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Coast Guard aviators have always been in the forefront of
technological change and put themselves in harm's way to complete
the mission. Coast Guardsmen have risked their lives to pioneer the
development of the helicopter, and the rescue swimmer program; while
others have served as astronauts in the Space Shuttle Program.
Service personnel have flown rescue missions in all sorts of weather
conditions from the jungles of Vietnam, to the treacherous Bering
Sea, to the frigid ice cap of Greenland. So it should come as no
surprise that a Coast Guard aviator was the first to cross the
Atlantic by aircraft.
Elmer Fowler Stone topped the list of
applicants for the class of 1913, a small group that would feature
several distinguished graduates in the history of Coast Guard
aviation. In three years, Stone graduated from the Coast Guard
Academy and received a commission as a third lieutenant. His first
assignment was aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Onondaga, patrolling
the Mid-Atlantic Coast out of Hampton Roads, Virginia.
Despite his skill as a line officer, Stone's interest and true
aptitude lay with matters of engineering and technology. The Curtiss
Aeroplane & Motor Company established one of the nation's first
flying schools in Newport News, Virginia, next to Onondaga's dock.
In early 1915, after witnessing Curtiss's seaplane operations, Stone
experienced his own first flight in a Curtiss F “flying boat.” The
flight convinced Stone that aviation could revolutionize the Coast
Guard's traditional missions of search and rescue, and law
enforcement.
Stone became a driving force behind early Coast
Guard aviation but he had to convince other service members to join
the cause. The movement gained momentum as, one-by-one, other
officers backed his effort to establish a Coast Guard aviation
branch. By early 1916, Coast Guard Commandant Ellsworth Bertholf had
become a believer and sent Stone to the U.S. Navy's new flight
school in Pensacola, Florida. By the end of 1916, it seemed that
aviation was well on its way to becoming an accepted part of Coast
Guard operations.
With World War I heating up in Europe, the
early movement for Coast Guard aviation slowed to a standstill. As
the United States entered the war, the Coast Guard was transferred
to the Navy Department by executive order. In September 1918, Stone
received promotion to first lieutenant and by early spring of the
next year, the Navy transferred him to Naval Air Station Rockaway,
in New York, to serve as a pilot in Navy-Curtiss Seaplane Squadron
One. His mission was to pilot the NC-4 in the first attempt to fly
across the Atlantic Ocean.
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U.S. Coast Guard NC-4, a Curtiss NC seaplane (flying boat) under
Navy caommand during World War I, sometime after the first
successful translatlantic test flight in 1919. Visible is the fourth pusher engine which was added for that flight. (U.S. Navy courtesy photo)
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The aircraft stationed at Rockaway were large NC flying
boats. The NC's had a biplane design with three
forward-facing tractor engines and a fourth center-mounted
pusher engine facing to the rear. Each NC flying boat had a
crew of six, including the pilot, co-pilot, radio operator,
engineering officer, assistant engineer and commanding
officer/navigator. Fully loaded with 1,800 gallons of fuel,
the aircraft weighed about 28,000 pounds, 4,000 more than
under normal conditions. These overloaded aircraft had to
fly nearly two miles at full speed to get airborne.
On Thursday, May 8, 1919, NC-4 took flight along with
squadron aircraft NC-1 and NC-3. The seaplanes' first leg
would take them from Rockaway, east to Halifax, Nova Scotia.
The NC flying boat's complex design proved problematic for
such an endurance run. After only four hours in the air,
NC-4 suffered a broken connecting rod forcing it down for
repairs near Chatham Naval Air Station in Massachusetts.
After making it to Halifax, the crew found that NC-4's steel
propellers had cracked and replaced them with wooden ones.
From Halifax, Stone piloted NC-4 east to Trespassy Bay, Nova
Scotia, their jumping-off point for Europe via the Azores.
Along the leg crossing the Atlantic, the Navy stationed
destroyers at 50-mile intervals to serve as beacons and
guard ships in case the aircraft required assistance. After
several hours over the Atlantic, the crews of NC-1 and NC-3
became disoriented by poor weather and tried to land their
seaplanes to obtain a celestial navigation position. Landing
in heavy seas damaged both of the seaplanes, rendering them
incapable of further flight.
Maintaining the only
accurate navigation plot, NC-4 avoided disorientation and
arrived at its destination in the Azores. From there,
Stone's flying boat continued on to land in the Tagus River
in Lisbon, Portugal, before continuing its flight to
Plymouth, England. In the early afternoon of Saturday, May
31, 1919, after 54 hours in the air, Stone landed NC-4 in
Plymouth harbor, becoming the first man to pilot an aircraft
across the Atlantic. Stone completed his transatlantic
flight eight years before Charles Lindbergh's famous solo
crossing in the Spirit of St. Louis..
Stone and the
crew of NC-4 had proven the feasibility of transoceanic
flight and their achievement attracted worldwide attention.
The men were recognized with the Order of the Tower and
Sword, Portugal's highest award; a French silver medal
commemorating NC-4's historic flight; and Great Britain's
Royal Air Force Cross. Upon their return home, Navy
Secretary Josephus Daniels awarded the NC-4 crew the Navy
Cross and later Congress struck a unique NC-4 Medal
specifically for the crew of the record setting aircraft.
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From left to right: Chief Mechanic E.C. Rhodes, USN; Lt. J.L. Breese, USNRF; Lt.(jg) W. Hinton, USN; Lt. E.F. Stone, USCG; Lt.Cmdr. A.S. Read, USN. Not pictured: H.C. Rodd
... U.S. Coast Guard NC-4 flight crew sometime after the first
successful translatlantic test flight in 1919. (U.S. Navy courtesy photo)
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With the war over, the Navy returned the Coast Guard to
the Treasury Department and Stone received assignment as
executive officer aboard Coast Guard Cutter Ossipee. In
1920, the Coast Guard resurrected its fledgling aviation
program and established its first air station at Morehead
City, North Carolina. The service designated Stone as Coast
Guard Aviator #1 and assigned him to refurbish and prepare
four flying boats to operate at Morehead City Air Station.
Stone continued to pioneer the role of Coast Guard aviation
until his untimely death in 1936, while commanding the Coast
Guard Air Patrol Detachment at San Diego.
During his
Coast Guard career, Elmer Fowler Stone accomplished a great
deal. He served his country selflessly for over 25 years and
championed the cause of early Coast Guard aviation. He was a
member of the long blue line and the first man in history to
pilot an aircraft across the Atlantic Ocean. His medals and
awards included the Navy Cross, Congressional NC-4 Medal and
various foreign awards and honors.
By William H. Thiesen, Atlantic Area Historian, USCG
Provided
through
Coast
Guard
Copyright 2016
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