1918-Continued
Captain Francis P. Mulcahy, Captain Robert S. Lytle,
and Lieutenant Frank Nelms. On this day and the next,
they made repeated low level runs in the face of
enemy fire and delivered 2,600 pounds of food and
badly needed supplies to a French regiment surround-
ed by German troops near Stadenburg.
4 October
The first of the NC flying boats, the NC-l,
made its initial flight at NAS Rockaway, N.Y., with
Commander Holden C. Richardson, CC, and
Lieutenant David H. McCulloch pilots.
14 October
The first raid-in-force by the Northern
Bombing Group in World War I was made by eight
planes of Marine Day Squadron 9, which dropped 17
bombs totaling 2,218 pounds on the German held rail-
road junction at Thielt, Belgium. For extraordinary
heroism on this and on an earlier raid in engaging
enemy aircraft at great odds, 2nd Lieutenant Ralph
Talbot, and his observer, Gunnery Sergeant Robert G.
Robinson, were later awarded the Medal of Honor.
15 October
The Bureau of Steam Engineering
reported that five Hart and Eustiss reversible pitch pro-
pellers were under construction for use on twin-
engine dirigibles. In addition, two Hart and Eustiss
variable pitch propeller hubs for the F-5L were being
ordered.
17 October
A pilotless N-9 training plane, converted
to an automatic flying machine, was launched success-
fully at Copiague, Long Island, N.Y., and flew a pre-
scribed course, although the distance gear failed to
land the airplane at a preset range of 14,500 yards.
The plane was last seen over the Bay Shore Air Station
at an altitude of 4,000 feet, flying eastward.
22 October
The twin-engine dirigible C-l, com-
manded by Major Bernard L. Smith, USMC, and with
crew consisting of Lieutenant Ralph A. D. Preston,
USNRF, Lieutenant (jg) Donald T. Hood, USNRF,
Ensign Warner L. Hamlen, USNRF, Ensign Marcus H.
Estorly, USNRF, and two civilian mechanics, M.
Roulette and James Royal, was delivered at NAS
Rockaway, N.Y., having flown that day from Akron,
Ohio, via Washington, D.C. The Aero Club of America
later awarded Smith and Hamlen its Medal of Merit for
this flight.
11 November
An armistice was signed ending the
hostilities of World War 1. In the 19 months of the
United States' participation, the strength of Naval
Aviation had grown to a force of 6,716 officers and
UNITED STATES NAVAL AVIATION
1910-1995
37
30,693 men in Navy units, and 282 officers and 2,180
men in Marine Corps units, with 2,107 aircraft, 15 diri-
gibles, and 215 kite and free balloons on hand. Of
these numbers 18,000 officers and men and 570 aircraft
had been sent abroad.
17 November
NAS Hampton Roads, Va., reported
that an H-16 flying boat, equipped with a radio direc-
tion finder using the British six-stage amplifier,
received signals from the Arlington, Va., radio station at
a distance of 150 miles.
22 November
Lieutenant Victor Vernon and Mr. S. T.
Williams dropped a 400-pound dummy torpedo from
an F-5L at the Naval Aircraft Factory in the initial test of
a torpedo launching gear upon which development
had begun the preceding July.
23 November
Use of
titles "Navigation Officer" and
"Aerographic Officer" in naval air station organization
was authorized by the Chief
of
Naval Operations to
identify officers trained to perform the special duties
involved.
27 November
The
NC-l took
off
from Rockaway
Beach, N.Y., with 51 persons aboard, establishing a
new world record for persons carried in flight.
2 December
Efforts to develop aircraft to operate from
ships were renewed by the Office of the
Chief of
Naval
Operations request that the Bureau
of
Construction and
Repair provide aircraft of the simplest form, lightly load-
ed, and with the slowest flying speed possible.
12 December
In a test to determine the feasibility
of
carrying fighter aircraft on dirigibles, the C-l lifted an
Army IN-4 in a wide spiral climb to 2,500 feet over
Fort Tilden, N.Y., and at that height released it for a
free flight back to base. The airship was piloted by
Lieutenant George Crompton, Dirigible Officer at NAS
Rockaway, N.Y., and the plane by Lieutenant A. W.
Redfield, USA, commanding the 52d Aero Squadron
based at Mineola,
N.Y.
26 December
Ensign Thomas E. Maytham, piloting a
B-type airship, completed a flight from Key West, Fla.,
to Tampa, Fla., Cape Sable, Fla., Palm Beach, Fla., and
return that covered approximately 690 miles. This bet-
tered his earlier endurance mark
of 32
hours with a
continuous flight
of 40
hours 26 minutes. Although rec-
ognized only as an American record, this time
sur-
passed by more than 25 hours the existing world mark.
30 December
Lieutenant Thomas C. Rodman, pilot-
ing an H -16 flying boat at Pensacola, Fla., scored the
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