This month marks the centennial of the first successful aerial circumnavigation of the globe.
Kicked off on 6 April 1924 when four pairs of U.S. Army Air Service pilots and mechanics, using modified War Department-owned Navy Douglas DT torpedo bombers, departed West from Seattle’s Sand Point Aerodrome, some 27,550 miles and 175 days (363 flying hours) later, two planes flew back in from the East on 28 September 1924, having made 74 stops in 22 different countries– the latter high number both for publicity as well as refuel/repair.
Keep in mind these were open-cockpit aircraft produced only two decades after the Wright Brothers first proved flying a powered heavier-than-air machine was even possible.
The four planes included the Seattle (No. 1)– Maj. Frederick L. Martin (Pilot and Flight Commander) and Staff Sgt. Alva L. Harvey (Mechanic), Chicago (No. 2)– Lt. Lowell H. Smith (Pilot, subsequent Flight Commander) and 1st Lt. Leslie P. Arnold (Mechanic), Boston (No. 3)– 1st Lt. Leigh P. Wade (Pilot) and Staff Sgt. Henry H. Ogden (Mechanic), and New Orleans (No. 4)– Lt. Erik H. Nelson (Pilot – Engineer) and Lt. John Harding Jr. (Chief Mechanic).
Seattle at Vancouver Barracks
Chicago. When crossing the open ocean, the DT-2s were fitted with floats
Boston at Vancouver Barracks
New Orleans at Vancouver Barracks
Airplanes New Orleans, Chicago, and Boston at Rockwell Field, San Diego, California, March 1924 before the expedition’s launch in April. NH 884
Chicago and New Orleans finished the flight (both of which are preserved) with Smith, Arnold, Wade, Nelson, and Ogden winning the Mackay Trophy, and all fliers were authorized a medal of honor and a $10,000 bonus by Congress.
Chicago at NASM NASM-NASM2020-07130-000001
Seattle crashed in dense fog into a mountainside near Port Moller on the Alaska Peninsula in April while Boston was lost at sea near the Faroes in August, with both crews (eventually) recovered alive.
Besides being done in what were essentially converted Navy torpedo bombers, the Navy and Coast Guard extensively supported the flight. In particular, USS Noa (DD-342), USS Charles Ausburn (DD-294), USS Hart (DM-8), USS Milwaukee (CL-5), and USS Richmond (who rescued the crew of Boston), were assigned to assist with cross-ocean portions of the trip.
Navy supporting “Around the World Flyers” 1924. NH 883
USS Milwaukee (CL-5) At Ivigtut, Greenland, July 1924, awaiting the arrival of the U.S. Army around-the-world fliers. Donation of Mr. & Mrs. Don St. John, 1990. NH 96690
U.S. Army Around the World Flight, 1924 Three U.S. Army Air Corps flyers on board USS Richmond (CL-9), explaining their route to Sailors. Photographed at Hunters Bay, Orkney Islands, Scotland, circa mid-1924. The flyers are Lieutenants Arnold, Smith, and Wade. NH 880