The NC-4 Medal is a military decoration that was authorized by the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...

in 1929 to commemorate the 1919 trans-Atlantic crossing by the members of the

NC-4 The NC-4 was a Curtiss NC flying boat that was the first aircraft to fly across the Atlantic Ocean, albeit not non-stop. The NC designation was derived from the collaborative efforts of the Navy (N) and Curtiss (C). The NC series flying boats w ...

mission. Originally awarded as a non-wearable table medal, in 1935 a wearable version of the medal was subsequently authorized. A commemorative medal, the NC-4 Medal was a one-time award, and does not currently appear on U.S. Navy award precedence charts.

Background

In 1919, the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

decided to plan a mission to complete the first trans-Atlantic crossing by aircraft. This mission would demonstrate the capabilities of the Navy Curtis

seaplane A seaplane is a powered fixed-wing aircraft capable of taking off and landing (alighting) on water.Gunston, "The Cambridge Aerospace Dictionary", 2009. Seaplanes are usually divided into two categories based on their technological characteri ...

. The mission began with three identical aircraft, NC-1, NC-3, and NC-4 departing from

Naval Air Station Rockaway Naval Air Station Rockaway adjoined Fort Tilden on the western portion of the Rockaway Peninsula in the New York City borough of Queens. It was established on transferred municipal property in 1917 during American involvement in World War I. T ...

on May 8, 1919. On May 15 the aircraft arrived at

Trepassey Trepassey () is a small fishing community located in Trepassey Bay on the south eastern corner of the Avalon Peninsula of Newfoundland and Labrador. It was in Trepassey Harbour where the flight of the ''Friendship'' took off, with Amelia Earhart ...

, Newfoundland, having made intermediate stops along the way. There they met their "base ship" the , recently converted from

minelayer A minelayer is any warship, submarine or military aircraft deploying explosive mines. Since World War I the term "minelayer" refers specifically to a naval ship used for deploying naval mines. "Mine planting" was the term for installing control ...

to seaplane tender. After repairs and refitting, the NC's took off for the

Azores ) , motto =( en, "Rather die free than subjected in peace") , anthem= ( en, "Anthem of the Azores") , image_map=Locator_map_of_Azores_in_EU.svg , map_alt=Location of the Azores within the European Union , map_caption=Location of the Azores wi ...

on 16 May. During this longest leg of the journey, the planes were guided by a picket of twenty-two U.S. Navy ships spaced approximately 50 miles apart. The ships, brightly illuminated, kept the aircraft on course through the night. After flying all night, NC-4 was the sole aircraft to arrive in the Azores. After an elapsed flying time of 15 hours, 18 minutes, NC-4 arrived at the town of Horta on

Faial Island Faial Island (), also known in English as Fayal, is a Portuguese island of the Central Group (Portuguese: ''Grupo Central'') of the Azores. The Capelinhos Volcano, the westernmost point of the island, may be considered the westernmost point of ...

in the Azores on May 17, 1919. The crew had flown about 1,200 miles (1,920 km). During the flight bad weather had forced the NC-1 and NC-3 to land in the open sea, with the NC-4 being the only aircraft to successfully complete the flight.

Medal authorization

Following the 1928

Congressional Gold Medal The Congressional Gold Medal is an award bestowed by the United States Congress. It is Congress's highest expression of national appreciation for distinguished achievements and contributions by individuals or institutions. The congressional pract ...

awarded to

Charles Lindbergh Charles Augustus Lindbergh (February 4, 1902 – August 26, 1974) was an American aviator, military officer, author, inventor, and activist. On May 20–21, 1927, Lindbergh made the first nonstop flight from New York City to Paris, a distance o ...

for the first solo trans-Atlantic flight,

Representative Representative may refer to: Politics * Representative democracy, type of democracy in which elected officials represent a group of people * House of Representatives, legislative body in various countries or sub-national entities * Legislator, som ...

James Russell Leech of Pennsylvania sought to recognize the NC-4 crew. In 1929, he introduced legislation to honoring the accomplishment of the NC-4 crew, for the first trans-Atlantic flight. The United States Congress passed Public Law 70-714 on February 9, 1929. This created the legal authorization to award medals to the members of the NC-4 crew. The law read:

''Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled'', That the President be, and is hereby, authorized to award, in the name of Congress, gold medals of appropriate design to Commander John H. Towers for conceiving, organizing, and commanding the first trans-Atlantic flight; to Lieutenant Commander Albert C. Read, United States Navy, commanding officer NC-4; to Lieutenant Elmer F. Stone, United States Coast Guard, pilot; to former Lieutenant Walter Hinton, United States Navy, pilot; to Lieutenant Herbert C. Rodd, United States Navy, radio operator; to former Lieutenant James L. Breese, United States Naval Reserve Force, engineer; and to former Machinist's Mate Eugene Rhodes, United States Navy, engineer, for their extraordinary achievement in making the first successful trans-Atlantic flight, in the United States naval flying boat NC-4, in May, 1919.

