Curtiss NC-4 Fabric and Letter

The Curtiss NC-4 was the first aircraft to cross the Atlantic Ocean, covering over 2100 nautical miles from Nova Scotia to the Azores, before continuing to Lisbon, Portugal, and then Plymouth, England, where the US Navy dismantled the aircraft for return to the United States aboard the USS Aroostook. This collection consists of a swatch of fabric from the Curtiss NC-4 along with a letter written July 19, 1919, by Lieutenant Fred SanSoucie (USN) aboard the Aroostook. The letter, with the fabric and and a studio photograph of SanSoucie, was sent to the donor's late father, William P. Moebus, Sr.

On May 8, 1919, the Curtiss-built flying boat NC-4, in company with the NC-1 and NC-3, departed from the Naval Air Station Rockaway (New York) on the first leg of a transatlantic flight. The USS Aroostook (CM-3), a former passenger steamship which had been converted to a minelayer for US Navy service during World War I, was reconverted in the spring of 1919 into a seaplane tender to provide support for the transatlantic flight. Naval vessels were stationed along the route across the ocean to indicate the way to the aviators. The Aroostook, serving as the base ship for the flight, was stationed in Trepassey Bay, Newfoundland, to prepare the NC crews for their departure on May 16 on the longest leg of their mission-- from Newfoundland to the Azores. Both NC-1 and NC-3 were forced down during the crossing, but NC-4 arrived safely in the Azores on May 17. After delays for repairs, NC-4 took off on May 27 and landed at Lisbon, Portugal, nine hours later, becoming the first aircraft to make a crossing of the Atlantic Ocean. The NC-4 continued via Ferrol, Spain, to Plymouth, England, arriving on May 31, 1919. The Aroostook had preceded the aircraft to England and was waiting in Plymouth when the NC-4 arrived. There the ship's crew disassembled the NC-4 and loaded it on board for return to the United States.