George van Deurs - Wings for the Fleet: A Narrative of Naval Aviation’s Early Development, 1910–1916

Naval Aviators Who Trained in the Bamboo Tails (Pusher-type Aircraft)

Note: Where blanks appear, data is not available. Other student naval aviators reported to Pensacola before Admiral Benson grounded the pusher hydros in the summer of 1916. Some of these started their training in the bamboo tails, but qualified in the replacement machines.

* Started training in bamboo tails, but did not qualify as Naval Aviators.

Curtiss Hydroaeroplane, Navy No. A-1. Rendering based on drawings of the A-1 as produced by the Curtiss Aeroplane Company, Hammondsport, New York, 1911.

General.All data, except for N-9, taken from aircraft Log Books. The extent to which these early aircraft were modified and used for testing various kinds of equipment makes it practically impossible to determine whether these data represent the original or some later configuration. When known, the variations are indicated.

1Triad rig was removed 12 July 1911 and plane operated as a landplane. Changed to a hydro rig 21 July 1911 and apparently operated as such from then on.

2Installed 7 July 1911 but was originally fitted with a 50 h.p. Curtiss.

3Redesignated E-1 on 22 September 1913 and AX-1 on 27 March 1914.

4Purchased as a landplane and originally operated as such. Was rebuilt as a hydro 20 Mar.-26 June 1912. Was converted to an amphibian in summer 1913 and upon completion was re-designated E-1, 22 Sept. 1913. By general change in designation system 27 Mar. 1914 became AX-1. As an amphibian was also called OWL.

5Month in which conversion to amphibian began, not the end of service. E-1 (AX-1) was wrecked at Pensacola 27 Nov. 1915.

6Originally equipped with a Curtiss 4 cylinder; on 15 Oct. 1911 shifted to a 60 h.p. 8 cylinder, and in June 1912 to a 75 h.p. Accuracy of 80 h.p. figure is not known.

7As the A-2. Record for E-1 (AX-1) is incomplete but 91 flights are recorded.

Curtiss Hydroaeroplane, Navy No. A-1.

8Purchased as a landplane but converted to hydro 8-9 Dec. 1911.

9Date of last Log entry is 5 June 1913.

10A Wright aeroplane constructed from spare parts by Navy at Annapolis.

11Plane in which Billingsley crashed to his death at Annapolis, 20 June 1913.

12Dimensions not reported in Log but assumed to be same as B-1.

13Replaced by Curtiss 6 cyl. W.C. in April 1913.

Curtiss Hydroaeroplane, Navy No. A-1.

14Date of last Log entry is 1 April 1914.

15Plane in which J. M. Murray crashed to his death at Pensacola, 16 Feb. 1914.

16Dimensions as given in Log without indication as to whether these are in fact tenths of feet.

17Also built by Burgess; some with Hispano engines. A total of 460 N-9s were procured in the years 1917 and 1918. Used as a trainer during WWI and in postwar years as late as 1927.

THE AUTHOR

Graduated from the U. S. Naval Academy in 1920, Rear Admiral George van Deurs (Retired) had a long, distinguished career in naval aviation. As Naval Aviator No. 3109, he first flew in the old N-9s, later, in cruiser and battleship catapult seaplanes, and finally, in the Navys first jet fighters. He was a ships officer in the Saratoga, and commanded Patrol Squadron 23 at Pearl Harbor.

During World War II he served as Superintendent of Aviation Training, Naval Air Training Center, Corpus Christi; Plans Officer and then Chief of Staff for ComAirSoPac during the Solomons campaign; Commanding Officer of the escort carrier Chenango (CVE 28) at Morotai, Leyte Gulf, and Okinawa; and Chief of Staff to Commander Battleship Squadron One during the Okinawa campaign. At the close of World War II, he commanded the naval occupation forces in western Japan.

After leaving Japan in the spring of 1946, he subsequently commanded Fleet Air Wing 14, the carrier Philippine Sea, and served on the Naval Staff in London.

Since his retirement in 1951, Admiral van Deurs has obtained his Masters degree, and has kept busy with writing, photography, and travel. His writings include some thirty articles on the Navy, aviation, and travel. Wings for the Fleet is his first book.

Unpublished Material

Much of the material for this work was found in unpublished manuscripts in the National Archives, in the Library of Congress, in various Departments of the Navy, and other miscellaneous sources.

1. National Archives, Navy Section, Washington, D.C.

Investigations:

Death of Lieutenant C. K. Bronson at Indian Head, Maryland, 11/8/16.

Death of Lieutenant (jg) J. M. Murray at Pensacola, Florida, 2/16/14.

Death of Civil Engineer J. V. Rockwell at Pensacola, Florida, 5/26/16, with endorsements.

Death of Lieutenant R. C. Saufley at Pensacola, Florida, 6/9/16.

Fire, plane A-3, at Pensacola, Florida, 3/20/14 (B. L. Smith and M. L. Stolz).

Death of Lieutenant M. L. Stolz at Pensacola, Florida, 5/8/15.

Crash of G. deC. Chevalier and R. A. Lavender at Guacanayabo Bay, Cuba, 2/11/17.

Death of Lieutenant Commander G. deC. Chevalier at Norfolk, 11/12/22.

Death of Commander John Rodgers at Philadelphia, 8/27/26.

Reports:

Captain W. I Chambers Aeronautical Inventions (N.A. No. 736-65235).

G. deC. Chevaliers fire in the air, 8/7/14 (N.A. No. 736-135276).

Memo to Secretary of the Navy Metcalf, 12/2/08. (Signed by Rear Admiral Cowles, prepared by George Sweet), file 187781, GCSH.

J. H. Towers report on the Flying Boat America, 7/28/14 (N.A. No. 736132192).

Ships Logs:

USS Bailey, 1911.

USS Birmingham, 1910 and 1914.

USS Dubuque, 1917.

USS Huntington, 1917.

USS Iris, 1912.

USS Jason, 1915.

USS Langley.

USS Mississippi, 1913, 1914.

USS North Carolina, 1914, 1915, 1916, 1917.

USS Pennsylvania, 1911.

USS Washington, 1916.

USS Seattle, 1916, 1917.

USS Yankton, 1912.

Miscellaneous:

Daniels, Josephus. Memo for All Bureaus. 11/16/14 (N.A. No. 736139986).

. General Order Number 88. 3/27/14

2. Navy Department, Washington, D.C.

Aviation Logs:

Aviation History Unit, Office of Chief of Naval Operations, Navy Department, Washington, D.C., holds files of old aviation records, including: