Eugene Ely News

1879 - USS Constitution, while sailing back to the U.S. from France, ran aground off Bollard Head on the south coast of England. She was towed to the Portsmouth Navy Yard and placed in Dry Dock 11 for inspection. The 82-year-old frigate survived the grounding and only needed to have 85 feet of her false keel replaced and several sheets of underwater copper. She resumed her voyage home on January 24th. 1885 - A Marine guard from steamer USS Alliance lands at Colon, Panama, (then in Colombia) to guard the railroad and to protect American lives and property during a period of political unrest.

One year ago, Sailors watched an unmanned air vehicle take-off from a nuclear-powered carrier flight deck for the first time in naval aviation history, says Capt. "May 14, 2013 was an extraordinary day for the Navy. The crew from USS George H.W. Bush launched the X-47B that morning off the coast of Virginia. The tailless, autonomous unmanned aircraft took to the skies, while the flight crew on deck celebrated this historic achievement. Our Naval Air Forces Commander Vice Adm. David Buss called it “a watershed event” as he watched from the flight deck. He compared this event to aviation pioneer Eugene Ely’s first-ever landing on the deck of a ship in 1911. In July, the UCAS-D team went back to the ship and took testing one step further.

Today in U.S. Naval History - November 14 1846 - Naval forces capture Tampico, Mexico. 1910 - Civilian Eugene Ely pilots first aircraft to take-off from a ship, USS Birmingham (CL-2) at Hampton Roads, Va. He lands safely on Willoughby Spit, Norfolk, Va. 1941 - Order to withdraw Marines at Shanghai, Peiping, and Tientsin, China. 1944 - Carrier aircraft attack Japanese shipping in Philippines sinking five ships and damaging one. For more information about naval history, visit the Naval History and Heritage Command website at history.navy.mil.

Sunday, July 14 marked the 100th anniversary of the birth of Gerald R. Ford, 38th president of the United States. This was an important historical milestone for the country because of President Ford’s exceptional legacy of service, but also an important historical milestone for the Navy as we fittingly get ready to christen and launch the first of our next generation of aircraft carriers, the Gerald R. Ford class with the Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78). Former President Ford was born in 1913, around the time of Eugene Ely’s pioneering flights aboard USS Birmingham and USS Pennsylvania.

The X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System (UCAS) demonstrator completes the first ever carrier-based arrested landing on board 'USS George H.W. Bush' off the coast of Virginia. "It isn't very often you get a glimpse of the future. Today, those of us aboard USS George H.W. Bush got that chance as we witnessed the X-47B make its first ever arrested landing aboard an aircraft carrier," said Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus. "We have certainly come a long way in the 102 years since Eugene Ely made the first arrested landing aboard an aircraft carrier.

1911 - First aircraft landing on board a ship, USS Pennsylvania by Eugene Ely. 1962 - After a flash fire in the Persian Gulf on Danish tanker, Prima Maersk, burned a crewman, USS Duxbury Bay transfers a Navy doctor to help the Danish crewman and USS Soley took him to the nearest hospital at Bahrain Island. 1968 - Operation Coronado X begins in Mekong Delta, Vietnam 1977 - The Trident (C-4) missile development flight test program commenced when C4X-1 was launched from a flight pad at Cape Canaveral, FL 1991 - USS Nicholas attacks and captures Iraqi oil platforms (Source: Navy News Service)

1911 - First aircraft landing on board a ship, USS Pennsylvania by Eugene Ely. 1962 - After a flash fire in the Persian Gulf on Danish tanker, Prima Maersk, burned a crewman, USS Duxbury Bay transfers a Navy doctor to help the Danish crewman and USS Soley took him to the nearest hospital at Bahrain Island. 1968 - Operation Coronado X begins in Mekong Delta, Vietnam 1977 - The Trident (C-4) missile development flight test program commenced when C4X-1 was launched from a flight pad at Cape Canaveral, FL 1991 - USS Nicholas attacks and captures Iraqi oil platforms (Source: Navy News Service)

Secretary of the Navy Donald Winter announced the names of four new Lewis and Clark-class dry cargo/ammunition ships (T-AKE) as Matthew Perry, Charles Drew, Washington Chambers and William McLean. All of the Lewis and Clark ships are named in honor of American explorers and pioneers and are being built by General Dynamics NASSCO shipyard in San Diego, Calif. The selection of Matthew Perry, designated T-AKE 9, honors Navy Commodore Matthew C. Perry (1794-1858), who led a squadron of ships to Japan in 1853 with the aim of opening that nation to trade. He served during the War of 1812 and the Mexican-American War, and was sent to suppress piracy and the slave trade in the West Indies. The selection of Charles Drew, designated T-AKE 10, honors Dr. Charles R.

1846 - Naval forces capture Tampico, Mexico. 910 - Civilian Eugene Ely pilots first aircraft to take-off from a ship, USS Birmingham (CL-2) at Hampton Roads, VA. He lands safely on Willoughby Spit, Norfolk, VA. 1941 - Order to withdraw Marines at Shanghai, Peiping, and Tientsin, China. 1944 - Carrier aircraft attack Japanese shipping in Philippines sinking five ships and damaging one. (Source: Navy News Service)

Nov. 14: 1846 - Naval forces capture Tampico, Mexico. 1910 - Civilian Eugene Ely pilots first aircraft to take off from a ship, USS Birmingham (CL 2) at Hampton Roads, Va. He lands safely on Willoughby Spit, Norfolk, Va. 1941 - Order to withdraw Marines at Shanghai, Peiping, and Tientsin, China. 1944 - Carrier aircraft attack Japanese shipping in Philippines sinking five ships and damaging one. [Source: http://www.news.navy.mil]