NAVY / MARINE CORPS / COAST GUARD / MERCHANT MARINE SEAPOWER SUPPLEMENT TO SEAPOWER MAGAZINE MAY 2011 2 CELEBRATING 100 YEARS OF NAVAL AVIATION Paying Tribute SEAPOWER By AMY L. WITTMAN, Editor in Chief CELEBRATING 100 YEARS OF NAVAL AVIATION A SUPPLEMENT TO SEAPOWER, MAY 2011 n Feb. 17, 1911, inventor lished by Vice Adm. Allen G. Myers, PUBLISHER and aviation pioneer commander, Naval Air Forces. Daniel B. Branch Jr. Glenn Curtiss — the Working with him are Lt. Gen. Terry ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER O Dale A. Lumme “father of naval aviation” — taxied G. Robling, deputy commandant for his “Hydroaeroplane,” or seaplane, to Marine Corps Aviation; Rear Adm. EDITOR IN CHIEF Amy L. Wittman the battleship USS Pennsylvania, Patrick McGrath, deputy command- [email protected] anchored in San Diego Bay. The plane er, Centennial, Naval Air Forces; and DEPUTY EDITOR was hoisted aboard the ship. It was Capt. Mike Emerson, Coast Guard Peter E. Atkinson later lowered back to the water and chief of Aviation. The task force’s [email protected] Curtiss returned to North Island. goal is to raise public awareness of MANAGING EDITOR The U.S. Navy and its sea ser- Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard Richard R. Burgess [email protected] vice partners returned to that area and NASA aviation operations. in February to officially kick off a In this special supplement, ASSISTANT EDITOR John C. Marcario year-long celebration of the 100th spearheaded by Managing Editor [email protected] anni versary of naval aviation at Richard R. Burgess, Seapower also DIRECTOR OF ADVERTISING SALES Naval Air Station North Island, San aims to raise awareness, as well Charles A. Hull Diego, regarded as the “birthplace as pay tribute to those pioneers [email protected] of naval aviation.” whose can-do spirit, courage and DIRECTOR OF PUBLICATIONS Many other centennial-related tenacity inspired today’s Navy, Kerri Carpenter [email protected] events are slated to take place Marine Corps and Coast Guard throughout the year, and synchroni- aviators, some of whom con- PROOFREADER Jean B. Reynolds zing those events is the Cen tennial tributed their personal perspec- ■ DESIGN AND PRODUCTION of Naval Aviation Task Force, estab- tives for this publication. Amy Billingham and Rob Black Pensaré Design Group ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS SEAPOWER Seapower would like to acknowledge the following people, without whom this 2300 Wilson Blvd., Suite 200 endeavor would not be possible: Arlington, VA 22201-5424 TEL: 703-528-1775 — editorial ■ Vice Adm. Robert F. Dunn, USN (Ret.), president, Naval Historical Foundation 703-528-2075 — advertising ■ Barrett Tillman, author and historian FAX: 703-243-8251 ■ David F. Winkler, historian, Naval Historical Foundation E-MAIL: [email protected] ■ Vice Adm. Allen G. Myers, commander, Naval Air Forces ■ Vice Adm. John P. Currier, chief of staff, U.S. Coast Guard ■ Vice Adm. Richard C. Gentz, USN (Ret.), board member, Naval Historical Foundation ■ Cmdr. Pauline Storum, public affairs officer for commander, Naval Air Forces ■ Cmdr. Philip Rosi, public affairs officer for commander, Naval Air Force Atlantic ■ MC2 Micah Blechner, public affairs officer for commander, Naval Air Force Atlantic ■ Mike Maus, public affairs officer for commander, Naval Air Force Atlantic CONTENTS ■ Lt. Aaron Kakiel, assistant public affairs officer for commander, Naval Air Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet 4 The First 100 Years ■ Kimberly A. Martin, public affairs officer, Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, Wash. BY VICE ADM. ROBERT F. DUNN, ■ Karen Carow, director of corporate communications, Naval Air Systems Command USN (RET.) ■ Billy Ray Brown, public affairs officer, Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division 12 Imagining World War II ■ Colin S. Babb, editor, Naval Aviation News BY BARRETT TILLMAN ■ Nadine A. Santiago, public affairs, Headquarters, U.S. Coast Guard ■ 1st Lt. Sharon A. Hyland, director for public affairs, Marine Corps Air Station 18 The Aviation Appeal (MCAS) Beaufort, S.C. 24 Four Decades of Change ■ Master Sgt. Chad McMeen, public affairs, MCAS Beaufort, S.C. BY VICE ADM. DAVID ARCHITZEL ■ Master Sgt. Mark E. Bradley, media relations, MCAS New River, N.C. ■ Cpl. Nichole R. Werling, media/community relations NCO, MCAS New River, N.C. 30 A 30-Year Perspective BY VICE ADM. JOHN P. CURRIER ■ Cmdr. Doug Siegfried, USN (Ret.), associate editor, The Hook ■ David Colamaria, staff researcher, Naval Historical Foundation 36 Continuing a Proud Legacy ■ Lt. Cmdr. Richard J. Morgan, USN (Ret.), author and historian BY VICE ADM. ALLEN G. MYERS COVER PHOTO BY NATIONAL ARCHIVES/THE TAILHOOK ASSOCIATION 4 CELEBRATING 100 YEARS OF NAVAL AVIATION The First 100 Years By VICE ADM. ROBERT F. DUNN, USN (RET.) his year’s Centennial of and the longest serv- With the use of a Naval Aviation is being ing. Glenn Cur tiss catapult, increasing T marked with a multitude