Tucked away in the background aboard the battleship USS Maryland is a Vought VE-9 (BuNo 6462), one of early naval aviation’s often-overlooked aircraft. Popularly known as the “Bluebird”, it was a slightly improved version of Vought’s VE-7, an incredibly historical machine that acquired several important “firsts” for the US Navy, one of them being the Navy’s first fighter.
The occasion for the main photo is the arrival of Secretary of State Charles Evans Hughes (the austere, bearded gentleman, center). On the right is the skipper of the Maryland, Captain D.F. Sellers (later, Commander-in-Chief, United States Fleet). Hughes was aboard the battleship for a trip to Rio de Janeiro, August-September, 1922. Earlier that same year, Secretary Hughes led the American Delegation at the Washington Naval Conference, where he successfully argued for reducing the number of battleships (a somewhat ironic position given his choice of transport seen here). Nonetheless, the Navy still had enough battle boats on hand to provide Secretary Hughes a ride to Rio.
Here is something that may give one a moment’s reflection:
As the Maryland sailed southward, she kept busy launching her planes in order to fetch mail, scout, etc. While all that aerial activity was going on, interestingly enough, the first takeoff from a US aircraft carrier had yet to occur. That historic achievement (October 17, 1922) was another of the “firsts” for Vought and their VE-7.
The Jive Bomber 