The original medal was presented as a non-wearable, table medal. This medal was presented to Lieutenant Commander Read, and the other five members of the NC-4 crew. A medal was also awarded to Commander Towers, commander of NC-3, which did not complete the flight. While he may have served as NC-3's commander, he was in command of the mission as commander of Seaplane Division One.

Wearable medal authorization

On April 29, 1935, Congress passed Public Law 74-43 () which allowed personnel of the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps to wear miniature versions of medals not previously intended for wear. This meant that awards like the NC-4 Medal could now be worn, at the discretion of the Secretary of the Navy, on the military uniform, borne by an appropriate suspension ribbon or worn as a

service ribbon A medal ribbon, service ribbon or ribbon bar is a small ribbon, mounted on a small metal bar equipped with an attaching device, which is generally issued for wear in place of a medal when it is not appropriate to wear the actual medal. Each cou ...

in less formal occasions.

Appearance

The

obverse Obverse and its opposite, reverse, refer to the two flat faces of coins and some other two-sided objects, including paper money, flags, seals, medals, drawings, old master prints and other works of art, and printed fabrics. In this usage, ...

of the medal bears the stylized image of a seagull, flying above ocean waves, surrounded by the words ''FIRST TRANSATLANTIC FLIGHT UNITED STATES NAVY MAY 1919'' in relief along the outer edges of the medal. On the reverse, in the center of the medal surrounded by a circle is the inscription ''NC-4'', with ''NEWFOUNDLAND'' above it and ''PORTUGAL'' below. In the lower half of the medal, in two arcs, is the inscription ''PRESENTED · BY · THE · PRESIDENT · OF · THE · UNITED · STATES · IN · THE · NAME · OF · CONGRESS.'' In the corresponding position in the top half of the medal, the names of the recipients: ''J.H. TOWERS · A.C. READ · E.F. STONE · W. HINTON · H.C. RODD · J.L. BREESE · E. RHODES.'' It is very rare that a Congressional Gold Medal be made for wear on clothing. The NC-4 Medal appeared in older U.S. Navy precedence charts after the

Peary Polar Expedition Medal The Peary Polar Expedition Medal was a commemorative medal awarded to six of the participants of the 1908–1909 Expedition to the North Pole, led by Robert Peary. Authorized by Congress in 1944, the silver medals were presented by the Secretary ...

and before the Byrd Antarctic Expedition Medal. The awardee who later was appointed to Vice Admiral, John Towers, was photographed several times as Rear Admiral and Vice Admiral wearing the NC-4 Medal and ribbon ahead of all his other awards. Following the various retirements, deaths, and release from military service of the original recipients, the NC-4 Medal became obsolete and does not appear on any current military award precedence charts.

Recipients

The original NC-4 Medal was presented by President

Herbert Hoover Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964) was an American politician who served as the 31st president of the United States from 1929 to 1933 and a member of the Republican Party, holding office during the onset of the Gr ...

in May, 1930. The recipients were: * Commander John H. Towers,

USN The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...

Lieutenant Commander Lieutenant commander (also hyphenated lieutenant-commander and abbreviated Lt Cdr, LtCdr. or LCDR) is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander. The corresponding ran ...

Albert C. Read, USN *

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

Elmer F. Stone,

USCG The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mu ...

* Lieutenant Walter Hinton, USN *

Ensign An ensign is the national flag flown on a vessel to indicate nationality. The ensign is the largest flag, generally flown at the stern (rear) of the ship while in port. The naval ensign (also known as war ensign), used on warships, may be diffe ...

Herbert C. Rodd, USN * Lieutenant James L. Breese Jr., USNR * Chief Machinist's Mate Eugene S. Rhoads, USN The last name of Eugene Rhoads was misspelled as Rhodes on both the award citation and the medal.

References

External links

Photograph
of Chief Eugene Rhoads and Rear Admiral A.C. Read wearing the NC-4 Medal ribbon bar. National Naval Aviation Museum
NC-4 Memorabilia Exhibit
National Naval Aviation Museum {{DEFAULTSORT:Nc-4 Medal 1929 establishments in the United States Awards and decorations of the United States Navy Awards established in 1929 Transatlantic flight