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 was a one-time award, and does not currently 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 May 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 70-714 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