In the words of Lee Corso, "Not so fast, my friend"! Eugene Ely was the first pilot to launch from a stationary ship in November 1910. He took off from a structure fixed over the forecastle of the US armored cruiser USS Birmingham at Hampton Roads, Virginia and landed nearby on Willoughby Spit after some five minutes in the air.
On January 18, 1911 he became the first pilot to land on a stationary ship. He took off from the Tanforan racetrack and landed on a similar temporary structure on the aft of USS Pennsylvania anchored at the San Francisco waterfront — the improvised braking system of sandbags and ropes led directly to the arrestor hook and wires. His aircraft was then turned around and he was able to take off again.
Update:
"In 1909 the French inventor Clément Ader published in his book "L'Aviation Militaire" the description of a ship to operate airplanes at sea, with a flat flight deck, an island superstructure, deck elevators and a hangar bay...That year the US Naval Attaché in Paris sent a report on his observations."