One Hundred Years of U.S. Navy Air Power

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF

U.S. NAVY

AIR POWER

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF

U.S. NAVY

AIR POWER

Edited by

Douglas V. Smith

N
AVAL
I
NSTITUTE
P
RESS

Annapolis, Maryland

The latest edition of this work has been brought to publication with the generous assistance of Marguerite and Gerry Lenfest.

Naval Institute Press

291 Wood Road

Annapolis, MD 21402

© 2010 by Douglas V. Smith

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

ISBN 978-1-61251-423-9 (eBook)

The Library of Congress has cataloged the hardcover edition as follows:

One hundred years of U.S. Navy air power / edited by Douglas V. Smith.

p. cm.

   
Includes bibliographical references and index.

   
1. United States. Navy—Aviation—History. I. Smith, Douglas V. (Douglas Vaughn), 1948- II. Title:

One hundred years of United States Navy air power.

   
VG93.O54 2010

   
359.9'40973—dc22

2010034231
                 

Print editions meet the requirements of ANSI/NISO z39.48-1992 (Permanence of Paper).

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First printing

All photographs are courtesy of the U.S. Naval Institute Photo Archive unless otherwise credited.

This work is dedicated to
THOSE
who have worn the Wings of Gold, Navy Wings of Silver, and
THOSE
who have supported them in the air, on the ground, and in their homes;

Professor Emeritus G
EORGE
W. B
AER
, who so graciously allowed us to use the title for his award-winning book,
One Hundred Years of Sea Power
, as an inspiration for our own;

J
OYCE
I. M
ILLER
, who has been an inspiration and mentor to us all.

CONTENTS

List of Illustrations

Foreword

Acknowledgments

Chapter 1.
    
Introduction

Chapter 2.
    
The Experimental Era: U.S. Navy Aviation before 1916

Chapter 3.
    
Eyes of the Fleet: How Flying Boats Transformed War Plan Orange

Chapter 4.
    
Ships in the Sky

Chapter 5.
    
Big Guns versus Wooden Decks: Naval Aviation Officer Personnel, 1911–1941

Chapter 6.
    
Admiral Joseph Mason “Bull” Reeves, Father of Navy Carrier Aviation

Chapter 7.
    
Aviation in the Interwar Fleet Maneuvers, 1919–1940

Chapter 8.
    
The Two-Ocean Navy Act of 1940: The Impact on American Preparedness for World War II

Chapter 9.
    
U.S. Aircraft Carrier Evolution, 1911–1945

Chapter 10.
  
Foundation for Victory: U.S. Navy Aircraft Development, 1922–1945

Chapter 11.
  
Straight Up: Vertical Flight in the U.S. Navy

Chapter 12.
  
The Transition to Swept-Wing Jets

Chapter 13.
  
Naval Aviation in the Korean and Vietnam Wars

Chapter 14.
  
By Land and Sea: Non-Carrier Naval Aviation

Chapter 15.
  
U.S. Aircraft Carrier Evolution: 1945–2011

Chapter 16.
  
Conclusions

Contributors

Index

ILLUSTRATIONS

F-18 Super Hornet.

Eugene B. Ely flies his Curtiss pusher airplane from USS
Birmingham
(CV-2), 14 November 1910. The USS
Roe
, serving as plane guard, is visible in the background.

Lieutenant John Towers was convinced of the importance of an aviation program in spite of the skepticism of senior officers.

The Consolidated PBY or Catalina had a 1,000-mile range. By 1941, the U.S. Navy had 330 in service.

The Honorable Frank Knox, Secretary of the Navy (right), with Rear Admiral C. C. Bloch, Naval Air Station, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, September 1940.

The U.S. Navy's largest non-rigid airships, the ZPG-3W class, flew until 1962.

ZPG-2s in hangar.

Early naval aviators pose at the Naval Aeronautic Station, Pensacola, Florida, spring 1914.

Naval Reserve Freshmen, class of 1930, University of California.

Admiral Joseph Mason “Bull” Reeves.

DT-2 taking off from USS
Langley
, circa 1925.

USS
Langley
in Pearl Harbor in 1928.

The USS
Lexington
with Martin bombers on deck.

Left to right
: Representative Carl Vinson (D-GA); Secretary of Navy Francis P. Matthews; Admiral Louis E. Denfeld, Chief of Naval Operations; and Admiral Arthur W. Radford, Commander, Pacific Fleet, 6 October 1949.