of built most of the first numbers of catapult- celebratory events. From shaky Navy airplanes and capable floatplanes beginnings in aircraft even the avia- showed how an air- took their place in tors of those days called “crates” to craft could be landed the fleet. Their mis- where naval aviation arguably is the on the water next to sions in cluded scout- centerpiece of all the Navy is today a ship, then be hoist- ing and light logis- is no small story. It is one of setting ed aboard and low- tics, and they made records, success in preventing war ered again to the up the Base Force of and success in war itself. It is a kalei- water for another COURTESY OF ROBERT F. DUNN the 1920s and ’30s. It doscope of leadership, people, mo- mission. But it was was not until the hel- ney, legislation, materiel, machines Chambers, a battleship Sailor, who icopter came along after World War and tactics. arranged to procure the first U.S. II that the floatplanes were replaced. From the beginning, in 1911, Navy aircraft. Early successes notwithstand- the names remembered best are It was Chambers who introduced ing, the American aviation indus- Ely, Ellyson, Towers, Curtiss and a scientific approach for the im - try soon lagged. When World War Chambers. Of all, it is Capt. Wa - provement of airplanes, assigned the I broke out, U.S. forces had to be shington Irving Chambers who first engineers to help in the solu- equipped with planes of foreign should be most remembered and tion of early aeronautical problems manufacture. Then, to fill the sud- most honored. True, Eugene Ely and personally influenced the devel- den need for more pilots, the first was the first to launch from and opment of the shipboard catapult. Naval Reservists were recruited, land on a ship; Theodore Ellyson From the beginning, capable some paying for training them- was Naval Aviator No. 1; John catapults were seen as the key to selves. Flying from bases in Eng - Towers was Naval Aviator No. 3 making aviation useful to the fleet. land, France and Italy, they played Waypoints in History NOVEMBER 14, 1910 JANUARY 18, 1911 FEBRUARY 17, 1911 Eugene Ely, seated in a Ely, for first time, lands Glenn Curtiss’ “Hydroaeroplane” flies out to and is Curtiss Pusher, conducts and then takes off hoisted aboard USS Pennsylvania, anchored in San first flight launched from from ramp built on Diego Bay. The seaplane is later returned to the a ship, Birmingham, Pennsylvania, anchored water and Curtiss flies back to North Island, today anchored at Hampton in San Francisco Bay. considered the birthplace of naval aviation. Roads, Va. SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT TO SEAPOWER / MAY 2011 5 a major role in minimizing the U-boat threat. At the same time, other naval aviators, including Towers and Kenneth Whiting, were detailed to Europe to observe our allies. The English were foremost in recognizing the value of naval avi- ation well beyond anti-submarine efforts. It was the Royal Navy that flew fighters from improvised cruiser and battleship decks to repel German Zeppelin raids, and developed the world’s first aircraft carrier from a merchant hull, HMS Argus. Reports from Towers and Whiting convinced American political and naval officials to NAVY HISTORY AND HERITAGE COMMAND authorize the procurement of more Eugene Ely conducts the first flight from a ship, launching his Curtis Pusher air- aircraft for the fleet, and to convert craft from USS Birmingham in Hampton Roads, Va., Nov. 14, 1910. the collier Jupiter into the first American carrier, USS Langley. every Navy fighter and attack avia- crashed off New Jersey in 1933. tor’s training. It was a very impor- When Moffett was chief of the First, Some Unfinished tant tactic in Korea and South Bureau of Aeronautics, no one Business … Vietnam and, despite “smart could see ahead to divine what Plans originally made in 1914 to weapons,” is often called for by would be the most important avia- fly across the Atlantic had to be put troops on the ground in Af- tion systems in the years ahead. To on hold. Then, in 1919, with ghanistan. Likewise, supply and his credit, all available systems were Towers in charge, three aircraft medical evacuation continue as explored and, within the dollars started out from Rockaway, N.Y., key missions for all naval service available, tested. His mantra was, crossed Halifax, Newfoundland, helicopters and transports alike. “naval aviation must go to sea on the Azores and Lisbon, before end- Even as the Marines were devel- the back of the fleet … the fleet and ing the flight in England. Because oping tactics for troop support, it naval aviation are one and insepara- of mishaps, only one aircraft — the was another battleship captain, ble, no matter what its form.” NC-4 — completed the crossing. William Adger Moffett, who con- Moffett was convinced that a Not long after the NC-4 flight, solidated aviation development major role of support for the fleet Marine naval aviators developed into one Bureau of Aeronautics.