Page 259 - 1992 - XVIII Congresso Internazionale di Storia Militare

U.S. NAVAL AVlATION IN EUROP.E DURlNG WORLD WAR l

RlCHARO A. VON O OENHOFF

Between Il November 1917 and ll November 1918, me Unired Sratcs Navy
and che United States Marine Corps commitred 19,455 officers and enlisred per·
sonnel co fly 437 lralian, French, Brirish and American aircrafr from 27 European
air srations against German nnù Ausrrian naval and land forces on 5,691 opera-
cional sorties covering 549,078 miles. T o rhese figures, one may add training flights
in l!urope roraUing 16,347 flighrs covering 242,320 miles. AJI of rhis was accom-
plished wirh casualdes of less chan 100 officer.~ and me n. These operarions resulttd
in rhirty n i ne arracks agai nst German submarioes (of wlùch reo were lH least pnr·
tially successful), and dropping over of 100 tons of bombs, much of whi.ch was
cargeced against submarine pens in Belgium.
Yet, it is no exaggeration m stare rhnt less is popularly knc;>wn abouc U.S. Naval
aviadon rhan any ocher phuse of Am~·rica's lnvolvement during World War l. For
che purposes of chis presenta don, me scacistics just cnumeraccd w ili providc an ovcrnU
picrure of che magnicudc of rhis cffon.
The U.S. Na.vy fim sbowed ioreresr io new aviacion cccbnology inj une, 1911,
when it purchased two Curtiss senplaoes; the A l and A2. A spiriced and dedicated
group of offic;ers, headcd by tcdr. T.G. EUyson and Lc.Joho Towers, quickly mastered
che are of flying, as wcll as caking off nnd landing on warcr, dcmonstrating Ameri-
ca's passion for tinkcring with new coys. Noncrheless, for fivc long yc'1l.rS che oflì-
cial Navy view of aviation remained rhar of boys cinkering with roys - nor' one
cene of appropriaced funds was dcdicated ro aviatico. Pilot aainjng came under
che au~pices of che Bureau ofNavigation; airframes were purchased our of surplus
funds by the Bureau of Consrruction and Repair; and engines were purcbased by
che Bureau of Steam Engineering. Io 1916, nll aviacion responsibilities wcre as·
signcd co LT.John Rodgcrs in che newly creaced Offìce of the Chi cf ofNaval O per·
arions, and Congress appropriated $1 miUion for rhis actlvity. When che United
Staces encered the war in April1917, 38 officers were in flighr training at Pcnsaco-
la, Florida.
During che previous two yenrs, Srìtish, French and lcaJjao sea planes had en·
joyed modesc success in pacrolling ovcr wacer co spot U-boacs. As these air forces
gained more experiencc flying over water, and as aircrafc engines iocreased in horse-
power and endurance, airbornc patrols became a viable dererrem ro underwacer
warfare. The .First Sea Lord, Admiral Sir John Jellicoe commenrcd on mis co Ad-
mirai WiUiam S. Sims, Commander, U.S. Naval Forces in Europe, in Augusc 1917.