The U.S. Navy’s most important role in World War I was to insure the safe transport of troops and war material to Europe. This was primarily an antisubmarine warfare (ASW) effort, and shortly after the United States entered the war in April 1917, the Navy prepared to fly ASW patrols in European waters.
The NC-series flying boats were designed that year to be capable of trans- Atlantic flight, which would avoid taking up valuable shipping space. With that long-range requirement, it was natural that the NC-4 of this series became the first aircraft to fly across the Atlantic Ocean, albeit in stages.
Those responsible for the design of the NC (Navy-Curtiss) flying boats were Rear Admiral D. W. Taylor and Commanders J. C. Hunsaker and G. C. Westervelt. Their efforts initially produced a three-engine flying boat with rugged construction (to enable rough-water operation) and an endurance estimated at 15 to 20 hours. The aircraft incorporated a Navy-developed, two-step hull configuration. The design was converted to production plans by the Glenn L. Curtiss firm. The Navy already had established a relationship with aviation pioneer Curtiss, having used his aircraft for history’s first shipboard takeoff and landing in 1910-11.
Curtiss built the NC-1 through NC-4 at his facility in Garden City (Long Island), New York, and the Naval Aircraft Factory in Philadelphia built the NC-5 through NC-10. With the end of World War I, the planned acquisition of additional NC flying boats was cancelled.
The NC boats were distinguished by a short hull (45 feet) constructed of Curtiss-developed laminated wood veneer. Lattice work held the tail assembly clear of the water, which saved weight and provided a good field of fire for a machine gun mounted in the rear of the hull; a second machine gun was mounted forward. Bombs were to be carried under the wing. The engines were mounted above the hull, between the wings. The aircraft had a massive wingspan for the time—126 feet.
The NC-1 first flew with three Liberty 12 in-line engines of 400 horsepower each, installed as tractors. After initial flight tests, the NC-2 was completed with two pairs of engines in tandem (two pusher and two tractor), with the pilots seated in a third nacelle between the engines. The NC-3 and NC-4 flew with the three tractor-engine arrangement with a fourth engine mounted as a pusher in the center nacelle (with the pilots in the hull, as with the NC-1).
The Navy-built NC-5 and NC-6 had a three-engine arrangement with the center engine installed as a pusher. The NC-7 through NC-10 had the NC-3 configuration. Maximum speed for the type was 85 miles-per-hour, with the official range listed as 1,470 statute miles.
The NC-1 made its first flight on 4 October 1918, just more than a month before the Armistice that ended World War I. Although designed for a crew of six, the NC-1 took off on 25 November that year with 51 people on board to establish a new world record for passengers carried aloft.
Although the NC aircraft were completed too late for war service, the Navy Department decided to demonstrate their transatlantic capability at a time when both U.S. and British aviators were seeking to make the first flight across the Atlantic. Flying from Naval Air Station Rockaway, New York, the NC-1, NC-3, and NC-4 rendezvoused for their oceancrossing flight at Trepassy Bay, Newfoundland, on 15-16 May 1919. Called Seaplane Division 1, both the division and the NC-3 aircraft were under the command of Commander John H. Towers, naval aviator No. 3 (and a future admiral). The minelayer Aroostook (CM-4), which had been modified extensively to serve as a base ship for the NC boats, was on hand to support the flying boats as they made ready for their record flight.
The next leg was 1,400 miles, to the Azores. Heavy fog forced both the NC-1 and NC-3 down at sea near the Azores, and both aircraft were damaged by heavy seas. First the Greek steamer Iona, then the U.S. destroyer Gridley (DD-92) took the NC-1 in tow , but the aircraft soon sank. The steamer rescued her crew. The NC-3 managed to taxi the 200 miles to the Azores.
The NC-4, with a crew of five under Lieutenant Commander Albert C. Read, reached the Azores on 17 May and landed safely at Horta. The aircraft then proceeded to Lisbon, Portugal, arriving 29 May, and reached Plymouth, England, on 31 May. Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels later wrote of the NC-4 flight, “It will rank with the laying of the Atlantic cable and other events which have marked a distinct and significant advance in the history of the mastery of the elements by man.”
The Aroostook, which had reached Plymouth on 23 May, hailed the arrival of the NC-4, and her mechanics disassembled the aircraft. After taking the components and crew on board, the ship departed for the United States via the Azores on 18 June and reached New York on 2 July.
The aircraft was reassembled and made a multi-city publicity tour. It was then handed over to the Smithsonian Institution, with Congress passing legislation directing that the NC-4 be placed on display in Washington, D.C. For lack of suitable facilities, however, it was retained disassembled, with only the hull put on display. It was rehabilitated and displayed on the National Mall in 1969, the 50th anniversary of the historic flight.
The aircraft was then “loaned” to the National Museum of Naval Aviation in Pensacola, Florida. This magnificent icon of American aviation genius remains on display there, despite congressional legislation that it is to be exhibited by the Smithsonian Institution, which could accommodate it at the new National Air and Space Museum annex under construction at Washington’s Dulles International Airport.
The other surviving NC-boats continued to fly for the Navy, being redesignated P2N in 1922 to indicate the second patrol aircraft design produced by the Navy. The last operational aircraft of the type was the NC-9, which was retired in November 1922. Although their service life was relatively short, the NC- series flying boats contributed to the development of, and fleet experience with, large flying boats. And one, the NC-4, established a milestone of flight.
