Photo #: NH 77597
USS Pennsylvania (Armored Cruiser # 4)
Ship's Commanding Officer, Captain Charles F. Pond, (front row,
left center), with some of the guests and dignitaries on board
to observe Eugene Ely land his Curtiss pusher biplane on the
ship, during the morning of 18 January 1911. They are standing
at the forward end of the temporary landing platform built over
the ship's stern. The canvas safety barriers in front and behind
them were intended to catch the plane and pilot in case he overshot
the landing zone.
Mrs. Mabel Ely, wife of the aviator, is near the right end of
the group, wearing a light colored coat.
Pennsylvania was then anchored in San Francisco Bay, California.
Photograph from the Eugene B. Ely scrapbooks.
U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.
Online Image: 74KB; 740 x 580 pixels |
 |