Quote:
Originally posted by Eisenhower:
First helicopter take-off and landing aboard a ship underway at sea: LT Stewart R. Graham, on board the SS Daghestan, North Atlantic, 16 January 1944. 
|
Possible, but I'm not so sure. This is from 'Flying Guns: the Modern Era' (due out next year):
"At that time Germany was well in advance. Flettner actually achieved the helicopter's first quantity production order, from the Kriegsmarine in 1940, for the Fl 265, which had two intermeshing rotors. This was succeeded by the two-seat Fl 282 Kolibri (humming bird), which was used operationally in the Second World War, both for general liaison purposes and from various ships, including cruisers and merchant vessels, for scouting and anti-submarine reconnaissance in the North, Baltic, Aegean and Mediterranean Seas."
Tony Williams: Military gun and ammunition
website and discussion
forum