CARRIER CHRONOLOGIES Naval Air Power Evolution
Queen Elizabeth Class
1806: HMS Pallas deploys kites to drop leaflets on France 1849: Austrian ship Vulcano launches bomb-laden balloons over Venice 1908: Admiralty orders the Mayfly airship HMA 1 1910: American Eugene Ely becomes first man to fly an aircraft off a ship 1911: French Navy ship Foudre becomes first vessel to carry seaplanes 1912: Lt Samson (RN) becomes first Englishman to fly an aircraft off a ship 1913: HMS Hermes converted into a seaplane tender by the Royal Navy 1914: Royal Navy commissions first modern aircraft carrier – HMS Ark Royal 1917: Sqn Cdr Edwin Dunning (RNAS) becomes first man to land wheeled aircraft on a ship 1918: HMS Argus becomes first full-length flat deck aircraft carrier 1940: Royal Navy conducts first all-aircraft raid against ships at Battle of Taranto 1945: Lt Cdr Eric ‘Winkle’ Brown (RN) makes first jet aircraft landing on ship 1945: Cdr C. C. Mitchel (FAA) invents aircraft steam catapult system for warships 1951: Lt Cdr Nicholas Goodhart (RN) invents mirror landing system
1998: British government agrees to replace Invincible-class aircraft carriers 1999: Design of Queen Elizabeth Class begins 2003: Original Aircraft Carrier Team formed 2005: Aircraft Carrier Alliance formed 2008: Contract to build Queen Elizabeth Class signed 2009: First steel cut by HRH Princess Anne 2014: HMS Queen Elizabeth launched at Rosyth 2014: Assembly of HMS Prince of Wales begins 2015: Second MT30 gas turbine successfully fitted on HMS Prince of Wales 2016: Final section of HMS Prince of Wales is lowered into place by HRH Prince of Wales 2017: HMS Queen Elizabeth enters homeport of Portsmouth for the first time 2017: HMS Prince of Wales floats out of dry dock at Rosyth 2018: First F-35B lands on HMS Queen Elizabeth 2018: Main gas turbines are started on HMS Prince of Wales 2019: HMS Prince of Wales undergoes sea trials before first entry into Portsmouth
HMS Prince of Wales
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