USS
Essex
(CV-9), circa 1945.

The USS
Saratoga
(CV-3), recovering her aircraft, June 1935.

The USS
Midway
in a gale off Sicily, February 1949. Photograph taken from the
Essex
-class carrier
Philippine Sea
.

The first successful torpedo plane design was Douglas Aircraft Company's DT.

U.S. Navy Curtiss SB2C Helldiver returns from a strike on Japanese shipping.

The pontoon-equipped XR-4 flights from the USS
Bunker Hill
in May 1943 marked the birth of naval rotary-wing aviation.

SH-3A (HSS-2) flown publicly for first time, 24 March 1959.

McDonnell FH-1 Phantom.

A-6 Intruder on the USS
Independence
's catapult, March 1965.

U.S. Navy Fighters F4U Corsairs return to carrier USS
Boxer
(CV-21) after a strike over Korea, September 1951.

U.S. Navy F-4B Phantom II from the USS
Ranger
, February 1968.

P-3 Orion conducting ship surveillance in mid-Pacific, September 1974.

Consolidated B-24 Liberator designated by the U.S. Navy as the PB4Y-1.

Official 1948 sketch of the supercarrier
United States
, which was designed to carry heavy bombers.

USS
Abraham Lincoln
, typical of modern U.S. nuclear carriers, October 1994.

Nimitz
-class aircraft carrier USS
Ronald Reagan
(CVN 76) with guided-missile cruiser USS
Chancellorsville
(CG 62).

FOREWORD

I
am indeed honored to have been asked to help kick off the Centennial Year of U.S. Navy Aviation by sharing a few insights on Navy aviation's proud history. As a Navy pilot who has shared the thrills and the agonies of defending our nation in the air, I am happy to congratulate those who wear, or have worn, the Wings of Gold, and I salute the thousands of dedicated men and women in and out of uniform who keep them in the air. America's citizens owe a great debt to all who pioneered Navy aviation and brought it to such a prominent position in the nation's arsenal.

In looking back over the past century, it is incredible to see how far aviation technology has come. Within the span of one human lifetime, we have seen remarkable progress from Navy pilot Eugene Ely's first carrier landing in a fragile Curtiss pusher biplane in 1911, to Navy aviator Alan Shepard's footsteps on the moon only six decades later! I believe that America's birthrights of freedom and liberty have been in large part secured through air power. One of the first questions I always asked as Commander-in-Chief when American interests were threatened around the globe was “
Where are our aircraft carriers?
” The ability to project power from the sea—free from the restrictions of international political maneuvering—has repeatedly played a key part in crisis management and in securing vital U.S. interests.

Some of my fondest memories are of my years as a young Navy pilot, flying off USS
San Jacinto
during World War II, and of the other pilots, aircrewmen, and ship's company who shared the experience of flying aircraft in harm's way. My combat missions were marked by both triumph and tragedy, but I never felt more like a patriot than when I carried America's flag into battle in pursuit of a just cause.

You can imagine the pride I felt in January 2009 when I participated in the commissioning of the remarkable new nuclear-powered aircraft carrier that bears my name. I said at the time:
“Make no mistake, the work aboard this ship will be routinely difficult and sometimes dangerous. But the freedom we seek and the peace we desire can only be found in the countless sacrifices you will make in everyday tasks you will perform.”

It is particularly appropriate that this book, dedicated to the Navy aviator's courage, incredibly close ties to comrades in arms, sense of duty in the face of death, and loyalty to our great nation, is being published during Navy Aviation's Centennial celebration. It tells a tale rife with courage and sacrifice, dangerous experimentation and awe-inspiring innovation, tenacity, and dedication. It involves wondrous technologies that include the exhilaration of jet propulsion, the agility of rotary wings, and the iconoclastic ventures of lighter-than-air. Most of all, it is a human drama with far-reaching implications into the shaping of world events and the ultimate success of our great democratic experiment. The book is also, in a very real sense, a tribute to the military families who served quietly in their own way, through countless hours of separation and anxiety, praying for the safe return of their champions.

My life has been blessed with many wonderful experiences, but few rival my days in uniform with the United States Navy. All my best wishes as you celebrate 100 years of U.S. Navy air power!