$25,000 was appropriated for the Bureau of Navigation (United States Navy) to purchase three airplanes and in the spring of 1911 four additional officers were trained as pilots by the Wright brothers and Curtiss. A camp with a primitive landing field was established on the Severn River at Greenbury Point, near Annapolis, Maryland. The vision of the aerial fleet was for scouting. Each aircraft would have a pilot and observer. The observer would use the wireless radio technology to report on enemy ships. Some thoughts were given to deliver counter attacks on hostile aircraft using “explosives or other means”. Using airplanes to bomb ships was seen as largely impractical at the time. CAPT Washington Irving Chambers felt it was much easier to defend against airplanes that mines or torpedoes. The wireless radio was cumbersome (greater than 50 pounds), but the technology was improving. Experiments were underway for the first ICS (pilot to observer comms) using headsets, as well as connecting the observer to the radio. The navy tested both telephones and voice tubes for ICS. As of August 1911, Italy was the only other navy known to be adapting hydroplanes for naval use.