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NH 121290 Releasing the Carrier Pigeons from seaplane, U.S. Naval Air Station, Anacostia, Washington, D.C. February 12, 1919

Releasing the carrier pigeons from seaplane, U.S. Naval Air Station, Anacostia, Washington, DC, 12 February 1919 (NH 121290).

World War I: Pigeons Return to Service

The U.S. Navy began using homing pigeons again during World War I. Most of the pigeons used on these missions came from military or private lofts in Belgium and France.

U.S. Navy aviators carried the birds aboard seaplanes while conducting antisubmarine missions along the French coast. Pigeons provided aviators with a backup mode of communication in the event of radio failure or forced landing.The pilot would place a message in the capsule affixed to the pigeon's leg then release it. The pigeon would carry the message to its home loft at one of the U.S. Navy air stations in France. Once at the pigeon loft, the pigeon would go through a little slot that rang a bell and the pigeon master would retrieve the note.

One notable incident occurred on 22 November 1917, when U.S. Navy Ensign Kenneth R. Smith and his crew departed U.S. Naval Air Station at Le Croisic, France, in foggy weather and crashed. The pigeons on board were released to deliver an emergency message back to base. A search team subsequently rescued Smith and the crew.

During World War I, the Navy developed a “pigeon trainer” enlisted rate. Pigeoneers, as they were often called, fell under the quartermaster rating. They were identified as Quartermaster (Pigeon), QM (P). Sailors went to a specialist’s school for six to 12 months then received orders to naval air stations with pigeon lofts.

In 1918, the Navy published a manual for pigeon trainers entitled Instructions on Reception, Care and Training of Homing Pigeons in Newly Installed Lofts at U.S. Navy Air Bases. The manual contained detailed information on how the birds should be fed, housed, and trained. It included such things as when to bathe them (every other day and never on extremely cold days); how to build rapport with a bird how to properly hold a bird; how often to clean their perches and nest boxes; and what they should be fed (50 percent Canada peas, 25 percent Argentine corn, 15 percent Kaffir corn or milo maize, and 10 percent whole rice).

Pigeoneers were also required to conduct a daily and monthly inventory of the birds, which included recording the number of breeding pigeons in the loft, the number of trained and untrained birds in the loft, the number of birds “out for immediate duty,” and the number of sick birds in the hospital.

Naval Air Station Anacostia, which ran the largest pigeon school in the country, maintained a loft with 300 birds. They were well cared for, with bright and airy lofts that had running water, electricity, and a hospital ready to provide medical care if they fell ill. Armed guards patrolled their grounds at night.

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NH 121290 Releasing the Carrier Pigeons from seaplane, U.S. Naval Air Station, Anacostia, Washington, D.C. February 12, 1919

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