San Diego – The Birthplace of Naval Aviation

The U.S. Navy, in concert with the U.S Marine Corps and U.S Coast Guard, celebrates 2011 at the 100th anniversary of Naval Aviation. It has been 100 years since CAPT Washington Irving Chambers, USN, placed the order with Aviation Pioneer Glenn Curtiss for the Navy’s first two aircrafts. Since those early days, when aircraft were fashioned from bamboo and Sitka Spruce and pilots draped bicycle inner tubes around their torsos in case of a forced water landing, we have progressed with amazing speed. In 1911, the aircraft was a tactical afterthought, something to support the battleship Navy, so dominant at the time. Today, Naval Aviation is an essential part of the Navy/Marine Corps/Coast Guard team, our national defense, and is a key capability in maintaining maritime awareness and dominance throughout the world.

Naval Aviation has a particularly long and rich history with the city of San Diego and surrounding communities. In December 1910, LT Theodore Ellyson, who later became the Navy’s first aviator, was detailed to San Diego to receive flight instruction from Glenn Curtiss. One month later, the first successful hydroaeroplane flight occurred in San Diego. February 17, 1911, Glenn Curtiss landed and taxied his hydroaeroplane to the cruiser USS PENNSYLVANIA anchored in San Diego Bay, where it was hoisted aboard, then lowered to the water, and Curtiss returned to North Island. This event, more than any other, prompted the Secretary of the Navy’s decision to purchase the Navy’s first aircraft. In 1917, Naval Air Station San Diego was commissioned and later became Naval Air Station North Island. Army’s Camp Kearny was also commissioned the same year and later became Marine Corps Air Station Miramar. March 20, 1922, the first aircraft carrier, USS LANGLEY, was commissioned and stationed at NAS San Diego. In fact, in the 1920s and into the early 1930s, all Navy aircraft carriers were stationed at NAS San Diego for a time. During WorldWar II, NAS North Island was a primary staging base for aircraft headed to the Pacific. It is fitting to kick-off the year-long commemoration here at the “Birthplace of Naval Aviation.”

As with any major anniversary, we want to take time to reflect on our successes, honor our fallen, and look forward to the future. Our reflection will focus on the aircraft, ships, people and events that have won the day, both in peace and wartime, and we will also look forward to a bright future in Naval Aviation’s second century.

Honoring the 100th anniversary of Naval Aviation underscores America’s commitment to sustaining a maritime airpower capability that is responsive to the nation’s needs across the entire spectrum of operations. Happy Birthday Naval Aviation!

For information on the world-wide celebration of Naval Aviation, visit www.navy.mil/flynavy.