On this day 10 January 1912
Published: 10 Jan 2013
First aircraft launch from a British warship
A flying-off platform was constructed over the foredeck and forward 12-inch (305 mm) gun turret of the pre-dreadnought battleship HMS Africa, and Lieutenant Charles Rumney Samson took off from it using an Improved Short S27 No38. The aeroplane took 100ft before leaving the trackway.