The reconnaissance requirement led to two early shipboard-launch experiments. Eugene Burton Ely flew from the scout cruiser USS Birmingham, giving the US Navy an early demonstration of an aircraft leaving a warship. In 1912 HMS Hibernia launched another fragile aircraft fitted with simple flotation bags so it could alight on water. The pair shows navies testing how aircraft could leave ships before they had solved landing back aboard or built a mature carrier.
Notable Point · 25:47-27:41
Eugene Ely and HMS Hibernia advanced shipboard takeoffs
Eugene Ely's launch from USS Birmingham and HMS Hibernia's 1912 trial show how quickly navies turned fragile aircraft into shipboard reconnaissance tools.