CARRIER CHRONOLOGIES

CARRIER CHRONOLOGIES

Naval Air Power Evolution

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

Queen Elizabeth Class

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