The Douglas World Cruisers were the first aircraft to be flown around the world. The World Cruiser was a variant of the Navy's DT-2 torpedo bomber that could be operated either with wheels or floats. The prototype was delivered 45 days after the contract was let in summer 1923. Tests were successful, and four more DWCs were ordered. Each of the round-the-world flight aircraft was named after a US city representing a compass point: Aircraft number one, Seattle, crewed by Maj. Frederick Martin (pilot and flight commander) and SSgt. Alva Harvey ("mechanician," as the flight mechanics on the trip were called); aircraft number two, Chicago, crewed by Lt. Lowell H. Smith (pilot) and 1st Lt. Leslie Arnold; aircraft number three, Boston, with 1st Lt. Leigh P. Wade (pilot) and SSgt. Henry H. Ogden aboard; and aircraft number four, New Orleans, with Lt. Erik Nelson (pilot) and Lt. Jack Harding in the cockpits. The crews left Seattle, Wash., on April 6, 1924, and headed west. On April 30, Seattle crashed in Alaska, and Major Martin and Sergeant Harvey hiked out of the wilderness. The remaining crews continued, flying on to Japan, Southeast Asia, India, the Middle East, Europe, England, and Ireland. On August 3, Boston was forced down in the North Atlantic, and it sank in rough seas while being towed. The prototype was dispatched to Nova Scotia, where Lieutenant Wade and Sergeant Ogden renamed the aircraft Boston II and rejoined the flight. The crews stopped in several US cities and returned to Seattle on September 28. The trip totals: 175 days, 27,553 miles, stops in 61 cities, and a total flying time of 371 hours, 11 minutes. The logistics effort was equally impressive, which included securing cooperation of numerous governments, the Royal Air Force, and the US Navy. For example, 30 spare engines were dispatched all over the world prior to the flight. The Air Service later ordered five near- duplicate DWCs, and these were designated O-5. Chicago is now on display at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D. C., while New Orleans is on display at the Museum of Flying in Santa Monica, Calif.
| Contractors: | The Douglas Co. |
| Locations Built: | Santa Monica, Calif. |
| Number Built: (USAF) | five (five) |
| First Flight: | October 1923 |
| First Flight Model: | DWC |
| First Flight Location: | Clover Field, Santa Monica, Calif. |
| First Flight Pilot: | Eric Springer |
| Models/Variants: | DWC, O-5 |
| Powerplant: | One Liberty liquid-cooled V-12 of 420 hp |
| Wingspan: | 50 ft 0 in. |
| Length: | 35 ft 6 in (39 ft 0 in with floats attached) |
| Height: | 13 ft 7 in (15 ft 1 in with floats attached) |
| Weight: | 7,380 lb gross (8,180 lb gross with floats attached) |
| Armament: | None |
| Accommodation: | Two (pilot and observer/mechanic in separated, tandem cockpits) |
| Cost: | $23,721 for prototype; $192,684 for four production aircraft plus spares |
| Max. Speed: | 103 mph (100 mph with floats attached) |
| Range: | 2,200 mi (1,650 mi with floats attached) |
| Ceiling: | 10,000 ft (7,000 ft with floats attached) |
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