to experiment with the kite observation balloon. A few weeks after Wright reached her destination, the NC-10 flying boat had her bottom sucked out while she attempted to take off and began to sink in of water. A rescue and repair party salvaged the hull and other parts of the seaplane and brought them on board the tender. Two days later, Wright sailed for the Philadelphia Navy Yard and, after brief stops at Norfolk, Virginia and Charleston en route, arrived there on 8 May. Following repairs and alterations at Philadelphia between 8 May and 21 June, Wright headed south and conducted tending operations from Norfolk to Pensacola, Florida, and back. While in Hampton Roads on 16 July, Wright sent up her kite balloon for the last time before transferring it ashore to be based at the Hampton Roads Naval Air Station (NAS). Later that summer, Wright visited New York City and then shifted to Newport, Rhode Island, arriving there on 7 August. The ship tended seaplanes in that vicinity, as they engaged in formation bombing exercises on stationary and towed targets. Wright subsequently operated off Solomons Island, Maryland where the seaplanes conducted battle practice and bombing rehearsals. From 15 to 24 September, she tended the 13 F5L seaplanes from Scouting Squadron 1 as they conducted bombing practice on towed targets in the Chesapeake Bay region. Later that autumn, Wright visited Baltimore, Maryland. Following her visit to that port, Wright cruised down the eastern seaboard for training operations out of Key West. 1923–1924 On 28 January 1923, Wright departed Florida waters in company with the converted minesweepers and and supported the 18 patrol planes of Scouting Squadron 1 in combined fleet tactics in waters ranging from Cuba and Honduras to the Panama Canal. Between 18 and 22 February, Wrights planes participated in Fleet Problem I – a phase of which tested the defenses of the Panama Canal. Assigned to the "Blue" fleet, Wright and the two sister "Bird-boats" (Sandpiper and Teal) tended the planes from Scouting Squadron 1 that assisted that force as well as Army coastal and air units in defending the Panama Canal against air attack. The attacking "Black" fleet used two battleships as substitutes for "aircraft carriers" which it did not possess. On 21 February, one of those simulated flattops, , launched a single plane to scout ahead of the "Black" fleet, and, the following morning, sent a