Naval Aviation Essays - Naval Aviation, United States Navy

Naval Aviation Throughout the history of Naval Aviation, one can see a growing force. As new technology and innovations arose and advanced, Naval Aviation improved as well. In times of war and peace, through training and dedication, naval aviators improved their abilities and tactics to produce the fighting force it is today. If by chance, the revolt of the admirals had failed, the United States Military would not be what it is today and the Navy could not have the liberty of enjoying the Mahanian concept of commanding the sea. As new technology and innovations arose in the late 1800s and early 1900s, the military potentials for Naval Aviation were not so evident. Interest grew in 1898 during the inventions of the flying machine and the aircraft from Wilbur and Orville Wright, although naval officials did not recognize the military potentials the airplane possessed. However, in 1912, LT T.G. Ellyson, the first naval aviator, flew an aircraft successfully catapulted off a barge in the Potomac River. This began the evolution of Naval Aviation and in the years to come, the face of naval warfare would change drastically. Official interest began in 1898 when the Navy assigned officers to sit in on an interservice board to investigate the military possibilities of Samuel P. Langleys flying machine. During the years ahead, naval observers attended air shows and the public demonstrations of the Wright Brothers. By 1909, naval officers were excited about the possibilities of the aircraft to be used as a scout and urged the purchase of the aircraft. Progress in the years from 1898-1916 were marked by an endurance record of six hours in the air, the first successful catapult launch, exercises with the fleet at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and combat sorties consisting of scouting at Veracruz, Mexico. These activities of the new aviators furthered the importance of Naval Aviation. By 1914, Josephus Daniels, Secretary of the Navy, announced that the United States had reached a point where aircraft must form a large part of our naval forces for offensive and defensive operations (Grossnick, 1). Although the pioneers of 1898-1916 brought to reality Naval Aviation, it was much too small and poorly equipped to wage war. In April 1917, the call for war came. However, the navy only had 48 aviators and students available with 54 aircraft that were not designed for the work that World War I required. However, in the next 19 months, during the time period when World War I was declared and ended, Naval Aviation expansion was astonishing. New air stations opened, training programs began at the new Naval Air Stations, colleges and universities, and with the private industry. Many types of aircraft were produced and an aircraft engine was advanced from a trial product to mass production and operation. The flying boat, in 1919, was the first aircraft to fly the Atlantic Ocean. This aircraft was Naval Aviations outstanding technical product of World War I. Many aviators were impressed with the flying boat and urged that it would be the means to take airpower to sea. However, other officers believed and insisted that aircraft should fly from combatant ships at sea. During the 1920s, development grew in both the flying boat and the proposed aircraft carrier. Finally, the aircraft carrier won many hearts of naval officers and the Navy decided to convert a collier to a carrier. This conversion would be the beginning of a movement that would gain the attention of ship builders, aircraft designers, and naval tacticians for the years ahead (Grossnick, 23). In the 1920s, Naval Aviation increased both in size and in strength. In this decade of growth, air detachments proved themselves effective under the conditions at sea. Three aircraft carriers were in full operation and patrol squadrons carried out their scouting missions. Each year aircraft flew faster, higher, and longer due to the rapidly changing technology. In this decade, tactics also developed. Dive-bombing was a common practice and the Marine Expeditionary Forces learned the values of air support. Torpedo attacks, scouting, and spotting for enemy gunfire were studied and practiced (Grossnick, 47). For historys first time, 30 years after the Navy bought its first aircraft, naval engagements were fought entirely in the air without enemy surface forces ever sighting each other in pure