In what war was the first documented use of an Aircraft Carrier?
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07-23-03, 06:42 PM
Kwll
Assuming you mean first documented use in combat it was World War I. The first strike from a carrier against a land target took place on July 19, 1918. Seven Sopwith Camels launched from HMS Furious attacked the German Zeppelin base at Tondern. Several airships and balloons were destroyed.

07-23-03, 06:44 PM
DorianGreyed
No, the craft I speak of were used for observation, but it was in wartime.

07-23-03, 06:51 PM
Kwll
OK, not specifically called aircraft carriers but the US Civil War in 1861. The first aircraft carrier, George Washington Parke Custis, was a rebuilt coal barge with a flight deck superstructure from which balloons were tethered and launched.

07-23-03, 07:00 PM
DorianGreyed
That is the one !

As well as aerial reconnaissance and telegraphy, Lowe and LaMountain also introduced the use of aircraft carriers. Lowe directed the construction in 1861 of the first aircraft carrier, George Washington Parke Custis, a rebuilt coal barge with a flight deck superstructure. On one occasion, she towed one of Lowe's balloons for 13 miles (21 kilometers) at an altitude of 1,000 feet (305 meters) while Lowe made continuous observations. On August 3, 1861, LaMountain used the deck of the small vessel Fanny to launch an observation balloon 2,000 feet (610 meters) over the James River. He used the Union tugboat Adriatic for the same purpose. Word of the Americans' achievements even reached Europe, where the Prussian army sent Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin to learn what he could from this kind of warfare.

Of course, there were also free flights used both in this war, and previous wars.

07-23-03, 07:15 PM
DorianGreyed
I just found the following, which documents an offensive use of balloons.

... when the aerial bombardment from Austrian balloons during the siege of Venice in 1849 led to calls for a permanent ban "on the discharge of any kind of projectile or explosive from balloons or by similar means" at The Hague in 1899.

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