Lt. Cmdr. Albert C. Read and the NC-4
May 1919: “Columbus of the Air” makes world’s first successful transatlantic flight in U.S. Navy flying boat
Well known in Miami
Before he made history over the Atlantic, Lt. Cmdr. Albert Cushing Read was well known in Miami. In 1918, the 31-year-old naval aviator was commander of the new Naval Air Station at Dinner Key. Early that year, he married Bess Burdine at Miami’s Trinity Episcopal Church—linking his life to one of the city’s founding families. (In 1898, Bess’s father, William Burdine, established Miami’s signature department store, Burdines.)
Read’s aviation roots in Florida ran even deeper. He had trained at Naval Air Station Pensacola beginning in 1915, earning designation as Naval Aviator No. 24. In addition to commanding the Dinner Key Naval Air Station during World War I, in 1940 he would return to Pensacola as commanding officer, rise to rear admiral during World War II, and ultimately retire in 1946. He would spend his final years in Miami, where he passed away in 1967.
But in May 1919, Read was about to take part in something far bigger.
Trans-Atlantic challenge
On May 8, three U.S. Navy flying boats—NC-1, NC-3, and NC-4—set out from Rockaway Beach, Long Island, to attempt something never before achieved: a trans-Atlantic flight.
Originally conceived during World War I as long‑range “submarine hunters” capable of reaching European waters, the NC flying boats were the product of a close partnership between the U.S. Navy and the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company. When the war ended before the aircraft could be tested in combat, veteran naval aviator John Henry Towers—who had envisioned an Atlantic crossing as early as 1914—proposed in late 1918 that they be used to achieve a new kind of victory: becoming the first aircraft to fly across the ocean.
“Lame Duck.”
From the start, the odds seemed stacked against the NC-4, commanded by Read. On the very first leg of the journey, the NC-4 was forced down by engine trouble off Cape Cod. Adrift overnight with failing motors and no radio transmission, her crew waited anxiously until rescue came at dawn. It took several days for new engines to be installed and weather conditions to improve sufficiently to permit the NC-4 to attempt to join her sister ships, the NC-1 and NC-3, which had pressed on to Trepassey Bay, Newfoundland — a delay which had earned the NC-4 the nickname of the “Lame Duck.”
Finally, on May 17, with all three aircraft regrouped at Trepassey Bay, they embarked on the most dangerous leg of the crossing: a 1,200 mile flight to the Azores, without the benefit of modern navigational aids, guided only by U.S. Naval destroyers strung across the ocean.
When they finally set out, the Atlantic proved merciless.
At left: Palm Beach Post, May 14, 1919 – Cutout of NC-1, commanded by Lt. Cmdr. N. L. Bellinger, one of the three NC flying boats to attempt the crossing.
Drama at sea
Dense fog forced both the NC-1 and the expedition’s flagship, the NC-3, down into the open sea near the Azores. Destroyers in the area were immediately dispatched to search for the two planes. The crew of the NC-1, commanded by Lt. Cmdr. N.L. Bellinger, was picked up by one of the rescue ships but the aircraft was lost to heavy seas when the line towing it broke. The NC-3, commanded Lt. Cmdr. Towers, endured an even more harrowing ordeal. Also forced down by fog and running low on fuel, the NC-3 was battered by 60 MPH gale-force winds and massive seas. Contact with rescue vessels was lost. For over two days and nights, the crew kept the damaged aircraft afloat—bailing water, balancing on the wings, and steering toward land. They survived on chocolate and water drained from the radiator. On May 19, against all odds, they “taxied” into Ponta Delgada under their own power, exhausted but otherwise unharmed. When Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels got the word of Towers’ safety, he personally telephoned it to Mrs. Towers, wife of the officer, who had clung courageously to her faith and hope through the endless hours of waiting.
Only the NC-4 made it through the air.
Lame duck becomes last hope
Although also forced down by fog near the Azores, Read had regained his bearings and successfully reached Horta. After landing in the Azores, Read’s aircraft—once the “lame duck” of the squadron—became the Navy’s last hope. With the NC-1 lost and the NC-3 badly damaged beyond immediate repair, the burden of success fell entirely on Read and the NC-4.
History is made at Lisbon
After several days of waiting for favorable weather, the NC-4 departed the Azores on May 27 for Lisbon. Guided by a line of destroyers and aided by improved conditions, the NC-4 covered the 800-mile distance in under 10 hours.
With that flight, the Atlantic had been crossed—by air—for the first time in history.
The total flying time from Newfoundland to Lisbon: 26 hours and 41 minutes.
Plymouth gives the NC-4 a warm welcome
Though the essential goal had been achieved, the journey continued. After a stop in Spain, the NC-4 departed for Plymouth, England. The final leg, flown through fog, rain, and low visibility, required the aircraft to remain at dangerously low altitudes—sometimes just 50 to 100 feet above the sea. On May 31, 1919, the NC-4 appeared out of the haze over Plymouth Sound, circled the historic harbor from which the Pilgrims had once departed, and landed safely. Crowds cheered, whistles sounded, and dignitaries gathered.
The long journey—begun in uncertainty and danger—had ended in triumph.
