NC - 4 Medal The NC - 4 Medal is a military decoration that was authorized by the United States Congress in 1929 to commemorate the 1919 trans - Atlantic crossing by the members of the NC - 4 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 is now considered obsolete , and does not appear on U . S . Navy award precedence charts . Background . In 1919 , the United States Navy 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 . The mission began with three identical aircraft , NC - 1 , NC - 3 , and NC - 4 departing from Naval Air Station Rockaway on May 8 , 1919 . On May 15 the aircraft arrived at Trepassey , Newfoundland , having made intermediate stops along the way . There they met their " base ship " the , recently converted from minelayer to seaplane tender . After repairs and refitting , the NC ' s took off for the Azores 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 in the Azores on Ma7 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 awarded to Charles Lindbergh for the first solo trans - Atlantic flight , Representative 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 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 H . C . Rodd , United States Navy , radio operator ; to former Lieutenant J . 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 in less formal occasions . Appearance . The obverse 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 . Due to the rarity of the NC - 4 Medal , there are no known photographs of the medal being worn on a military uniform . One original NC - 4 Medal is maintained by the Navy Historical Center at the Washington Navy Yard in Washington , D . C . The NC - 4 Medal appeared in older U . S . Navy precedence charts after the Peary Polar Expedition Medal and before the Byrd Antarctic Expedition Medal . 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 to by President Herbert Hoover in May , 1930 . The recipients were :