On November 5, 1915, Lieutenant Commander Henry C. Mustin made aviation history in Pensacola Bay, Florida, when he launched a Curtiss AB-2 flying boat from the stern of USS North Carolina (ACR-12). The flight marked the first successful catapult launch of an aircraft from a ship underway, demonstrating a new way to operate aircraft from warships without a full-length flight deck.
The achievement followed months of experimentation. Earlier in 1915, naval aviators had tested a catapult mounted on a coal barge in Pensacola Bay. Sailors transferred the apparatus to North Carolina’s stern on October 28, preparing the armored cruiser for a new series of trials. Mustin’s November 5 launch was followed by additional takeoffs by other naval and Marine Corps aviators, making the event part of a continuing experimental program rather than an isolated feat.
Its significance extended beyond that first flight. The experiments aboard North Carolina helped advance the use of catapults on cruisers and battleships, a practice that continued through World War II and formed part of the longer development of naval aircraft-launching technology. Photographs preserved by the State Archives of Florida capture the early machinery and aircraft involved—a tangible record of the practical experiments that helped bring aviation into the surface fleet.
