officer and navigator; Lieut. Commander M. A. Mitscher and Lieut. L. T. Barin, pilots; Lieut. Harry Sadenwater, radio operator; Chief Machinist's Mate C. I. Kesler, engineer; Machinist Rasmus Christensen, reserve pilot engineer, the latter going only as far as Newfoundland.

Lieut. Commander Byrd and Ensign C. J. McCarthy were added at the last minute.

The NC 3 and the NC 1 made preliminary flights earlier in the morning. After their return Commander Towers said the boats were ready to go.

The planes were got ready, the NC-4 on the runway and the NC-3 and the NC1 on her left and right in the water.

At 9.43 o'clock Commander Towers climbed into the flagship and waving his hands to the spectators said:

"Goodby, boys. There is nothing we can see now that will prevent us from being In Halifax at 6 o'clock, the end of the first lap," said Towers. "This is the kind of a day we have been looking for for a week. We are confident that the American Navy will be first to cross the Atlantic in the air."

Bellinger said, taking a big black cigar from his mouth before he stepped into Ship No. 1: "With the help of God and in spite of the devil, we'll do this little thing!"

"Our radio instruments," Commander. R. A. Lavender, radio operator on the NC-3, said "are working tiptop and there will be no time during the journey when we will not be in touch with at least two destroyers. If anything should go wrong on one ship its commander can get in touch with one of the others or with a land station."

SEAPLANES MOVE OUT FOR START ONE MINUTE APART.

Late weather reports from all along the coast were favorable.

One minute after Towers waved his signal the NC-3 began to move out at 9.59, the NC-4 and NC-1 followed one minute apart.

The twelve motors on the three planes roared like a machine shop on a busy day. Persons in the crowd put their hands to their ears.

The machines circled around the bay for half a mile and then -- "They're off!" was the cry.

The seaplanes flew away at a height of about 600 feet and as they sped along went up to a higher altitude. The last seen of the planes the commanders were waving handkerchiefs at those on shore.

Before they left, the men posed for a motion picture operator. Every man was in high spirits.

Capt. Irwin, U. S. N., presented every man with a four-leaf clover as he climbed into his ship. Among others who saw the departure were Mr. and Mrs. Herbert L. Satterloo and daughter.

HOODOO FOLLOWS SEAPLANES TO THE END.

The trip had been postponed 48 hours, and, on account of the uncertainty about the weather, it was said, there was nothing sure about a start to-day down to until Commander Tower gave the word.

Almost down to the last the flight was the prey of the "hoodoo" which, sailormen said, apparently makes its home in Rockaway. While the NC-4 was being made ready for a trial flight at 6 o'clock last night the propeller, making 1,500 revolutions a minute, cut off Chief Special Mechanic Harry Howard's left hand. Howard felt worse about losing the trip than be did about his injury.

"I hope," he said to Commander Towers, "that you'll be held up here three weeks." Then I'll be all right again."

Word was telephoned to him to-day at the Navel Base Hospital, Brooklyn, that the ships bad made a successful hop-off.

"You'll have to excuse him," the nurse said; "He feels pretty badly about it."

NAVAL CROSS OCEAN FLYERS COMMUNICATE WITH EACH OTHER BY RADIO PHONE

Seaplanes Also Are In Constant Touch With Ships and Shore Wireless Stations.

WASHINGTON, May 8. -- The following official account of the start of the flight was issued by the Navy Department:

"The three navy seaplanes, NC 1, NC 3 and NC 4, started from the Naval Air Station at Rockaway at 10.02 A. M. to-day on their flight to Halifax, the first leg of the transatlantic flight which will start officially when the planes take the air from Trepassey Bay for Lisbon, Portugal, via the Azores.

"Two minutes after the start each destroyer along the first leg of the route had been notified of the start, and before the three planes had proceeded thirty-four miles the station ship at Halifax, the ships along the route and other vessels along the route had been notified. A radio despatch also had been received, by Admiral Knapp In London and Admiral Benson in Paris.

"When the planes were a little more than fifty miles from Rockaway they were in communication with the naval air station by radio. From the start they were in communication by radio telephone with each other, and will be throughout the flight. When they were approximately 100 miles from the starting point they were in communication with the naval air station at Chatham, Mass.

"The distance to Halifax by the route to be taken is approximately 540 miles, and it is expected that the minimum time of the first leg of the flight will be about eight hours."

FIVE CROSS-OCEAN FLIGHT BASES NOW IN NEWFOUNDLAND

International Rivalry Marked by Establishment of U. S. Station at Trepassey.

ST. JOHNS, N. F., May 8 -- The Eastern Newfoundland coast now has five airdromes where there are flying activities dally or preparations are being made for sheltering planes yet to arrive. International rivalry has sprung up with the presence at Trepassey Bay of the United States Naval Seaplane Base. At Cape Broyle farther north, is the airdrome site of Lieut. Col. J. C. Porte. Col. Porte's machine has not yet arrived.

Continuing north, St, Johns has two flying fields where for nearly a month planes of the Sopwith and Martinsyde expeditions, which have Harry G, Hawker and Frederick P. Raynham respectively as pilots, have been fuel laden and fully equipped for the overseas start.

The most northern of the airdromes and the largest is that at Harbor Grace where the Handley Page machine, to be piloted by Major Brakely, is housed.

BRIDGE OF BOATS TO PROTEOT FLYERS READY BY SATURDAY

More Destroyers Sail From Newfoundland for Station on Azores Route.

ABOARD U. S. S. PRAIRIE. TREPASSEY BAY, N. F. May 8Th -- American bridge of boats from Newfoundland to the Azores for protection of the NC-1, NC-3 and NC-4 on their transatlantic flight, will be ready by Saturday, according to prospects today.

The destroyers Palmer, Walker, Crosby, Thatcher, and Laub are sailing out to-day to take up their stations. The Upshur, Beggs, William and Buchanan will start after taking on fuel and supplies. It was announced the navy vessels were prepared to remain at sea two months if necessary. If the big jump from Trepassey should be delayed awaiting favorable weather.

The Governor of Newfoundland has tendered the fleet here unrestricted use of the Newfoundland radio stations and all marine facilities.

New York World, 08-May-1919

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