A Brief History
On February 1, 1950, the first successful night landing of jet aircraft onto an aircraft carrier occurred when the US Navy landed an octet of Grumman F9F Panthers onto the deck of the USS Valley Forge.
Digging Deeper
Jet aircraft first flew in 1939, when the Heinkel He-178 took to the air. By the end of World War II, Britain and the US had joined Germany in producing operational jet fighters, but aircraft carrier technology of the day made the use of jets on carriers problematic.
The jets generally had higher landing speeds and higher stall speeds than piston powered airplanes, and accelerated much more slowly, meaning a longer flight deck or catapults would be needed to launch jet planes.
The British Royal Navy achieved the first successful take-off and landing by jet aircraft from a carrier deck in 1945 when the feat was accomplished by a de Havilland DH. 100 Sea Vampire Mk. 10 on the HMS Ocean.
Flight operations on aircraft carriers are notoriously dangerous and difficult, and the dark of night makes the exercise that much harder. When the US Navy proved nighttime jet operations were possible from the floating flattops, jet aviation had truly become a major part of sea going air power.
Question for students (and subscribers) to ponder: Have you ever been on an aircraft carrier?
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Crosby, Francis. The World Encyclopedia of Naval Aircraft: A History of Shipborne Fighters, Bombers, Helicopters and Flying Boats. Lorenz Books,, 2023.
Goodspeed, M. Hill. U.S. Naval Aviation. Hugh Lauter Levin Associates, 2001.
The featured image in this article, a photograph from the National Museum of the U.S. Navy, is a work of a sailor or employee of the U.S. Navy, taken or made as part of that person’s official duties. As a work of the U.S. federal government, it is in the public domain in the United States.
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