World's first use of an aircraft carrier in combat.

[Dan]

U.S. Civil War, Union forces:

http://www.centennialofflight.gov/essay/Lighter_than_air/Civil_War_balloons/LTA5G3.htm

Dan, U.S. Air Force, retired

[vaughn]

"Dan" <B24...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:W6mdnfnXa4AfKI3S...@giganews.com...

> U.S. Civil War, Union forces:
>
> http://www.centennialofflight.gov/essay/Lighter_than_air/Civil_War_balloons/LTA5G3.htm

OK, it's a coal barge, but it does have a flat deck. Anyhow, from a whole 3
minutes of exhaustive research I found the following. Ain't the Internet fun?
"The first recorded use of an aerial device from aboard a ship occurred in
1806, almost 100 years before the Wright Brother's first powered flight at Kitty
Hawk in December 1903. On that occasion, the Royal Navy's Lord Thomas Cochrane
flew kites from the 32-gun frigate HMS Pallas to spread propaganda leaflets over
the French coast. Some 43 years later, on July 12, 1849, the Austrian vessel
Vulcano launched a manned hot air balloon to drop bombs on Venice. However,
because of unfavorable winds, the attempt was unsuccessful."
http://www.sandcastlevi.com/sea/carriers/cvchap1a.htm

Vaughn

[Dan]

Odd, I missed those. I guess I used the wrong search parameters.

I suppose one could claim the 1806 kite use could make the boat an
aircraft carrier. The 1849 case was at least manned.

I wonder if the Chinese tried kites before 1806.

[Bill Shatzer]

The Union Army vessel "Fanny" launched a captive observation balloon to
observe Confederate positions near Hampton Roads on August 3, 1861 -
several months before the George Washington Parke Custis(1) became
operational. Plus the Fanny was a single screw steamship, not an
unpowered barge like the GWPC, which had to be towed.

If unmanned balloons count, the Austria Navy vessel "Vulcano" probably
deserves the accolades as the "first". Vulcano launched several
bomb-carrying hot air balloons towards Venice during the 1849 siege of
that city by the Austrians. A wind shift blew the bomb-laden balloons
back towards the Vulcano and the attempt was not repeated.

(1) Note the correct spelling is "Custis", not "Curtis" as is given in
the illustration caption.

Cheers,

[Bill Shatzer]

Dan wrote:

> I suppose one could claim the 1806 kite use could make the boat an
> aircraft carrier. The 1849 case was at least manned.

Sources differ on whether the balloons were manned. But R D Layman
"Before the Aircraft Carrier" has them unmanned - which makes a lot more
sense.

[Dan]

I went with the manned claims because they would be needed to release
the bombs. I have a difficult time thinking of them being mechanical
like the Japanese balloon bombs. Not impossible to do at the time, but
it would take a certain amount of luck to get it to work properly.
Either way it was an interesting experiment.

[David E. Powell]

Just have two cords, have one to steer and another with a lot of
slack. When you pull in the slack it pulls a slat from a box and
bombs, or leaflets, away.